Hi Mary, your best bet for the info on your railroad lantern is at the railroadiana.org website question and answer board, they can help you confirm the R.R. name and about when it was made, generally the number your looking 234 at indicates it was made the 2nd quarter of 1934, if you can, a photo or two for them to post will get the best results.
here is a quick link to go there,
http://www.railroadiana.org/ Best regards and good luck,
W.Miller