The Find

In 2010, a NJ collector named John Strzykalski sent me photos of a 1938-47 Horni Signal fixed-face 4-way light that he had just restored.  The signal was originally hung at the entrance of an industrial complex in Sayreville.  It was in really good shape for its age, and still had some of the original Kopp #27 lenses and all the original reflectors and brass wing nuts. When John got it, it had the original Horni tunnel visors on 3 sides and a newer set of Marbelite cutaway style visors on the 4th side. Based on the photos, somebody had rotated one set of tunnel visors and then snipped them to try to get a symmetrical cutaway profile. John ditched the snipped visors and made new cutaways, as you will see below.

Dismantling

Above we see the signal being dismantled and prepared for painting. Note the reflector assemblies have the narrow gauge frame, which is a sign that this is a “later” Horni, probably close to the the time when Marbelite took over in 1947.

Restoration

Besides replacing the snipped visors, John repaired at least one door latch, and fully replaced the sockets and wires and hooked up a circuit board controller. All paint was stripped off then primed and spray-painted green by hand.

Signal Re-Born

After rebuilding the signal, John took the restoration further by drilling into the base and affixing the signal on top of a pedestal and putting a newly-machined finial on top (last three photos).  The purist in me would have kept the light on the original hanger and hung it from the ceiling, but I also know I would not have had the patience or skill to do such a thorough restoration in the first place. Excellent job!