Imperial Russia Railroad Engineer's Badge

[Chuck In Oregon]

Here is another variant of the RR engineer's badge, similar to the one that George posted. Similar, but with significant style differences. This badge is neither proofed nor hallmarked. It seems to be merely once-plated (if that), stamped brass, with gilt highlights on the crest.

It has three parts: the wreath, the complete eagle theme and the crossed axe and anchor. It looks like the wreath and eagle may have been stock items and the department insignia added as needed. That might suggest a late-era badge, as opposed to a silver badge, but I really don't know.

I thought about adding this to George's "Civil Breast Badges" thread. However, I finally decided to post a separate thread. In my opinion, a thread dedicated to a genre offers less to researchers than a thread dedicated to a more specific topic. In the genre thread, one may see a lot of different and interesting things, of course. But if someone wanted to research, say, Red Cross badges -- and I have some dandies to share -- then it would be a lot more tedious to wade through a general badge thread looking for them than to find a thread dedicated to them. This is only my opinion, of course.

Chuck