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I bought these today, but I've never seen them in photos of old buses or trolleys in Detroit. The route numbers are correct but the buses and trolleys used vellum[[sp?) roll signs to display routes. They'll look cool on the wall but it would be nice to know something about them.Attachment 20969
Maybe they were from streetcar stops? Like the ones downtown that several different lines would use.
Look to be old DDOT transit signs. Mt Elliot is now a different number.
Too new to be Streetcar signs I'd peg em Mid to late 1970's.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Detroit...Transportation
I forgot to mention that they are plastic or Bakelite. Looks like they could be backlit in a lightbox application.Quote:
Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner
The Cadillac/Harper bus route is route 7 35 doesn't exist anymore, rt 12 is conant/mt elliot
I think you're right. Despite the fact that the lettering appears to be in a style from a much earlier era. Those are D-DOT bus route numbers, which makes them post-1975. I believe the Mt. Elliott route was discontinued in the late '80s, so they would be from before that.Quote:
Originally Posted by DetroitPlanner
All of which doesn't answer the key question of what these signs were used for.
Trolley destination signs?Attachment 20972
Panel behind the words Silver line so they can be changed if the route changes.
Not all were roll panels,if you had 20 cars they would not fit or if a different car was used on a different track you could carry the route changes with you or if a car went out of service you pull the route sign out for use in the replacement car.
Off key but notice the double front side doors? Wheel chair access.
Around the late 80's-early 90's, Detroit tried to compete with the rest of the country by running these green, rubber-tired, trolley's around the City. Could they possibly from those?Quote:
Originally Posted by Detroit Signal
No. Those trolleys came on board around 1995-97. They were all CNG fueled. DDOT had no CNG fueling station so they barely got used. Huge waste of money.
Sorry Detroit Signal for the late reply here. I just ran across this thread while doing a Google search. If I recall correctly, this was a short-lived campaign started by DDOT during their early years [[1975 or so). These route signs were a way to display the bus route along the side of the bus for those passengers attempting to catch the bus coming from the rear. There were metal holding frames placed on the right side of the buses where the coach operator would slide the sign into place. But as I said, the campaign didn't last long and was soon forgotten.
I remember the Cadillac-Harper.... it doesn't follow a route one would think... It started at Mack/Moross, went up Moross to Chester, to Harper, to Gratiot, down Gratiot to downtown [[Cadillac Square). The "Cadillac Express" followed this same route, but never stopped along Gratiot.
Where did you pick these up? We just lost a lot of artwork in our apartment when we had two roommates move out and are always looking for new things, especially Detroit themed stuff. I know we have two Detroit Motor Club signs waiting to be brought down and touched up, but any hints on where else we can find totally awesome things would be great.
Thanks bc_n_dtown!!
I picked these up at the store on Third and Grand River. I collect signals and signs so I'm always looking for this stuff. Sometimes I just get lucky.Quote:
Originally Posted by motz