Right on the US 1 exit of the Schuylkill Expressway is an old 12″ bread pan style Crouse-Hinds type M:

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At the next intersection is a classic set of 70’s Eagle flatbacks mounted at the intersection of City Avenue and Presidential Boulevard. This is a standard Poles Inc era install, with Poles Inc mast-arms that have trapezoid shaped flanges, and signal heads with louvered backplates. Originally, the entire intersection was Eagle (and one of the Poles Inc mast-arms were swapped out for one with an octagonal base).

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A classic photo of this intersection shown dated 6-28-1974, showing the Eagle flatbacks in the process of being installed. Image courtesy of the Special Collections Research Center. Temple University Libraries. Philadelphia, PA. The flatbacks are shown facing sideways, instead of being covered by burlap sacks or trash bags. The backplates were likely added to the signals later on, this was also before pedestrian crossing in the intersection was forbidden, since the pedestrian bridge was being added.

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Broad Street has a mix of classic and modern signal equipment, some of the signals are original, with some Poles Inc era mast-arm signals still in place that were installed as part of the TOPICS project, while the other portion of the route was redone in 2009 (Every intersection between and Glenwood Avenue and Grange Avenue), and all the TOPICS project Poles Inc installs were replaced with Peeks on brown mast-arms.

First, we have a rather classic Poles Inc era intersection, with some 12″ Eagle flatbacks (the garden variety choice of signal back when these were installed). Nothing specials about this intersection here, originally there were two 12″ Eagle signals mounted on the side of the mast-arm, but one of them got replaced with an 8″ McCain sometime after the turn of the century. This is at the corner of Broad Street at Nedro Avenue:

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The opposite side of the intersection (facing the southbound corner of Broad Street, has an Eagle flatback with improperly inserted LED modules). The side-mounted signals were originally both Eagles as well, but also got replaced with some aluminum McCains with tunnel visors. The LED modules are Gxr11s.

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Next intersection up, has an extremely rare gem, probably the oldest signal in the main part of the city. If you want to be technical, the oldest signals in the entire city are the pedestal mounted Art Decos on Kitty Hawk Avenue in the Naval Base. Here is a New Old Stock 12″ Marbelite type L traffic signal mounted at the intersection of Broad Street and Champlost Avenue. Not too much is known about this signal, all I know is that it was a prototype of the last generation 12″ head that Marbelite made before they went out of business. This signal, is still in relatively good shape…..and has Eagle visors for some reason, and since the visors are a different color than the rest of the housing, it’s likely that they’re not original to the signal. The only other type L that I’m aware of, is the one in Pittsburgh. This is one of the most uncommon signals that could ever be spotted, and I could probably count on one hand how many of these existed. Another thing that stands out about this type L signal is that each section is finned, with the body possesses a distinctive slight bugle shape. Yeah, it has LEDs, but I’m thankful that I was able to document such a rare gem!

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At the intersection of Broad Street at Chelten Avenue, we have a mix of classic and modern signals. The mast-arm facing the northbound part of Broad Street has the original Poles Inc era specs, while the other mast-arm was added in 2019, which was the result of an emergency replacement. The overhead signal on the old Poles Inc mast-arm is a Highway Signal & Sign Co., with the side-mounted signal being an Eagle flatback paired up with a McCain, while the signals on the newer mast-arm are an ovehead McCain, an 12″ Econolite, and a recycled Mark IV.

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The next intersection over, Broad Street at 65th Avemue, has a some square-door Econolite Bullseyes (which are not commonly seen in the eastern side of Pennsylvania, despite being once common in Philadelphia at the time these were installed). The two side mounted 12″ signals are a Crouse-Hinds type R and a Crouse-Hinds type M.

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On the section connected to this, which is Old York Road and 66th Avenue, are a pair of 12″ Crouse-Hinds type Rs, with a Crouse-Hinds type M mounted on the side:

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A few signals mounted where Broad Street merges out of PA 611 and becomes Old York Road in Philadelphia, PA. The McCains facing the southbound end of PA 611 replaced some Eagles, while the McCains facing the northbound end of Broad Street (the part not signed off as PA 611) replaced some Crouse-Hinds type Ms, these were added in 2014, when the Philadelphia Streets Department decided to touch ups on a few intersections along Broad Street. Like the previous intersection the original Poles Inc era mast-arms remain in place. The other signals include a couple of Eagle Siemens heads, and a McCain doghouse.

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At Broad Street and 68th Avenue are more Poles Inc era installs, with a majority of the signals being 12″ Eagle flatbacks, one of them being paired with an 8″ Crouse-Hinds type R, and older 8″ signals are very uncommon in Philadelphia.

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The next intersection over has some more Eagle flatbacks and an 8″ type R, Broad Street at 69th Avenue:

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The next intersection over has some McCain pedestrian signals guarding the pedestrians, instead of 8″ signals, like before a mix of signals, these include Econolite, Mark IV, McCain, and Eagle flatbacks. The Eagles are original to the intersection along with the Poles Inc mast-arms:

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And some more Eagle flatbacks at the intersection of Broad Street at 71st Avenue (these were installed back when the city was mostly flatback). There’s also a brand new Econolite 8″ signal, with a pair of aluminum McCain pedestrian heads:

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Now back to Old York Road (that’s now singed off as PA 611), at the intersection of Old York Road and 68th Avenue, we have some non-flatback Poles Inc era throwback Philly signals thrown in the mix, an overhead 12″ Crouse-Hinds type M facing the northbound side of PA 611, with a pair of last-generation parallelogram logo 12″ Marbelites, on the opposite side of the intersection, we have a garden variety Eagle flatback, with a Marbelite and a Highway Signal & Sign Co on the side:

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The next intersection is not too different, with a few more Poles Inc era signals, a Marbelite facing the northbound end of PA 611, an Eagle flatback facing the soutbound end, with a Highway Signal Sign Co, and YET ANTOHER Eagle mounted next to it, and more Eagles flatbacks side-mounted on the opposite end of the intersection! Yeah, Philly abused flatbacks to death back when these were installed. Here are some close-up shots of the 1970’s Parallelogram logo Marbelite in this intersection:

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Since the city is extremely large, each section of the city will be divided into thoroughfares, click the sign to be linked to each street

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Catasauqua 4-ways

On the same day that I spotted that Eagle 4-way, a half hour away, in Catasauqua remain a pair of hanging works of art. A Crouse-Hinds type T porthole (the flat top version), which is way less common than the pandoga top model, paired with a slightly newer type M 4-way. The porthole is a very early Crouse-Hinds signal, manufactured from the 1920s, until the mid-30’s, around the time they began producing the type D. My best guess is that the intersection only had the type T operating it alone, until the type M 4-way came up. Besides the signal housings, the intersection doesn’t have much of the original specs left, the controller is an electronic Econolite, while the signals themselves have GE LED lenses (minus the green section of the type M, that’s facing the westbound corridor of Pine Street, which has GTx-11s)

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

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Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.

This is an example post, originally published as part of Blogging University. Enroll in one of our ten programs, and start your blog right.

You’re going to publish a post today. Don’t worry about how your blog looks. Don’t worry if you haven’t given it a name yet, or you’re feeling overwhelmed. Just click the “New Post” button, and tell us why you’re here.

Why do this?

• Because it gives new readers context. What are you about? Why should they read your blog?
• Because it will help you focus your own ideas about your blog and what you’d like to do with it.

The post can be short or long, a personal intro to your life or a bloggy mission statement, a manifesto for the future or a simple outline of your the types of things you hope to publish.

To help you get started, here are a few questions:

• Why are you blogging publicly, rather than keeping a personal journal?
• What topics do you think you’ll write about?
• Who would you love to connect with via your blog?
• If you blog successfully throughout the next year, what would you hope to have accomplished?

You’re not locked into any of this; one of the wonderful things about blogs is how they constantly evolve as we learn, grow, and interact with one another — but it’s good to know where and why you started, and articulating your goals may just give you a few other post ideas.

Can’t think how to get started? Just write the first thing that pops into your head. Anne Lamott, author of a book on writing we love, says that you need to give yourself permission to write a “crappy first draft”. Anne makes a great point — just start writing, and worry about editing it later.

When you’re ready to publish, give your post three to five tags that describe your blog’s focus — writing, photography, fiction, parenting, food, cars, movies, sports, whatever. These tags will help others who care about your topics find you in the Reader. Make sure one of the tags is “zerotohero,” so other new bloggers can find you, too.