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A few months ago, I decided to sell some of my signals in my collection. One was a personal reason, and another reason that I did not necessarily mention was that I wanted to begin to collect signals and signal equipment solely from the city New York. My search began at the time, and, as some of you already know, I have found some interesting stuff (even prior to when I made this decision).

My most recent acquisition is this lovely 16" Winko-Matic VI 2L AG pedestrian signal (see pictures below). Of course, it saw service somewhere in the city of New York (unknown as far as what borough in particular), and the year of manufacture is 1989. It is rather interesting to me that Winko-Matic continued to manufacture this model, not to mention that N.Y.C.D.O.T. continued to install it at the time. Why I find this interesting is that, in general, many replaced the original LPS-20 pedestrian signals from Marbelite (including some others) throughout the five boroughs in the early 1980s, and my original assumption was that this was slightly older. In any case, this quite a find for me without no doubt.








For its age, the pedestrian signal is amazingly great shape (even though considered as "off-the-street" condition), and I realized its original color is practically the same color as my N.Y.C. Marbelite LPS-20 is (when placed next to it). Naturally, I inspected the inside, and the reflector assembly and lenses are in good shape as well. Everything was surprisingly easy to remove. No wear and tear, too. My curiosity led me to view the inside of the actual housing itself, and it was quite dirty (along with a nest inside of it). Though after a good cleaning, I noticed the common characteristics, in which make this an authentic New York City signal, such as the use of a marathon terminal block, for example, in which is still in use today from what I understand.

Like my New York City LPS-20 from Marbelite, there is a decal within the housing that has a statement, in which reads "PROPERTY OF THE CITY OF NEW YORK," a year of manufacture (1989 as I mentioned), name of company, and some serial numbers. Below, is a picture of what this decal looks like within the actual housing itself.



Here's a picture of the marathon terminal block.



And here's another decal I found that is on the lenses. Similar to the other decal (as far as what is printed on it).



Its history is mainly unknown at this time; however, what I do know is that the gentleman that I purchased this from bought it at a garage sale 15 years ago. With this said, I would like to imagine that this pedestrian signal was in useful service somewhere in New York City for a short period of time, and, due to whatever reason, it was most likely removed from service prior to the conversion of the hand and man, in which first began in 2000. This short period of time in service (as I guess) might explain why the pedestrian signal is in very good shape.

In any case, I am very happy to own this great piece of N.Y.C. traffic control memorabilia, and I will soon wire it to my G.T.E. e/m signal controller. It will then operate with the other N.Y.C. pedestrian signals I own. More pictures to come later.

Very nice score Does it have a Winko tag on the outside also?

I wired the Winko-Matic to the signal controller tonight, and it operates well. As of now, it is currently wired to the Cooper/AtLite L.E.D. hand and man insert, while the Marbelite LPS-20 controls the second phase by itself. The picture below shows both the Winko-Matic and Cooper L.E.D. hand and man in operation.



Below, is a picture of my set of New York City pedestrian signals.





Though not a complete set, in which shows every kind of pedestrian signal that was once in use throughout the boroughs, my set here shows a transition from one pedestrian signal to the next. A 27 year time period is shown. From 1975 to 2002. In order, from right to left, the Marbelite LPS-20 was manufactured in 1975, and its kind was removed from the streets of the city of New York by around 1985 or so. The next pedestrian signal that appeared in the picture was the Winko-Matic VI 2L AG pedestrian signal, in which, based on what I have seen in photographs, made its debut in the boroughs around 1982. Mine here was manufactured in later years. 1989 to be exact. By 2000, New York City D.O.T. first began the conversion to the hand and man, and all original 16" pedestrian signals that were in use were retrofitted. The process took about four to five years to complete. The last pedestrian signal shows my 2002 Cooper/AtLite L.E.D. hand and man insert, in which I ultimately decided to place in my other Winko-Matic pedestrian signal housing. The G.T.E. housing might have to wait for now.

Crunge98 wrote:Very nice score Does it have a Winko tag on the outside also?

Hey, Jay. I missed your comment when I posted on here. Sorry.

The housing does not have a tag on the exterior. As I recall, the ones from New York City completely lack those.

WHOA!

Congrats on yet ANOTHER excellent acquisition, Steven!

This officially confirms that the NYC Winko-Matics have their ID tags inside the housing, rather than from the outside! I also knew about that sticker on the lens, since I first learned about this in 2002. Back then, there was a gentleman, who had a blog, living in Brooklyn, NYC, and was a sign collector. One of the things that he was looking for, was a WALK/DONT WALK lens, and when the contractors came to his neighborhood to replace the signals, they had left older equipment behind! He found 4(!) Winko-Matic glass lenses, piled on top of a whole stack of garbage bags, in front of his apartment building! It would have been excellent news, but unfortunately, when he got downstairs to check out the lenses, he saw that the top lens was cracked & broken in half. He lifted the first one, to discover that the second one was broken, as well, and so was the third, but luckily, the fourth one was perfectly intact, although the rubber gasket was cracked! He took it upstairs, to clean it off, and one of the things he mentioned, was that sticker on the lens! I thought they just had an ID tag, and that was all, I didn't even know that existed, and that was when I learned of the Winko-Matic Signal company! Until then, I didn't know what those 'WM' symbols on the signals, stood for!

You may very well have one of the final Winko-Matic peds off of the production line, as Winko-Matic and their affiliate, Multisonics Corporation, both filed for bankruptcy, in 1989. You are correct that your signal wasn't used too long, since it appears to still have the factory paint on it. It does look brand new, although it was used in service!

Hope you take great care of that signal! Nice side-by-side comparison, as well!

mcorivervsaf wrote:WHOA!

Congrats on yet ANOTHER excellent acquisition, Steven!

You may very well have one of the final Winko-Matic peds off of the production line, as Winko-Matic and their affiliate, Multisonics Corporation, both filed for bankruptcy, in 1989. You are correct that your signal wasn't used too long, since it appears to still have the factory paint on it. It does look brand new, although it was used in service!

Thanks, Jose. I was rather surprised to see the year of manufacture, since, as you may know, many of the original Winko-Matic pedestrian signals date back to when they replaced numerous Marbelite LPS-20 (and some other kinds) pedestrian signals throughout the boroughs in the early 1980s. I was not sure when the company filed bankruptcy, so that is good to know, and this might be indeed one of the last that were manufactured for the city of New York.

I know these were still installed in the mid 1980s, and the Brazilian company Peterco introduced its 16" pedestrian signals in the late 1980s. In 1989, D.O.T. would have been continuing to install them at various intersections, so I originally thought Winko-Matic was out of the picture at this time.

I'm not sure if you remember those from Peterco, Jose, but I always thought they were pretty neat. They were quite similar to the 16" Winko-Matic pedestrian signals. Though they used a slightly different louver that was similar to that of what was in use for the 1st generation of the G.T.E. P-6. The font on the lenses was also different, not to mention the color of the signal indications. Below, are two pictures of one.

That's a great signal collection. Now all you need is a neon WM, right?

signal-in-the-box wrote:That's a great signal collection. Now all you need is a neon WM, right?

Thank you.

An authentic N.Y.C. bulky Winko-Matic neon pedestrian signal is definitely something I want to acquire one day. D.O.T. removed them from the streets of the city in the early 1980s, so I am unsure if they are completely extinct today. Though I would like to think that one is hiding somewhere. Only time will tell.

I'd also like to obtain a Marbelite M-P6-L eventually, in which N.Y.C. has been using for a couple of years now. Others that are not necessarily on the top of my list (though ideal and nice to own) are a G.T.E. P-6 (1st generation) and Peterco.

steven1981 wrote:I'm not sure if you remember those from Peterco, Jose, but I always thought they were pretty neat. They were quite similar to the 16" Winko-Matic pedestrian signals. Though they used a slightly different louver that was similar to that of what was in use for the 1st generation of the G.T.E. P-6. The font on the lenses was also different, not to mention the color of the signal indications. Below, are two pictures of one.

Yes, Steven, I've seen quite a few of those Brazilian produced signals from Peterco! As far as I know, I have seen units as old as 1987, and as recent as 1990. Naturally, these weren't as highly regarded as the Winko-Matics, but they served their purpose!

Personally, I disliked those visors/louvers. They look very cheaply made, and the WALK/DONT WALK commands are even harder to read in direct sunlight. The visors themselves, were used as donors for other signals. Before the conversion process to LED's, I saw two G.T.E. P-6's around Pelham Bay Park, with those visors, and they made me cringe! They just don't look right.

As far as NYC Winko-Matics go, there was also a polycarbonate version produced, as well. These particular ones use hexagonal style screws on their cabinets in order to open & close the door frame.