I guess when your town can't afford to replace something, sooner or later you get recognition for "preserving" something antique... my question is why would someone retrofit these with LED lights and thus ruin their "historic character"?

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06/16/2008

Lorain ranks nationally for its antique yellow traffic lights 

JEFF GREEN , Morning Journal Writer 

 

LORAIN -- You're waiting for the green light on the corner of West 28th Street and Reid Avenue or East 31st Street and Pearl Avenue.

 

You look up at the light. Notice anything special?

 

Odds are the answer is no, unless you have a knack for city heritage or if your name is Barry Williams.

 

The city of Lorain could be ranked fourth in the nation for having the most antique yellow, four-way traffic lights on its streets, says Williams, a traffic signal connoisseur from St. Louis, Mo., and founder of the American Streetscape Society...

 

Post edited 9-5-09 to comply with terms of use.

 

http://www.morningjournal.com/site/news.cfm?newsid=19776038&BRD=1699&PAG=461&dept_id=46371&rfi=6

my question is why would someone retrofit these with LED lights and thus ruin their "historic character"?

 

Because they are cheaper to operate.  LED lights use a lot less electricity and the LED bulbs last an incredibly long time, reducing labor costs for bulb replacement. 

 

i happened to catch that article on the journal website. pretty funny. that barry williams guy is a geek after our own hearts!

Pretty cool. I like that Lorain is keeping the old signals as opposed to replacing them with standard ones like so many other cities are currently doing.

 

I'm a bit of a traffic light geek myself, which is ironic considering that I'm not a big fan of the car culture. My cousin outdid me in that geekiness, though. He bought and restored a Crouse-Hinds 4-way traffic light (like the ones in Lorain) a few years back. It's hanging in his study now, and he even wired an electronic sequencer to it so the lights do the green-yellow-red cycle for each direction, just like a real signal. :)

 

I love the craftsmanship that went into these old things, too. Very Art Deco-ish.

Does anyone have photos of the lights?

Iam from the 60s. Does that make me an antique?

^No, but I think your factory warranty has probably expired :wink:

Iam from the 60s. Does that make me an antique?

and it will be hard to get replacement parts.

I'm pre-WWII. Into the 1950s in many cities traffic signals were on posts on the street corners, and usually they were painted black or dark green, not yellow. Drivers really had to be paying attention.

 

Around 1962 I visited Erie, Pennsylvania. On some of the residential streets the traffic signals were two-color, red and green with no yellow. In one direction the red was on top and on the cross street the green was on top. Only two bulbs and a simple switch were required to display all signal aspects.