Willis Lamm's
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Econolite "Long Groove" Traffic Signal and Sign Box |
| This is the first signal that I actually installed in the "wild." It originally consisted of a 2-way red bouncing beacon signal with an accompanying dual facing illuminated "FIRE SIGNAL" sign box. At that time Fire Station #44 entered onto Orchard Rd., Orinda. The exiting engine had to enter a somewhat blind intersection in order to get onto Moraga Way, the adjacent arterial street. After a few near misses with surprised motorists, the Fire Chief authorized the installation of a fire signal that was actuated either manually at the fire station or by an "Opticom" strobe light emitter atop the fire engine. |
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The signal was removed around 2003 when the station was rebuilt and the entrance was relocated. Unfortunately when the crew was lowering the signal they lost control of the span cable. The whole works dropped to the pavement, breaking the signal and sign box.
One face of the signal was repairable and one sign panel survived. For this restoration I made some minor repairs to the signal head, replaced one lens and installed a gooseneck hanger to replace the broken cluster hardware. I also had another sign box made to the same specifications as the original one, except that this time it only had one opening for the illuminated sign panel. Amazingly my pencil notes on the plastic sign panel from over 30 years ago indicating which side it faced were still legible. |
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| The illumination for the sign box is provided by two F18T12CW fluorescent tubes, mounted horizontally. The ballasts for the tubes are mounted each upper corner of the sign box. |
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