During the mid and late 1950s, GE produced 8″ signal heads with a round sections made from sheet aluminum. These lightweight signals are usually referred to by collectors as “Streamline” signals, because of their round shape. They are extremely cool. To me, they feel something like old camping equipment.

The corner of Washington Ave and Pascack Road in the Township of Washington in Bergen County was one of the last holdouts of GE Streamlines left in the state, and had been photographed by several collectors over the years. The banner picture at the top of the page was taken in 2018 by Kevin Mueller.

The township auctioned off two of the hanging 2-way GE clusters in January 2023. Steve Conboy, a friend and fellow collector, won the auction, and I offered to pick them up from the town on his behalf and store them in my garage (see above) until he could make a trip back to Jersey to get them. As a generous token of gratitude, he let me keep one of the four signal heads. Steve has loved these particular lights since his early childhood living down the road from them.

The signal I kept had been somewhat damaged, most likely due to a truck collision. I was able to straighten the alignment easily enough, but when I tried to replace the red LED with an incandescent lamp, seating the reflector was a small challenge, as the housing was a tiny bit warped. These signals are kind of a pain to work with, especially if there is any damage. I feel lucky that I didn’t slice up my hands while working with this one. But the advantage comes in their incredibly light weight. And they look – oh – so cool!

Below is the new addition to my basement display, with the red incandescent lamp restored, and a repro Eagle “stubby” finial attached to the bottom.