A cast iron junction box made for railroad use by Peerless Manufacturing Co. These boxes were typically mounted on a pole and provided a convienent way to connect open-wire signal circuits to suspended cable. Peerless was originally a Louisville, Ky. maker of stoves and fireplace fixtures, and later branched out into railroad signal equipment. Still later they made gas heaters. Their factory covered two city blocks and was mostly demolished in the early 1980's.