Welcome to Vintage New Jersey Signals, a website documenting (just for fun) some of the nearly-forgotten semaphoric street furniture serving the Garden State.   I do this primarily for my own entertainment, but I also hope that other signal enthusiasts will enjoy seeing this collection of images.   My apologies to those readers who wish to know more about the new signals in New Jersey.  My interest is largely nostalgic, and therefore, this site does not delve into the more recent aspects of signalization (LEDs, computerized controllers, cameras, etc.), fascinating though they are.

The traffic lights of yesteryear were not as energy efficient as today's models, neither in terms of the energy they consume nor their ability to keep the traffic flowing.   They were often harder to see, and thus could be frustrating and dangerous as the volume of New Jersey's traffic steadily increased over the years.   That said, I am excited whenever I see places where the antique fixtures are still holding their own.   In certain areas, these old cast aluminum (or brass if they're really ancient) lights can still do the job, and to this author, they look a whole lot better than their newer polycarbonate counterparts!

New Jersey, being an "older" urbanized state, has used many thousands of signals going back to the early 20th Century, and so there is still a decent (though decreasing) variety of old fixtures about.   In very rare cases, some long-defunct standards, or even a lack of standards, may still be found in operation.   From one corner to the next, or even within the same installation, you never know what you might find.   If you find old traffic signals interesting, then New Jersey is a great place to be.

The pictures on this site were either taken by myself or by friends in the hobby, or from postcards or other scanned images.  Credit is given where appropriate.  The images on this site are free to be downloaded to your PC.  I only ask that you contact me before using any image for public display.