Solari Flip signs at Newark Penn

Looks like some more flip signs were removed this weekend or just before. The track end signs are now all LCD's. The only remaining flip signs are probably on Tracks 1/2 and the main one by the information booth in the station. Are their days numbered too?

I hope not, at least not the one by the information booth in the main waiting room area. The "clack clack" as the sign changes is a great aural cue to look up at the board and see if there's information about your train.

"Hey, lets replace the flip signs that worked forever with new LCD's that get destroyed in the freezing cold!" says one decision maker.

"GOOD IDEA!" says the other.

Does anybody remember when they put all the new color LCD's in Hoboken. All of them where replaced not even a month later with new screens because the cold damaged them all in under a week.

sullivan1985 wrote:"Hey, lets replace the flip signs that worked forever with new LCD's that get destroyed in the freezing cold!" says one decision maker.

"GOOD IDEA!" says the other.

Does anybody remember when they put all the new color LCD's in Hoboken. All of them where replaced not even a month later with new screens because the cold damaged them all in under a week.

Yeah, that was done around 1995 or so... Amazing it took NJT more then 13 years to replace them at Newark...Well, maybe not so amazing!

The worst are the ones at NY Penn Station - the signs next to the tracks on the Exit Concourse for NJT. They are usually scrambled, or near impossible to read. Combined with the condensed-font TV departure boards down there, the Exit Concourse may have the worst electronic signage in the whole system. I can't believe they haven't upgraded those to color coded screens.

SomervilleRailfan wrote:I hope not, at least not the one by the information booth in the main waiting room area. The "clack clack" as the sign changes is a great aural cue to look up at the board and see if there's information about your train.

Been to South Station in Boston? I'm not sure if this is still the case, but last time I was there, the replacement LCD sign played a very fake recorded "clack clack clack" when the sign changed. So much for progress, but at least it solved the problem of not knowing when it changed.

ryanov wrote:Looks like some more flip signs were removed this weekend or just before. The track end signs are now all LCD's. The only remaining flip signs are probably on Tracks 1/2 and the main one by the information booth in the station. Are their days numbered too?

Well, they may not be flip signs, but I think they're still made by Solari... (the fairly new screens at platform level certainly are)

Funny that I should find a topic on the Solari board at Newark Penn! Saves me from starting a new thread on this....

Last night, I'd just arrived from Philly on Amtrak 178. Waiting for my ride, I took a peek at the Solari board and saw that it was showing NJT train 3870 as 'to New York from Philadelphia'!

I started to take a pic of the board with my cell phone, but besides being too far away even when standing right under the board, it corrected itself to read 'from Trenton' when it flipped up to the next line...

Too many police around to risk even a bad pic anyway...

I was going through some old pics from 1995 the other day, and found some from Hoboken. I think I have a good one of that board. I have to go back and look.

So how soon until they replace the one at 30th Street?

Taborite wrote:Well, they may not be flip signs, but I think they're still made by Solari... (the fairly new screens at platform level certainly are)

Yes, all the flip and digital boards at most stations are Solari.

When enroute home on my daily commute, I generally glanced at the old sign at Track 5 to ensure the RVL train was not moved in a rare event to a different track before heading up. However, more than once, the new LCD sign has had advertising for something or other (not NJT) rather than the train info. Rather annoying since I want to confirm the track.

Ken W2KB wrote:When enroute home on my daily commute, I generally glanced at the old sign at Track 5 to ensure the RVL train was not moved in a rare event to a different track before heading up. However, more than once, the new LCD sign has had advertising for something or other (not NJT) rather than the train info. Rather annoying since I want to confirm the track.

Ads are always a pain.

cpontani wrote:I was going through some old pics from 1995 the other day, and found some from Hoboken. I think I have a good one of that board. I have to go back and look.

So how soon until they replace the one at 30th Street?

Probably soon considering that a few weeks ago the 30th street sign was totally off and displaying completely wrong train info. They later on disabled it, but it was back to working today.

sullivan1985 wrote:"Hey, lets replace the flip signs that worked forever with new LCD's that get destroyed in the freezing cold!" says one decision maker.

"GOOD IDEA!" says the other.

Does anybody remember when they put all the new color LCD's in Hoboken. All of them where replaced not even a month later with new screens because the cold damaged them all in under a week.

My question is "why replace something that ain't broke?" I wouldn't change a car tire just for the fun of it...

Chessie GM50 wrote:

sullivan1985 wrote:"Hey, lets replace the flip signs that worked forever with new LCD's that get destroyed in the freezing cold!" says one decision maker.

"GOOD IDEA!" says the other.

Does anybody remember when they put all the new color LCD's in Hoboken. All of them where replaced not even a month later with new screens because the cold damaged them all in under a week.

My question is "why replace something that ain't broke?" I wouldn't change a car tire just for the fun of it...

Long term advertising revenue...? That's what Newark's new LCD boards show when they don't have train information to display.