 
Detroit_signal
Member
Username: Detroit_signal
Post Number: 49
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2007 - 12:34 am: |    |
I recently completed a restoration of a late 1950s/early 1960s traffic signal from the city of Detroit. I have been picking away at it for sometime and I finally finished it today. As some of you already know, I have restored several vintage and antique signals from Michigan and other states. This Marbelite model is a great example of heavy-duty signal design and character from years long past. I'm glad to have rescued one more from the scrap heap.
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Jasoncw
Member
Username: Jasoncw
Post Number: 456
Registered: 07-2005
| | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2007 - 12:48 am: | |
Looking good!  |
Ray1936
Member
Username: Ray1936
Post Number: 2229
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2007 - 12:51 am: | |
Nice job, Detroit-signal. Thanks for the pics. |
Reddog289
Member
Username: Reddog289
Post Number: 62
Registered: 08-2007
| | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2007 - 2:48 am: | |
last time i saw the black signals was back in the 80,s at joy & hubbell |
Reddog289
Member
Username: Reddog289
Post Number: 63
Registered: 08-2007
| | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2007 - 2:51 am: | |
oh yeah great job, need to find one myself. |
Jmarx
Member
Username: Jmarx
Post Number: 44
Registered: 01-2005
| | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2007 - 4:08 pm: | |
I want one! :-)
Seriously, how did you get a hold of the old signal...? Just curious... |
Bearinabox
Member
Username: Bearinabox
Post Number: 371
Registered: 04-2006
| | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2007 - 4:11 pm: | |
You need a ladder, some wire cutters, and a power outage. |
Mdoyle
Member
Username: Mdoyle
Post Number: 243
Registered: 10-2006
| | Posted on Monday, November 12, 2007 - 4:24 pm: | |
I've come across a few of the Detroit wooden post arc street lamps with the large cast top and base and climbing rungs in open fields where they've fallen. Id really love to get one but the damn things weigh a ton. |
Genesyxx
Member
Username: Genesyxx
Post Number: 807
Registered: 02-2004
| | Posted on Tuesday, November 13, 2007 - 10:41 am: | |
LOL @ Bearinabox. Good luck with that
But that looks real nice. Any chance you're selling it to one of those junkonthewall restaurants, or just putting it in your boom-boom room? |
Detroit_signal
Member
Username: Detroit_signal
Post Number: 50
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, November 15, 2007 - 12:09 am: | |
Getting these signals is not easy. You usually have to deal with the contractor doing the install of the new signals. I have been lucky enough to be in the right place at the right time too. Yes, my signals are ALL obtained LEGALLY through purchase. I have kept most of them and used others for parts and just sell the remains to other collectors or trade for lenses or hardware or something. All of my restored signals operate just as the ones in real life do. One day when I'm tired of looking at all of them, I will donate them to a museum of transportation or local history. |
Thecarl
Member
Username: Thecarl
Post Number: 1154
Registered: 04-2005
| | Posted on Thursday, November 15, 2007 - 12:20 am: | |
do the lenses pretty much stay the same color over time (not fade), especially when exposed to sunlight? |
Detroit_signal
Member
Username: Detroit_signal
Post Number: 51
Registered: 02-2007
| | Posted on Thursday, November 15, 2007 - 1:49 am: | |
Glass lenses (anything used pre-1979 in Detroit) do not lose their color or fade. At worst, the outside of the lens needs cleaning or buffing. Plastic lenses used nowadays can burn, fade, discolor, etc. The advantage of plastic is price difference and weight. Same with the signal bodies themselves. Old signals are aluminum construction as opposed to the plastic signals of today. Weight is the big advantage with plastic signals. |