Signs of the Times

Old Tyme Sign Classics, Act 4 (or, 'John, you IDIOT!!!", Part 3)

2009-08-06T02:04:31Z

Tonight, our final installment of Old Tyme Sign Classics goes back in the vaults of repressed memories....the signs i used to have and this time, we are in states around Ohio, aside from the Indy I-74 seen previously....

This is one i was lucky enough to replace...with a better example

Two typical KY State route markers.....sure wish i kept the 4-di one!

and an old-style neutered KY US 60...

THIS was actually a trade FROM Scott.....dig that funky Weasel font.

Now for an assortment of yellow STOPS from all over....

Steel, with a reflective silverish band in the center

This one was a PA sign....and made (re-embossed) from an old square embossed curve sign!

a lil cutie...

I'll have to go back...i dont recall this sign if it was really red, or was really yellow and the negative was starting to go bad...must not have had it long...

flat steel...

This was a 30x30, and steel...man, it was heavier than i expected!

and a nice assortment of jewelled signs....i had several of them at one time, but sold them to a English sign collector for like $1,000 back in early '94

Well, that concludes the current look back in the vaults......and man, it broke my sign collecting heart to have to unload some of the signs you have seen in the last few posts....but at the time, economically, i did what i had to do....and i pray i wont have to do anything like that again

Old Tyme Sign Classics, Act 3 (or, 'John, you IDIOT!!!"), Part 2

2009-07-25T02:03:36Z

Welcome back for today's edition of Old Tyme Sign Classics.....last time i shared with you old piccys of signs from far away places that i wished i could get back....for THIS installment of The Trip Down Terror Lane, we stick closer to home...namely Ohio.....

Standard 116x16 steel cutout. Actually this one went to an ODOT employee as a token of thanks for some stuff he obtained for me (back when ODOT employees could actually DO such things....)

This was a lame effort on my part at restoration...when i got this from a northeastern ODOT depot, it was bare metal, but you could make out the route it had been most recently used on was 531....so i used masking tape to try to replicate the numbers, painted the sign, then used the amateur stencils to poaint in the numbers.....this went west to Scott

One i REALLY wish i had back......bought in an antique shop for the princely sum of $30 in 1991....when i would show it off, my running joke was always "If you can tell me what part of the country the State of Temporary is located, you are a better geographer than i am..."

Bought this from a guy in an antique shop in 1990......never saw a spot of paint in its life, and was discarded unused, when it was discovered in a scrapyard and rescued....they guy sold it to me under the condition that i would never paint it......never did, and sold it back to him in '95.....

This was cut down for me in 1991...and stayed on the roster for many years, but i dont recall what its fate was

This goodie was actually screened on a BGS when it was taken down by the City of Dayton.....i took the panel it was screened on to a local sign shop and had it cut out. Regulation size, just a bit thicker than a standard aluminum US shield. (And the guy in charge back them was friendly to sign collectors....not like the so-and-so i encountered there a couple of years ago who, while his position was understandable, didnt have to be quite so curt about it....)

Another antique shop purchase in the early 90s....and about as pricey as Ohio cutouts got on ebay now! This sign was paint, but the previous owner had its face treated to keep the paint from weathering away (It was definitely non-reflective...)

Another 24x24 Ohio cutout....i had to choose between this and the Ohio 49 when i had to pare back the collection...this was the sign that drew the short straw...

A rare 16x16 sign from the 1950s...trotted out yearly for the Ohio State Fair. A nice colorful sign....wish i kept this one too

Standaard 24x24....nice B font tho...

This shield i beleive now resides in the Jeff Francis collection....circular hole next to the 'E'....patch 5 over a 0....that be it alright! Hope it is enjoying its home

and a larger version....

When Ohio 4 was redone completely between Dayton and Fairborn in 1992, i was able to pick up these shields (the crews didnt care, it just meant less stuff for them to pick up after the resigning was done!)

First, this 36x36 shield

and this 24x30 fiberglass shield

This shield was unusual....made of 'countertop' material, it saw use in construction zones....i should of kept it simply because it was so unsual...

A nice old Ohio Turnpike sign...

and this odd I-shield.....Ohio seldom used button numbers like Georgia did...but here was one sample that did

And one more i wish i kept...partriotic number! one of a batch of I-76s that were to be sent back for refacing and this was the best of the lot

This small Ohio 7 (or one like it, i had 2 of them) went to the then-head of the Maryland Sign Shop if i recall rightly....

Picked up at a flea market in the early 90s....and disappeared quickly

Finally for today...got this in CIncinnati, and i think it now resides in the Scott Broady collection.....(at the time, i had the TEMP US 6, so i didnt think i needed two of them....)
.

Stay tuned for out concluding chapter where we visit nearby states, and continue to cry over losses.....

Old Tyme Sign Classics, Act 2 (or, 'John, you IDIOT!!!"), Part 1

2009-07-21T01:16:19Z

A couple of weeks back, i posted some signs that i used to have in my collection some 15 or so years ago, some (well, most all of them actually) that i wished i had back in my collection...

Tonight, we will look at the signs that, if i still had them, would have filled a LOT of significant gaps in my collection! (hence the subtitle above! Who knows if i would ever be able to replace these.....)

THIS would have finished Indiana nicely.....but if i recall rightly, i sold it to Scott back in '93 or 94. Standard shield with scotchlite sheeting....(the white flecks you see on this and a few other photos are snow...i was taking these piccys outside during a light snowfall....) This is one i really wish i had back!

This one would have ended things in Pennsylvania....standard Pennsy shield, with PennDOT logo on the lower edge...obtained in 92, i sold it to a local shop in 03, and never was able to get it back....prolly in another collector's hands right now

This was given to me by the same PennDOT garage in 92.....somehow wandered into their area and they had no use for it...

From the same garage....a unique US route to PA.....and i have no recollection what its fate was

and one more goodie from them...this was a refaced sign, and the black (numbers and background) was all stickied on engineering sheeting

Anothe sign it pained me to let go of....the last 61-spec (but i didnt know it as such back then) I-95 up in Delaware....this was hex sheet that was flaking rather badly, and bent just a bit. I never tried to rebend the sign for fear that any such attempt would damage the already fragile sheeting. The guy who was in charge of the local DelDOT office at the time allowed me to take it down myself (and no doubt, all the motorists were wondering about that brazen fwellow chopping a sign in broad daylight!...thankfully, no cop came by to ask...but this WAS in 92...a different world back then...)

Closest i could get to Delaware State and US shields back then....

I stopped by the DC sign shop and while i only came away with two sheet I-shields that i had put to blank aluminum upon my return to Ohio, (one i still have)...this was the other one....

The Maryland DOT guy was very helpful back then (same mid-Dec '92 trip that saw me hit DC, MD, NJ, NY and Conn....with no luck in Mass or VA)

This was made for me in their shop while i poked aropund their garage and scrap piles...

This was found in an obscure shelf, all dusty and hidden...but cleaned up nicely. This also went west in one of my forced sell-offs...and another 'wish i kept this!'

an newer old MD US shield

Dont recall what i did with this one.......

..or this newer shield....

Next stop on today's tour of misery, New York...

this was all beat up and bent when i got it from a NYDOT scrappile north of NY City....i was able to straighten it up enough to make it displayable, but it also left sometime in the mid 90s.....i am not as upset by this one as i replaced it with the I-684

two typical NY route shields......nothing really unusual about them

Finally i found this at an antique show. I have NO idea which State it is from, but the pattern of mount holes on edges and corners indicated it was a BGS sign....can anyone tell me more? I think this also went West in 93 or 94....

Next, Part 2, Closer to Home!

See you for our next installment of Old Tyme Sign Classics!

Follow-up to the Prototype CONN sign issue......

2009-07-20T13:10:24Z

Well, i spoke to Jeff at the ConnDOT Sign Shop this morning...he did get the email with all the photos you saw in the previous entry attached, your opinions as expressed in LJ as well as the AARoads Forum and the Signal Traffic Forums (which had the blue 15 ahead by a significant margin over the blue on white, with support for a black and white versions as well as the original outline sign. He did forward them to his superiors....

The consensus he got was that there was no real interest in pursuing any changes now, even under a 'grandfathering' situation as in South Carolina (there, they are not replacing old with new designs pell mell, but as sign replacement needs dictate). It was also felt these signs might not meet MUTCD standards (Dunno how in the hell Vermont gets away with their green markers then, but oh well), but that at some point, when the economy improves, maybe they could revisit the issue with standard black and white coloring. But as he also noted "We Connecticut Yankees tend to not like to change things just to change them...."

So that is where the matter rests for now......

Thanks for all your help in this project...even though it didnt end as maybe we might have liked, at least we tried to do something positive...

Opinions Needed

2009-07-11T00:47:25Z

(Those of you who have seen this on either the AARoads Forum or Signal Traffic Forums or my main LJ can feel free to not vote, but please do add your feedback
Based upon some wild whim i had been kicking around for quite a while, i took it upon myself to take this classic CONN 15 photo and work it a little bit on Photoshop....

I showed the photoshopped examples to the guy in charge of the ConnDOT STate Sign Shop back in May and he liked what i had done...we discussed making prototypes and showing them to the Commissioners to see if they might go for a change from the Boring Square (trademarked by Dangermoose!) to something a bit more modern looking...and certainly a helluva lot different from Mass, Rhody and Maine!

Anyway, allow me to present my real life prototypes normally as well as under flash

Replica of the original 1970s design (engineering sheeting)

Prototype A

Prototype B

What design do you guys like best...and which do you think would be the best one for nighttime as well as day driving?

Results will be shared with the ConnDOT guys when i go back up in a few months

Old Tyme Sign Classics, Act 1

2009-07-07T02:43:14Z

Welcome to our first installment of Old Tyme Sign Classics, a montage of signs I USED to have and in some cases, wish i STILL had...

These were made from negatives i took back from 1991 to 1993 when i started being forced to sell some of them off to pay bills (at the time, i was working two jobs and STILL not able to totally make ends meet.....) Some of them landed in other collections, others, i have no idea where they may be now, but most of them....well, i sure would like to get them back!

all of today's signs fall into the "want them back"....

Lets start off with the batch of four....all Ohio issue and a common-sense acknowledgement that roads didn't just run in four directions only...until the Feds told them to "knock it off and play it straight!" All standard sized tabs

Next is this lovely example...24x24 non-reflective except for the buttons...this sign came off a BGS. This was returned by me to the local ODOT garage i got it from in early 1994 (I know, I know....'FOOL!!!')

Next is this little 16x16 cutout. Long after cutouts disappeared from Ohio highways, the Department of Natural Resources used these cutouts to mark roads in the State parks...Very few of these original shaped markers still exist in the wild, mostly replaced by weird-shaped cutouts or other signs. This sign was green on a white paint background, but later signs were brown on a semi-reflective face

And this 36x36 cutout was seldom seen off major freeways...rather bulky but conventional in layout. Scotchlite sheet and stickied-on numbers

18x18. The unusual feature of this City of Dayton made sign was the face was beaded glass....the black background and number were silkscreened over the beads....

24x24 cutout 'screened inside a square' This sign spent its service life hanging on an overhead wire next to a stoplight with an arrow underneath . Some did find use as pole signs, but most were overhead signs

18x18. Standard shsield on square for city use. This was the ONLY sign of this sized style i ever had and have never been able to locate another one

24x24, old style 3-di sign. A few still reside in Cincinnati in both 24x24 and 18x18.....i may see about heading down there my next day available...

That ends tonight's first installment.....Jake , feel free to use these in the AA Gallery

See you next time for more Old Tyme Classic Signs!

Idea Stolen From DangerMoose!

2009-05-25T02:55:36Z

Sorry Jake! I liked the idea....and i finally had a sign to do it with!

*snerks!*

Vacation Piccys......Signs of the Wilds.....

2009-05-17T02:02:26Z

Armed with my trusty Fujifilm F480, i went out sign hunting while on vacation. While i was unable to locate good signs in Delaware, i came up with enough stuff otherwise to fill a good-size page!

Going state-by State (not date shot)

Connecticut....

A very polite sign....almost reminds me of that STOP in the Beetle Bailey strip that was emblazoned "Please Stop, Okay?" Off US 6-44 in Manchester

Now we will show you some side-by-side comparisions....original CT design...and the preferred FHWA design....you decide which design makes a more 'natural' sign....

First sign on US 5 in Enfield.....second sign on CONN 161 near Niantic

set 2. Original (wood) on old Conn 156 in Old Lyme....current sign on US 44

Set 3....original on Conn 156...the current design on Conn 169

Set 4...first is the old design (and the last I am aware of of this classic, esp the 48" size)) on Conn 161 near Niantic...the current design is on US 44 (btw, i checked that first one...the sideroad is part of the curve, not an add-on sticky due to need)

(my own personal preference is the classics....they look better than the Fed designs....but maybe you disagree...)

Other Connecticut shots...

Oops...did someone have a brain-fart and forget the true nature of 5?   yeah, we thought so too! (Enfield CT)

Can you guess what is 5 miles ahead?  No fair peeking for the answer!

Jeff admits they could be more consistent with their fonts, but half their route shields are silkscreened, and the rest are 'stickied' depending upon the needs of the field offices (B font is silk-screened, D font is vinyl)

One of the lamest acknowledgements of US 6 being the Grand Army of the Republic highway....ever!

OMIGAWD, make it STOP!!!!    ARIAL...FONT.......MUST......DIE!!!!!!!!!!!! (the layout could have been better planned as well....

This 66 should have been kicked....to the curb....HARD!

Nice set-up

This bridge was originally supposed to be a railroad bridge, then was used for a relocated US 1 before the Turnpike (I-95) was built...still looks very nice and classic

These were shot from a gas station in Niantic....the station with the best scenic view in all Connecticut i am guessing (those hills you see wayy back are in Long Island. On a good day with no smog or low humidity, you can see all the way across the Sound!

and this is just west....East Lyme's private cottages (with private beaches attached, no doubt)

Spot the odd sign....(Essex CT)

Thick white band around the black background....not common on Conn US shields, but not especially rare either

A rarity in Connecticut. They generally dont use 24x30 shields for 3-di routes

Some other Connecticut signage...

My mom's hometown (and for me, my emotional home town as well...many happy summers spent here when i was a kid)

and finally, to wrap up Connecticut, on my way out and back to Ohio....took me until the last 10 miles to find a good shot but it was worth it!

Vermont

Only two shots, which is pathetic considering that Vermont has the largest treasure trove of ancient and merely old signs out of captivity

Old assembly in downtown Barre

a 36" 61-spec shield on the open road....and doing fine, thank you!

Massachusetts

A lot to see....and photograph...

The only cat-eyed route marker known to still be out in the wild. circular stimsinite buttons...prolly from the 1940s...and in reasonably good shape!

This sign is almost as old as me! @_@ Doing quite well for a sign that will turn 50 in September! (date on the corner reads 9-59)

Another ancient shield that defies time....

Now for two well-known signs...one is showing its age pretty badly...and the other, well, let the photo tell it's sad tale...

A neat-o sign. The RED only comes on when the stoplight actually turns red...once it goes green the RED goes dark. I didnt get a shot of that because the driver behind me blew his horn in my ear!

Fianlly for Massachusetts, you all recall this legendary sign...which now resides in my collection...

Meet the new boss.....not quite the same as the old boss...

Fianlly, i dont generally pay much attention to gas station signs beyond how much per gallon....but this one caught my eye.. Looks like Gulf Oil is trying a new logo in the New England area (the old logo is very much alive in Pennsylvana from what i can see...). I call it the 'peekaboo' because it looks very much like the Gulf logo is 'peeking out' from behind/under the sign/overhang ...and it looks as if it was done by an elementary school kid....

coming tomorrow or Monday...the winnings of this trip!

End of vacation....and piccys still to come!

2009-05-16T17:44:51Z

Well, lessee...where did I leave off?

well, i ended up not really going out in the rain...as it turns out, the skies were too dark for any really good photography...so i stopped by the store, picked up some tuna and mayo, and made lunch for the trip back....

Friday morning, packed lunch, ate a fast breakfast and checked out. Drove to the other place, but the guys were gone...the only people on site was a state trooper who was helping with some guys trying for their CDLs....so i decided to go ahead and drive back to Old Saybrook and pick up the grinders....also decided to take the Merritt Parkway (Conn 15) and skip the Turnpike (good choice too....a LOT of south construction on I-95....got into Jersey just after 130, and decided to visit the NJ Signs and Lines ...and picked up 5 signs. The guy told me "If you can actually get in the scrapbin and fins anything you want go ahead, but if you get hurt, i dont know you" I told him that was OK, being as tall as I am, i had no real trouble getting in or out and came away with five nice pieces (4 for me, 1 for elsewhere) At that point, trip over and "time to get the hell out of Dodge"...got back at 1230AM. Got all 40 signs unloaded by 130....washed most of them today, and sent Jake out his two....

Oh, about those prototype Conn route markers?

Here are the photoshopped prototypes....

Prototype A....the cooler sign in Jeff and my opinion...

And Prototype B...the better choice if number readibility is the issue

either way, no more boring state route markers!!!

*g* once we get Connecticut changed over, then we work on Rhody, Mass and Maine!

The actual wild signs later tonight, and the winnings maybe tomorrow or Monday!

The Recap so Far.....Piccys later!

2009-05-14T22:21:47Z

Left early Monday morning to head East for my semi-annual sign shopping trip. Stopped in Wheeling W VA first to see if i could scarf anything up there (not likely as the guy i needed to speak to was out until mid-afternoon, but the answer was likely 'no' anyway. Stopped by PennDOT in Pittsburgh and had no luck there either. Headed east on the Turnpike but unfortunately, did NOT make it to the state sign shop in Harrisburg before they all were fleeing at 3PM. So, i headed to Delaware (after dropping almost $20 in tolls on the Pennsy Pike). Unfortunately, i was unable to find the last I-95 before it started getting a bit nervous (the sign is located in 'the hood'....not a happy area after dark to be) So i drove north on the Jersey Pike and the Garden State parkway dropping another $10 in tolls....and $5 more at the Tappan Zee bridge north of New York (when i paid the toll, i asked the guy what they would do if i didnt have the money....his response was "We have a giant rubber band that would shoot you back across! Nice to know that late at night, some state employees have a sense of humor!) Skipped I-85 and drove up ther Merrit parkway in Connecticut and arrived in Springfield Mass at close to 1230AM

Tuesday, hit the depot across the street, but all i found was a lonely Mass 19 (possibly earmarked for another signgeek). After ward, went to the STC State Sign shop and talked to the head shopmeister.....i gave him a couple of phtoshopped portotype shieldsthat he liked...but he told me that the Commissioners may not go along (I will post the photos in my next entry....both were modified off the classic CONN 15 state outline signs...one was a white Connecticut with blue backgound and blue 15...the other was a white background with blue Connecticut and a white 15. We agreed the blue background was cooler, but if readibility of number was the top issue, the white shield was likely the better choice. I think he may make up a couple of prototypes off my photos and see what happens when he presents them to the higer ups.

I hit my usual haunts elsewhere and came away with just 6 signs in one place (but 2 important gap-fillers!) but hit the jackpot the other site. I lost count now, but i picked up close to a dozen signs there including 3 I-95 shields, all in decent shape. Afterwards, i did some driving around and shot a few photos of signs...

Yesterday, i headed out to see what other luck in Massachusetts I might have. Found some of the legendary older Mass signs including possibly the LAST cateyed route shield ijn the wild). As to stops I made, stopped at a diustrict office where they guy i spoke with was helpful enough to give me the number of the head sign guy...plus tell me three places that signs usually go to when taken down. Went to one of those palces....picked up 3 signs including a Mass DPW US 20 square, so now massachusetts is officially complete in my catalog I hope to hit one or both of the other places tomorrow before i leave...

After that i drove all over eastern Connecticut and shot more sign piccys.....then ordered some grinders for my mom for Friday pickup (she cant travel anymore, so she needs a taste of home any chance i get) then met with my cousin and his family for dinner and conversation (my uincle and aunt were there too, visiting from Tennessee)

This morning, only two places....the local district office which was a washout...they were helpful enough....just that their old signs were already bundled up and the guy was told 'Do NOT unbundle them, no matter what!" and they called one other guy about a sign i spotted who was distinctly unhelpful....however i did call the other chap from the office i visited yesterday...and he said when i had a better idea to definte date i would be back, let him know and he would try to make sure the signs i seek would be ready for pickup...

Vermont was a great stop...came away with 11 signs (but only 7 for me....the other four are earmarked for agentsteel53 or one other guy from the AARoads forum Well, it is rainin g but i am headed back out to shoot some more photos before it gets too dark....

Conclusion to this report (plus more sign photos than Carter has little liver pills) coming this weekend!

Please look forward to it!

Because of us44mt....

2008-12-06T20:34:48Z

After a back and forth on my last entry with Mike that led to his photo shoot here:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/55173627@N 00/3024701941/

well/////i felt like i had to do something....

so, feel free to blame Mike!

Had to do this.......sorry, Mike....i just had to! *LOL* but it was fun!

any kids i do have WILL know their numbers!

although i can see it now....

"Mr K, your child is terrific in class....knows the numbers, but i have two requests to make..."
"Oh?"
"Yes. Please, tell them to STOP drawing US and Interstate shapes around the numbers on their math homework and tests...it is very distracting! And two...."
"yes?"
"Would you PLEASE explain that US 1 plus US 5 does NOT equal US 6!!!!"

hmmm.......new sign math?

Back from the follow-up raid

2008-10-29T11:14:31Z

And i now have a complete set of I-shields for one route!

Starting in New Haven.....

Rolling into Springfield

and on into Brattleboro...all the way to the Canadian border!

(so it is only 3 shields, whoopie-doo! if i wanted to REALLY impress, i should try for all 16 I-95 shields....

The Vacation.....Good and Bad...and the photos!!!

2008-09-20T17:31:40Z

First things first....Mike i am sorry i missed you completely last Sunday....as I was afraid of, I didnt even get to Scranton until way late. when i got to Slate Hill, and called on Sunday morning, your wife told me you were out ...i am sending the S.H.I.T. a lil' something to apologize with for my mess-up.

Saturday, got a late start....i wasnt terribly unhappy that i overslept by two hours...i figured that if that was the case, i must have needed the sleep (and i did...i worked a LONG week to get ready for this trip and to make sure nothing would go wrong while i was gone at my day job....)

On a whim, i decided i would drive US 6 acrioss Pennsylvania and New York into Connecticut...i took only a few phots....not as many as Jake would, but since i dont walk and chew gum at the same time, i figured i couldnt drive and shoot at the same time either...

Andover, Ohio, and the ONLY acknowledgement i am aware of in the State of Ohio of the other name for US 6

Pug-ugly US shield in Pennsylvania....looks like the US shields from one old map company years ago (they did the maps for Esso and Humble back in the 1960s)

I missed taking a piccy of PA Route 666...it was gone in a blink of an eye, and i couldnt turn around....so here was the next best thing...

Get your kicks on PA 66........or maybe not....

I saw these on US 6 the whole way east...my guess is this was to make 6 as a scenic highway...it certainly is unique..if you cant see the top, it says 'Do 6". Green mostly.

For Jake...it had NO reflectivity under flash which leads me to think this is porcelain....just outside of Coudersport PA next to what looked like a nursing home...and the only one i saw in Pennsy. The years havent been too kind...

At that point, it staerted getting a bit too dark for pictures...and i had to take a 25-mile detour due to some bridge replacement work on 6...

Sunday was as nice as Saturday was rainy and nasty

Found this, possibly the last cutout in PA still on a pole, but i aint telling where it is, so the owner wont be hassled by other, lower-class, signgeeks (not the faithful readers of this journal, who are all high-class kinds of guys and would never do that sort of thing, right?)

And to verify that US 6 in PA is one LONG road, here is proof...

Crossed into NY withoput incident except that the bridge pn the border reminded me of why i always hated driving on pierced steel-planked bridges....you always feel like you are one twitch of the wheel away from slidding sideways into someone...

Got two photos in NY on US 6 and 202 just after crossing the Hudson....a bit of a hazy day...

Now for some Connecticut signage

FOUND: A wood sign still in service....prolly close to 50 years old...and looks it, too! (I drove by it when i went to have dinner at my cousin and his wife's house, and it has NO reflectivity left!

And 30 feet down the road, this one...

And in the next town, i found this (been whacked all to hell by a weedwhacker....

and a classic Connecticut design....soon to be extincted by FHWA standards

Got into Maine late Sunday night...while listening to the Stillers beat up the Brownies on a CLEVELAND radio station from north Providence all the way up to game's end in Maine...

Monday> No Maine photos.....after talking to the sign shop guy in Maine who was very friendly ( but not willing to part with a sign, or trade for a blank one...the story I got has it that a new Maine Turnpike shield had shown up on ebay, and one of the Tpke commissioners saw it and a hissy fit...he had the State and Turnpike sign shop guys on the carpet , demanding to know how that happened....i guess the Turnpike shop guy admitted he had allowed collectors to sift through the scrap piles looking for older stuff, and possibly a new sign had gotten out that way...as a result of this, Maine will no longer give out old signs to collectors....*sigh* as in the military, all it takes is for one monkey to screw up and mess things up for everyone else!) I was sent from Augusta to a shop in Bangor who had done some sign work for the State, but that was a wasted three hours for nothing. They had nothing but State highway markers, but would cheerfully make me an Interstate Maine 95 sign to MDOT specs, but it would take 1 1/2 to 2 weeks.....Just for giggles on the way back, i stopped by a local MDOT garage, but in the end i struck out there too....so i drove into New Hampshire on US 202 which is a very pretty drive, and spent the night in Concord. Nice hotel, even had a computer set up in the lobby for guests to check up on emails and the like

Tuesday> Visited Concord DPW, and New Hampshire sign shop....nothing here eitehr, but the NHDOT guy admitted he would have taken me up on my trade offer, but there was no legal mechanism he could have done that by....but he DID give me a contact source so let me try that first, and get back with you guys on how it worked out. Drove into Vermont while witing for the NH guy to check out his legalities and picked up three items, one for trade (actually now slated for the S.H.I.T.....errm, "Slate Hill Institute of Technology", for the uninformed...), so now i have a new version of the Vermont state marker. I had to swear to the Vermont sign shop guy (who was very helpful) that i would only pick a few, and none would go to eBay. He was pleased when i showed him the three i picked, and none had hex or diamond sheet....Sadly, i ddint find a state-named I-93....plenty of 89 and 91s, and a small stack of 189s. And sorry, Jake, i tried, but no cute I-shields

Took this photo south of Concord on NH2A.....talk about smart business planning! (this seems a also to be a practice rink for the local semi-pro team as well!)

After finishing my business, i went to Hartford to locate that wood I-84 Erin and Jake...i found it, but here is what it REALLY looks like...(Jake, are you sure you REALLY wanted this one??!?!)

...looks like half its face was blown off! (I did find out from Jeff at the State sign shop that the sign is on Hartford streets, hence their worry, but unfortunately, time didnt allow me to hunt them down about this...) Went to East Lyme and booked a room for three nights cheap (Hey, those booklets they give away at rest stops with all the hotel bargains...it saved me a TON of money on this trip...i spent about 200 less than i budgeted for rooms because of that booklet)

Wednesday > Took this photo at one of the Connecticut maintenence garages (Joey K knows which one it is) ...the 5 and 1 are aluminum, the 5 was scotchlite, the 1 was beaded glass with faded paint...it looks worse under flash

I also visited the small towns where i photoed the wood signs...and got a bit more than i bargained for in on case (although not quite what i wanted), but that would require fuirther visits. Since it was still light, i went to the local AMTRAK station to do some train-watching

Not much, but what there was, was action!

Old Saybrook station (originally New Haven RR, but updated by AMTRAK)

Green light means a train is coming...in this case, it was an Acela hotshotting it to New Haven *(was here and gone before i could get it's piccy....FAST!

Concrete ties...the Acela require a total redo of the track to take the pressure and speeds of this train...the older NH-era rails just wouldnt do the job safely

Had more luck the next day....here it comes...

and there it goes...at 120+ mph!!!

Finally some additional Connecticut sign photos...

The newer FHWA -approved sign....looks wrong in some way

and one more classic

and this one is all wrong...vandalized to make it longer and wider to be sure, but even the original just looks....well, Freudian...

and a final sign piccy...this is a survivor...possibly the last STOP anywhere in Connecticut sporting the complete 'State Traffic Commission' on the bottom (signs since the mid-90s have had STC stencilled on the bottom edge). At the end of a McDonalds on the old Boston Post Road (US 1), so likely a privately used sign now...if so, it's retirement has been hard on it

and finally, all hail a true classic...and it could be yours for $12, 500

Oh, the rest of the trip? Did ok in Connecticut and Mass, struck out completely in Rhody (I was telling their shop boss "Take my blanks, PLEASE!!! I dont want to bring them back to Ohio!!!") More seriously, the Rhody shop is going to be changing their set-up...they will be installing gates soon, and nobody will get to see the sign shop guys without an appointment from the front desk. The guy (who like most sign guys i have met, was very cordial) told me they had problems with people walking out taking signs, traffic lights, even metal lightpoles, so now they wont give away anything any longer....and they are vigorously going after sign thieves (some kids in a nearby town were caught copping a sign, and unlike the old days when they were "kicked in the ass and told to go home", they are now facing years in jail and lives ruined before they get started...)

Never got south of Jersey.........my trip was a bit too ambitious, but that was ok...had fun anyway!

The winnings, such as they are, will be posted privately...

Some Colorful Arrivals...

2008-08-18T02:04:02Z

Went back to visit Joe K today as he had some stuff for me...he took some pictures of some of my stuff (look for them in any upcoming issue of the SIGNPOST newsletter!) plus we had the usual sign discussions, viewing of some nice license plates from Mississippi (hows comes you guys have such COLORFUL plates? You too, Utah!) and some other goodies....also picked up some interesting stuff as well....

24x24 aluminum, hex sheeting

also 24x24 with hex sheet, opening Utah, the Beehive State...

And now the more colorful characters...

not even a mile long...part of a group of eight sub-highways off the same route (611)...also note that the layout isnt as neat as the 3262 shown back in May...(must have been a post-lunch special....)

You may recall just over a year ago i had a Idaho US 91 where the shield was placed over a brown background to denote it as a scenic route. Now, we share the opposite scheme from Idaho...also scenic...

Now, to complete Idaho....the red crown has almost totally faded away....and the sign was put up some 25 years ago (dated 83 on the bottom)

This sign was stained but the number, a stickied-on number, has held up pretty well...

Finally, this unusual sign from Mississippi...no state markings, but the color is unusual....Joe says this is a rare scenic sign that he only saw a few of when he was down in Mississippi...ordinarily. plain circles dont have much interest for me without some form of State ID...hell, they could be New Jersey, Iowa, Kentucky, MIssissippi, old Oklahoma, or Delaware for all I know...but THIS one was too good to pass up...

he also gave me some information i would need for my trip next month along with some places to check on, and some places to avoid....and what states it would be cheaper to gas up in...

a great visit!

These might be a bit blurry.....

2008-07-08T03:34:24Z

but these are my office walls as of Saturday.....i have one more wall to fill but in the meantime, here you go...

More soon...i hope

1938...and 2008

2008-06-22T22:37:23Z

Well, as previously posted here, i snagged this old Ohio 661 (stamped on the back 1937, but the route wasnt commissioned until 1938...

....well, Ohio 661 isnt that far from where i live....so today, just for shits and giggles, i took a mini-trip and came up with this...

top sign, 24x 30 aluminum, with diamond sheet....from 2008
lower sign 14.5 x 15, embossed steel, no reflective abilities beyond what the paint will allow...from 1938

What a difference 70 years makes in sign technology!

After a couple of False Starts

2008-05-24T23:28:45Z

...fortunately, no penalty yardage was involved.... i finally met up with Joe Koldys at his home today. Spent a nice afternoon discussing signs, and seeing bits and snatches of his vast empire of licence plates and signs which take up roughly 65-70% of his living space (and my SO thinks I am bad....she might change her mind if she saw Joe's place.) He operates the Signpost newsletter which he took over from Scott some years back so i signed up (pun intended) for the newsletter....

we chatted about our various adventures and misadventures in sign collecting. Seems part of the problem with the rising hostility of sign shops and garages towards us collectors has been those few who take a bunch and then sell them on eBay. By and large, it isnt the older stuff that caused the concern, but when the newest stuff shows up, and higher-ups see them, eyebrows are raised and questions asked. No legit sign collector wants to see someone lose his job due to our hobby, so some states are now kinda dicey in regard to what can be gathered (I wont name the states to preserve the collector's ability to be able to visit and get a few pieces off the scrap piles...) We looked at each other's photos and i must say Joe has had quite a few (and even more on his hit-list) He also recounted when his house was broken into that the thieves stole most of his electronics....but gave up on anything else after ripping open some boxes of licence plates and wondering 'What the hell is THIS place??" Surprisingly, the cops asked no questions about the signs when they came over to investigate, prolly figuring that anyone who had THAT many signs was most likely legit....

I also walked away with a small haul which pleased me, but probably will displease the SO greatly when she comes home tonight ^^;; hehehe! Rather than give your FLs a nervous breakdown ...

First the Connecticut shields....in numerical order...

24 x 24 wood...a bit-beat up, but acceptable for its age

24x24 wood. Another sheet with the number cut out

18x18 wood, like the 42. This is a size i didnt have until now

24x24 wood, third verse, same as the first

24x24 silkscreened aluminum, what Joe refers to as 'Style 3'....

24x24 aluminum, silkscreened...and a Style 2 (block corners on the white square)

24x24 wood....dig that B-font goodness

and 24x24 aluminum, note the smaller-sized B font on this Style 2 shield

My first 4-digit marker. Louisiana has decided to keep the green on white state route markers, but change the arrows and directional tabs to black on white per Joe. He also noted that LA never silkcreened their numbers, but used stick-on numbers. SOme look pretty good, some look, well, sloppy is being nice....this is a nice one

Maine has never used the State name on their state highway markers...this is a Maine by the State sticker on the lower L corner, so it counts! :P. 24x30

An older 24x24 steel New York marker....note the oddball font

24x24 from South Dakota, opening up State Number 36.....

This next on is unusual...for those readers who are not familiar with state route markers, this sign is NOT a primary state road. The Texas State route markers are boring squares like the Connecticuts listed above except for 'TEXAS' placed BELOW the number. They do have State highways that are secondary in the pecking order (Farm and Ranch roads), but some of these 'secondary' routes are full-fledged 4 and even six-lane roads in suburban areas!! This sign is from one of those secondary roads, but looks a helluva lot better than the official State signs. 24x24 aluminum.

Yeah, Jake and Alex, i had to grab the last one too...24x24 aluminum.

Now come the three prizes of the visit...

12 x 24 and wood. Joe forget he had this on hand as an extra so i picked it up. (might go in my bathroom behind the toilet! ^_~

12 x 18 and plastic! Oddly enough the non-reflective sign face was the rougher side. My guess is this sign was to be mounted on concrete walls in State-owned parking areas

And finally, this little gem. 24x24 and a couple of extra holes, but you don't see many Wilbur Cross Pkwy signs these days in the wilds of Connecticut...Merritt parkway signs are more common in the southwest part of the state....CONN 15 is still known as the Merritt, whereas I-84 is just that....a lot of folks i think forget about the WC....

And last but not least, this gem arrived at work yesterday....24x24 wood. The stamp on the front says manufacture date of 1966, and a handwritten notation on the bottom indicates a mount date of 9-69. 24x24 and wood.

Well, there you are....now to figure out where to put them all!

(damn spelling glitches!!!!)

The Return Visit....The Man, The Myth, The Legend, The Hai....no, not Mel Kiper Jr....

2008-05-05T16:54:13Z

....*L* Sorry, Mike, i had to do that!

Mike Summa paid a return visit this morning...a nice two-plus hour visit devoted to our favorite topic...signs...

I showed him some of the goodies added since his last visit...he was impressed with the restoration job Jake did on the W Va 9 embossed shield...it reminded him of the old W Va sign he saw in the old sign shops, and neglected to get a piccy of (it was a bit larger and flat with more modern fonts...it did please him to know the W Va guys are now working in a more modern shop than what they were in during his last visit..

He got a template of the GA 332 cutout for his own use, and we discussed replica signs like the projects Jake has been working on in his spare time. Mike had no problem at all with making replica signs insofar that real collectors would recognize the real things from a replica on sight, and as long as they were sold as that....replicas...

we also agreed signs arent as they used to be...too many sloppy signs with misplaced or misaligned (or flat -out wrong) numbers...prolly caused by the sheer numbers of signs demanded by todays standards compared to years ago...and placements were sloppy. He suggested that instead of hiring traffic engineers to plan and put up signs, signgeeks should be hired to do that...we would notice if a sign isnt placed to give enough warning for a upcoming turn, and would know where to place them for maximum effect and safety

We also had an 'exchange of hostages' ....i swapped a couple of extra signs (PA 507 and Oh 49 cutout...both were to be trade bait anyway when i got them) and some cash...and anyway, here is the entire list of goodies

16x16 aluminum....Mike tried to give this a reflective surface while keeping the original outline and fonts...it doesnt look bad, and while it was altered some, it fills a gap in my Ohio collection!

This fills my Vermont line in my photo album

From the great State of Virginia....16x16, older scotchlite on a steel shield...embossed outline everything else was flat (the brown wasnt rust but sheeting that had weathered away

Also from Virginia...aluminum with scotchlite 17x17

From Florida...an old-style marker (note the Keys, which you dont see on current signs) 24 x 24. Dig that spiffy B font!

24 x 24 wood....seems to be scotchlite with the numbers cut out stencil-style...and more B-font goodness. Must have been a Sunday sign as the front is all holey.....(ok, on the count of three....one...two...three....BOOO! HISS!@ the awful pun!)

This is a nice looking sign..24 x 24

Finally the big prize, rescued by Mike from a literal scrap pile...one jewel is missing, and the backplate is gone, but it still is nice and unique..and the color appears to be original as well...first, under normal lighting

and under flash

Next on the docket is a visit with a local signgeek in a couple of weeks...if we can get a day hammered out..

be looking forward to that report

A Lot to Cover Today...a rare simulcast!

2007-09-11T03:48:45Z

Well, we were visited this morning by a legend among sign geeks and road scholars!   Michael Summa came by this morning to pay us a visit, drop off some stuff and take a gander at my sign collection. (Rebecca watched this, all bemused the whole time!)

For those of you on the other LJ who don't know of him, he was a chap who was taking pictures of signs back in the 1970s, during the 'transition period" between the older smaller signs and today's super-reflective large signs...allow me to link one of his sites...

http://mryamamoto.topcities.com/summa5/summa5.htm

His photos also are scattered among many other sites on the Net showing the wide range of signs that the individual states had before the Feds started enforcing uniform appearances in the 1980s...

He brought in a large photo album of sign photos he had acculmulated off the Internet (ebay, other sites, some piccys from my LJ as well!) that Mike would want to replicate through his own efforts, plus a suitcase full of homemade mini-signs that i know Jake would lust after!   He wanted to take some photos of some of the odd signs in the collection (The Maine 1A, NH 101C, the Speed 45 Limit, and green CT US 5) and we just discussed and cussed about the trends in the sign-collecting hobby, namely the increasing price of good cutouts....he says that his real collection is pretty much complete, and while he might occasionally play on eBay, he is content with things as they are....

First things first...he confirms the US 11 i got from Dale last week as a Virginia sign....
the angle of the crown edges and the sign being a bit taller than the standard small US cutout shields...the bolt holes are a bit off in placement, but it definitely was from Virginia.

As to the goodies brought here (all wood signs)...

Non-reflective (more likely that the reflective beads had all pretty much weathered away.....18"w x 12"h

Also non-reflective....probably paint rather than scotchlite 12x12...pretty tiny so i would guess an in-town or neighborhood street sign

Usually seen under 'No Parking" signs.....12"w x 8"h (now i gotta go try to find a wooden STC No Parking sign on eBay!)

Mike wasnt sure what kind of assembly this was to....i thought either a directional sign with either the arrow and/or mileage number hacked off, or a BGS attachment, but neither was true.   46" w x 8" h...if someone from New England knows, let us know

Standard JCT sign....21X 15 and reflective beaded glass

A standard size, but rare....an early orange DETOUR sign
21x9 (for years, states used 'Temporary' signs....
\

finally, a sign that wasnt very common.....it was used briefly before the larger 24" signs supplanted them. 18x18, scotchlite shield placed on a black painted background

Mike also took an up-close gander at the replicas Kim made and commented that they werent quite right...the font was a bit off on letters and numbers (Mike can attest to that with his replica blue US 44 and the real blue US 44....)   He also couldnt understand why non-reflective material was used for the letters and numbers if the trouble was taken to use reflective surfaces for the signs themselves...(I think Kim's reasoning was it kept the cost down, but i dont recall....)

Also discussed were Flordia's colored shields, and the best techniques to get the sign shops and maintenence garages to see us collectors more positively...

Stealing a Page from the playbook of Danger Moose....

2007-09-04T03:43:08Z

In large part to inflict feelings of guilt and inadequacy on him for what goodies he missed when he blew by here at 3 frickin' AM.....

Taken over a nice holiday weekend...

We all saw his 3AM shot of the US 40 BGS...here is what it looks like in broad daylight! The black paint is pretty badly faded as is the green

And just below that.....one of the few 3-digit 24" squares left standing...not quite as faded, but getting there. Also note the Ohio-style directional arrow beneath it

Next, this is outside of Springfield....dunno what the sign shop was thinking when they made these some years back, but they DO look good...better than the all-green signs!

Still in the boundaries of the City of Columbus...they have started using one-piece shields with directional plates and/or arrows....here is an example i saw today and frankly, this is the first one i have seen used as a confirmation marker. Dig that font on that 6!

Usually in Columbus the one-pieces are used like this...as signs to guide motorists to the proper highways....

Just after a stoplight, we find this old 1970s Ohio 16 shield with older C font...if you look real closely in the background, you can see a newer 16 assembly with the more current D font

A ODOT Sign Shop goof.....the piccy turned out better than i thought given i was inside the car, trying to stop and hold the camera steady while some idjit was blowing her horn in my ear!

One of two cutout US 33 shields near downtown Columbus (its sister sign is a half-block further down) Interestingly enough, the signs are standard size if not exact shape....honeycomb sheeting...and the directional plate is wood! The side holes indicate to me it was intended for BGS service when it was put up on a pole instead

Kinda hard to see here, but a strange font on that 257...i dont think ODOT can be blamed for that one as many of the cities and smaller towns either make their own signs off ODOT specs, or contract out to a sign maker for the signs they need. I think this may be a contract sign

Another contract sign....not quite the same design as the 'chopped Ohios' seen elsewhere....but this sign tried to get the Put-in-Bay peninsula on the sign right

Non-standard directional plates

Dig that spiffy B font!

Meanwhile, further up the road, the General Thad has seen some better days....scotchlite is flaking badly. Should treat your heroes better than this!

One of two Ohio 315 BGS-style cutouts still on the road....the others were taken down a few years ago, but this and a sister sign on the other side of the I-70 bridge are still hanging tough

This is the style of STOP used by ODOT to replace those fancified STOPS with the HUGE fonts back in the 80s....still not entirely standard, but getting there. I need a 30" one like this for my collection! ODOT is using more and more FHWA-standard font STOPs now...boooooor-ing!

I need to revisit this assembly and take a piccy unflashed...i didnt realize the flash was on until i pressed the button! The good news, is the I-71 blue is approximate to that other 'flashed' blue we were all curious about...so now i have to take an unflashed picture so we can see what the actual blue shade is

Next, the prize catch of the day.....badly faded and staggered a bit, but still standing proudly after the better part of four decades. The red is pretty much gone, and the white has long weathered away.....only the blue looks reasonably decent. Still, i think this is one of the LAST or the original 1961-spec named Interstate shields left standing in Ohio

Finally, met up with greybeard tonight....he had a lot of stuff and i got a gander at that Tenn 40 he has up for auction...a VERY nice piece!

Did get one item from him...i am guessing that this may have come from Virginia, but that is only speculation as US 11 DID pass through, and Virginia is the last real haven for US shield cutouts on the east coast...definitely saw post time based upon the stains on the backside

he had several of them, but i only could afford one.....

.....oh well........a nice weekend but back to reality tomorrow!

A future acquisition....?

2007-07-03T04:24:39Z

Many of us signgeeks are familiar with one of the last Ohio cutout shields left on the road of the Buckeye....

Well, there is some bad news and some possible good news to report.

Just for shits and giggles, i went down today to see if the sign was still there, and it is! but, the bridge this sign is on is in the process of replacement....a new modern bridge is being built right next to the old one. I stopped by the on-site huts of the guys in charge of the project (an ODOT worker assigned to the site told me that the company is also responsible for scrapping the old bridge out when the new one is completed in a year or two, so what they may or may not do with any signs is probably up to them.) So i spoke with the guy running the show and as is my usual practice, I showed him my portfolio of signs. He took my name and phone and i got their business card. He said it may be a year or two before they are ready to do anything with the old bridge, but i should check in periodically (like every six months or so until they start firming a date for the new span to open)....but he would do his best to see that i get those signs when the bridge is set to go down....so i guess my next contact will be the end of the season in November or so...

(The way it is set and mounted, there is no way to take it down unless the bridge itself is closed to traffic...mounted a bit high up, and off to the side (of course, it WOULD be the side with no sidewalk!), where if you get careless, the whole assembly will flop right down to the water below! So, there it stays for a year or two longer....)

Jake, i know you prefer to keep the oldies up as long as possible, and that will happen with this one, but i wanted to get my dibs in for that day coming soon when it will come down along with its bridge, and i was successful in so doing.

Sign Day at Work!

2007-05-19T13:44:45Z

Well, i had been kinda hinting at it off and on....as some of you know, i work in the day at an adult day center, and my boss knows of my passion for old signs.....she saw the US 23 and had an idea of an all-day module for the participants where i would talk about the signs...and yesterday was the day

i made three new stands for this occasion, plus obtained a couple of signposts from the same place i got all those more recent OH signs...and set up all seven....

The morning session was pretty lively....the participants were surprised at how heavy the US 23 was and how light the Indy US 6 was by comparsion. Got a lot of questions about some of the signs as well....and my interest in them. Got a lot of oohs and ahhs when i turned off the light and shone my flashlight on the painted OH 44, the beaded M 35, the scotchlite VT 242, the hex US 25, and finally the diamond OH 257 to show reflectivity....

Then for the afternoon session i put up.....

Not as many people for the afternoon session due to an outing

It was still an enjoyable day....

and one last shot before i close this entry...

myself and six of my close friends...

*BTW< those are 7' signposts mounted on 1/2 inch wood stands, or 7' 1/2" total stands....yep, i have been accused of being overly tall....*L*

An Interesting New Correspondance

2007-04-27T11:26:12Z

Got an email from a surprising source the other night...

Michael Summa, who was a roadgeek photographing older signs during the transition period long before Al Gore invented the Internet,and whose work is in roadgeek sites all over the place, dropped a line my way!

Seems he found me through eBay and noted my interest in Connecticut signs (he did see the mock-ups and photos of what Kim had done and said they weren't quite as accurate as they should be....he sent me a mock-up of what a red US-1 should look like) He confirmed that most of the signs were colored, but he had no direct knowledge of the 44's accuracy...

"I first mentioned them in an article I did for the SIGNPOST newsletter back in 1998. Did you get the list from there or has someone else verified those colors? I'm saying US 44 was blue because RI was also using color US signs in the 1950's & they matched CT's red-US 1 & yellow-US 6. I don't remember actually seeing a blue 44 in CT, but I remember the display of US 6-7-202 in Danbury before I-84 was built, being yellow, blue & red. As for the accuracy in signs, the reason, according to what I read, is they were done with modern specs on a computer. trouble with that is modern specs don't match the old ones." He is willing to send me the templates of the colored US shields he has so i am taking him up on it.

He also said if i had any other questions about Conn signs to ask him as he worked for ConnDOT back in the 70s....so i may take him up on that offer from time to time

ain't she purdy?

STOP!!!

2007-02-14T22:34:57Z

This LJ is now going private....

If you want to be friended, you need to meet two qualifications:

1. You have to like signs
2. You need a picture or some other symbol of a sign to show your interest (my arbitrary decision)

And one of my current LJ sign buddies has to vouch for you!

Leave your entry HERE below!