SignalTraffic Forums

So its been a long time since I've posted but I thought this might be interesting to you guys. My last day at the McKinney Avenue Trolley was a few weeks ago and my final project was to repair the broken advanced warning flasher on Allen St. The flasher is on a hilly curve leading up to where our trolley crosses the street. Its a severely blind corner and we have quite a few accidents involving our street cars there.

The original flasher had been defunct for years and we had it running for a while recently but every time it would rain, water leaked into the Safetran sections and shorted everything out.

So instead of a repair, we decided to replace the entire thing completely. Since I am still a volunteer, I will be going back to paint the pole yellow and the base green, the old 1950s and 1960s Dallas color scheme. Of course, PROPERTY OF M.A.T.A is written all over the flasher box so the city doesn't think its theirs....

Here is the signal, you remember it for sale a few months ago? Well no bites, so its serving a more meaningful life.
The signal was completely sandblasted and restored and the seals on the doors are in great shape. Glass lenses and aluminum reflectors.


Untitled by dallassignals, on Flickr

Heres the old Flasher and the process of replacing it:

Thats me in the picture beginning the dis-assembly.


Untitled by dallassignals, on Flickr

We had to chop the pole down so the signal didnt sit too high since we were switching to a slip fitter mount. How to power power tools without an accessory outlet? Hard wire a scrap outlet box you found around your shop! Worked great!


Untitled by dallassignals, on Flickr

Assembly and wiring. All new wire was run for the signal head to the flasher.


Untitled by dallassignals, on Flickr

And shes alive!


Untitled by dallassignals, on Flickr

Sign remounted, time to clean up.

Untitled by dallassignals, on Flickr

Ticking away during the day! The drop light will get a time switch soon.

Untitled by dallassignals, on Flickr

and at night! The drop light does an incredible job lighting the sign.

Untitled by dallassignals, on Flickr

Ill have a video of it in action soon!

That's the coolest thing I've seen all week! Awesome!!

that is too cool Sean, nice job and what a gift!

That's a replacement I can live with!!!!

pyth wrote:That's the coolest thing I've seen all week! Awesome!!

I agree! I wish more older signals could be put back in service like this. Nicely done!

Very nice

Oh wow, very cool that the ol' girl is going back to work again! I'm really glad my down light went to such good use.

Very NICE!!! Great to see it back in service.

Yeah the drop light really makes a huge difference on visibility. since its on the inside of the curve, the reflectivity of the sign doesn't really do much since the cars headlights are not directly focused on the sign. I would also like to get some chicken wire glass cut for the drop light to protect the bulbs from possible vandalism. This light is basically in the downtown area.

Me and the other M.A.T.A. shop guys have been checking on her daily to make sure the drop light bulbs are still burning. Like I said before, we will be installing a time clock or a light sensor relay to switch it on at night.

Wow that looks nice! We have a couple curve warning signs here with droplights that dont work - if we ever get slow enough, I'll have to try to get them working again!