While most of us are limited to the visible spectrum, people with a condition called aphakia possess ultraviolet vision. Aphakia is the lack of a lens, due to surgical removal for cataracts or congenital defects.
A railroad lantern and a railroad lamp are two different things. Lanterns were designed to be portable (i.e. carried) and were basically globes surrounded by a metal frame with a fuel source. When you think of a railroad worker swinging a signal, think lantern.
A book of 1655 inventions mentions a steam engine (called a fire engine) pump used to raise a column of water 40 feet [12 m], but there was no mention of whether it was portable. Colonial laws in America required each house to have a bucket of water on the front stoop during fires at night.