8 Inch Single Face Traffic Signals

This page features 8 inch single face signals.

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G.E. stamped aluminum round bodied signal with 8 inch glass lenses and cutaway visors

G.E. 8 inch signals. These signals are unique because of their stamped round bodies. The amount of aluminum used to make these signals is less than a standard cast aluminum signal. It was believed that they may have been produced during World War II, which explains the design that uses less aluminum than cast signals. Since then a former engineer for G.E. during the 1950's has said that these signals were made from 1954-1957 as a cost saving measure. The G.E. signal line was bought by Econolite in 1956 and Econolite did not continue to produce this signal. The signal on the right has very unusual tunnel visors that are 12 inches long. Put your mouse over the left picture to see two other pictures of that signal before and after restoration. Click on either picture to see more pictures of these signals.

G.E. stamped aluminum round bodied signal with 8 inch glass lenses and extra long tunnel visors

G.E. cast aluminum signal with 8 inch glass lenses

G.E. 8 inch groove back signal. This signal has the same basic casting as Econolite 8 inch signals from the 50's and 60's because Econolite took over G.E. in the 1950's and used the same molds but changed the back of the signal slightly. This signal came with "brick" pattern lenses which are also the same as Econolite glass lenses except for the G.E. logo in the glass. This signal sports glass reflectors and has Spider Web lenses in the picture.

Crouse Hinds Art Deco Style Aluminum Signal with 8 inch Half Moon or Smiley lenses

Crouse Hinds Art Deco Style Signal with 8 inch Smiley lenses and glass reflectors.

Here is the first signal set up that I have put outdoors. This 2 way cluster is made of identical Econolite groove back 8 inch signals. The visors on these signals are interesting to me because they go out from the face of the signal at almost a 90 degree angle, unlike Eagle and Crouse Hinds tunnel visors which have a definite slope down when compared to these Econolite visors. This 2 way set up is controlled by a home made 2 phase controller inside the garage. Seven conductor cable that is rated for direct burial runs from the garage, into the ground and up into the signal pole. Put your mouse over either picture to animate the signals. Click on either picture for more about this set up.

Aluminum 8 inch Embossed lenses Crouse Hinds Traffic Signal

Crouse Hinds Aluminum 8 inch type M signal. Successor to the Art Deco signals. It has been called "Bread Loaf" or "Bread Pan" style because the back of it is somewhat bread loaf shaped.

Crouse Hinds/TCT 8 inch Aluminum Signal This signal is made up of 2 Crouse Hinds sections and one TCT section. TCT took over CH signals and these were all made from the same basic mold.

Crouse Hinds 8 inch signal. Successor to the bread loaf signals. This head actually has one TCT section. TCT took over the Crouse Hinds signals and used the same mold. Click on the picture to see more of this signal.

Eaglelux 8 inch signal with glass lenses and reflectors...also known as Eagle Art Deco signal

Here are two very old signals made by Eagle. These signals are held together with 2 rods that run from top to bottom and have end plates. This model is known as the Eaglelux. The end plates on the top and bottom have a rounded "decoration" similar to the Crouse Hinds Art Deco end plates, so I like to call these signals Eagle Art Decos. Some early signals of this model did not have any logo cast in the body on the back as newer models did. Instead, there is a small ID tag riveted to the top or bottom plate on the signal. The signals have glass lenses with the STOP GO flag logo embossed in the center (with the exception of the WALK lens) and they also have glass reflectors. The picture on the left of the green signal with the WALK lens is a static picture. Put your mouse over it to animate it.

3 way set up typically found in Michigan. Side heads are cast aluminum eagle signals, front is plastic durasig head, all 8 inch lenses

This three way cluster of 8 inch signal heads is typical of the way many signals are set up in Michigan. The side heads are Eagles, made of cast aluminum. The left head is an older type with two rods on the inside that hold the sections together with end plates on the top and bottom. The front head is a Durasig polycarbonate head. Put your mouse over the picture to animate it. Click here to see more pics of this and other Durasig heads. Click here to see more pics of these and other Eagle heads.

Eagle cast aluminum signal 8 inch plastic lenses

Another Eagle 8 inch Aluminum signal identical to the one on the right side in the three way cluster above. Click on the picture to see more pics of this type of Eagle Signal.

Green Arrow, Plastic Eagle Durasig head, 8 inch lenses

Eagle Signal Durasig polycarbonate head with 8 inch lenses. This signal is mounted on the wall above the stairs to my basement which explains the direction of the green arrow. Click on the picture to see more pictures of this and other durasig signals.

Aluminum Four section Singer Signal 8 inch lenses

Singer Aluminum four section 8 inch signal. It really did sequence as shown here when I had it hooked up to my EF-15 controller. Click on the picture to see more pictures of this signal.

Aluminum Eagle Alusig head, 8 inch glass lenses

Eagle Alusig 8 inch 5 "inline" signal head made of cast aluminum. All glass lenses. The body of this signal is identical to the polycarbonate Durasig head in the front of the three way cluster, but made of Aluminum, not Polycarbonate. Hold your mouse over the picture to animate the signal. Click on the picture to see more pictures of this signal.

Traffic Signals Inc. made this unique signal. It came with ordinary Kopp Glass lenses so I put in a set of Mac Beth Evans lenses. The signal uses DZUS fasteners to keep the doors closed. The back of this signal is unlike any other signal I have seen. To see some pics of the back, click on the picture.

Marbelite 8 inch signal with Diallight LED modules

This Marbelite signal had its reflectors, light bulbs and lenses replaced with LED modules. LED's are supposed to last longer and use less energy than traditional bulbs. There are different types of LED modules. You can actually see the LED's which appear as the bright dots in these modules made by Diallight. Some LED's have a screened look like traditional lenses. To see a front view, move your mouse over the picture. Click on the picture to see the inside of the signal.

Marb Deco

Here is a sharp looking signal. This one was made by Marbelite. It has Marbelite long bolt lenses in the RYG positions and a Kopp Glass arrow. It also has glass reflectors and the Marbelite exclusive visors that look like a combination tunnel and cutaway visor. But what really makes this signal stand out though is the end plates that resemble Crouse Hinds Art Deco end plates. Hence I call this signal a Marb Deco. What is strange though is that the Eagle and Crouse Hinds signals that used these type of end plates had signal sections that were open on each end and required the end plates to close the ends of the signal. The Marbelite version used closed sections, so the end plates are not necessary. Marbelite must have decided just to include the end plates to add some style to their signals. Also, there are two versions of the Marbelite end plates. One has three vertical stripes on the face of the plate and one that has five vertical stripes. The signal shown is of the five stripe variety.

Aluminum 8 inch signal with back plate and full circle visors

This signal is unique to this collection in two ways. It is the only signal with a back plate and full circle visors. This signal came from California where many of the signals look like this. It was originally dark green with a black back plate, but has been repainted entirely black. This is an aluminum LFE/Automatic signal. The reflectors and lenses are glass. The lenses are the very common Kopp Glass lenses with the saw tooth pattern.

This is a LFE signal. It is made of polycarbonate. I got it because there are many of these in use around the area that I am from. Many collectors pass on poly signals, but hey, they are still signals!

Here we have a Plessey signal from Great Britain. It has cast aluminum porthole doors that hold the lenses in, thick visors and cast aluminum end caps but the body of the signal is made out of sheet aluminum. Because of the sheet aluminum, these signals are also referred to as "Tin Lanterns". The lenses bear a close resemblance to Mac Beth Evans lenses. The cross hatching is just slightly more coarse than Mac Beth's. For some reason, they only found it necessary to put the command in the red lens. When this signal was acquired, it was mostly stripped of it's paint. I decided to repaint it in the color scheme that was used in Great Britain when this signal would've been installed new. Also, the sequence in Great Britian is different than in the USA, with the yellow light coming on while the red is on just seconds before the signal turns green, so the animation of this signal reflects that difference. To see a few more pictures of this signal, click on the picture.

Here is a very rare signal. It is an ornamental Eaglelux made by Eagle. This signal has a solid cast body instead of a sectional body. The body of the signal is one piece cast with provisions for 3 doors/lenses/reflectors. The visors are cast into the door as one piece also, so the main aluminum parts of this signal are made up of just 7 pieces. The body, the 3 doors and the 3 reflector frames. The mounting hardware that is used here is representative of what was used on these signals when they were new in the early 1930's. The actual finials I used are reproductions. The ball crosses that the finials are screwed into have tapered threads, not straight threads. Actual signal hardware has straight threads. The sequence shown in the animation is what some signals did before national standards were developed. When going from green to red, the yellow light would come on with the green for 3-5 seconds, then both would go off and the red would come on. In the animation, there is a slight dark period between the green/yellow and red change and between the red and green change. This was done to mimic old electromechanical controllers that sometimes were a bit sloppy when changing indications. The actual controller that I have running this light, the CH PCN 100, does have this brief dark period between indications which adds to the classic look of this signal. To see a side view of the signal, put your mouse over the animation. To see more about this signal, click here.

Here is another solid body signal. At one time it was believed to have been made by GE because of the reflectors it uses were also used in GE signals. It is now thought to be a "home brew" signal made for the city of Milwaukee, Wisconsin. It is unique in that it only has one door. All three lenses are mounted in the one door. It is known as a Milwaukee signal. I found this signal in incomplete condition. It had an incorrect red lens, a correct Kopp 27 yellow lens, and no green lens. It also was missing all it's insides, the reflectors, sockets, wiring and related hardware. The visors were also missing. The visors on the signal now are reproductions. I was able to find all the original insides for the signal though. This signal is hooked up to the same controller as the ornamental Eaglelux above and has the same green and yellow together indication as was used in some places when this signal was made in the 1930's.

This is a rodded Eagle Signal. older type with two rods on the inside that hold the sections together with end plates on the top and bottom. If you have explored some of the more hidden pages on this site, you probably know that I drove semi truck cross country for a while in 2004 and 2005. When I was in Texas, I noticed that they used 2 section wig wag caution and stop beacons at intersections that didn't require a 3 section red yellow green signal. I decided that I wanted to add a signal of this type to this collection so here it is. Update: I decided to turn this wig wag signal into a RYG so I got another complete section and added it. The result is on the right of the wig wag signal.

Here is an AGA, (American Gas Accumulator) signal. AGA was based in New Jersey and that is where this signal came from. AGA was around in the 1920's and became SSC (Signal Service Corp.) in 1931 or 1932. AGA signals had round doors except for 1931 where they changed to squareish doors like those on this signal, so that dates this signal to 1931. The lenses in this signal are type BB lenses. The body and end caps of this signal are made of steel, not aluminum like most signals are made of. The doors are aluminum though.
Here is a Crouse Hinds type T porthole single face signal. This signal has a one piece cast solid body with a removable face that is also one piece with the portholes mounted on it. This signal was made in the late 1920's. It came with either command lenses or large bead smiley lenses. You can put your mouse over the picture to change the lenses to large bead smileys. I was fortunate that this signal came with its original mounting hardware. It is very hard to find clam shell mounts like these that still have the back side of the clamps!

Here is another signal made by G.E. It is a Novalux. This signal is correct with the spider web lenses in it. The G.E. Grooveback pictured at the top of this page has the same lenses in its picture, but is correct with G.E. brick lenses. This Novalux signal is a solid body signal, meaning the body is cast as one piece, not in sections.

The Traffic Signal Museum

This page features 8 inch single face signals.