The strikingly-styled Signal Service Corp. (SSC) signals, made in Elizabeth, NJ in the 1930s and ’40s, are among my favorites. Along with their American Gas Accumulator (AGA) predecessors, SSC signals were widely installed in New Jersey and across the US, but they were mostly gone by my time, and they rarely show up for sale in today’s collector’s market.
I finally got my chance to add an SSC light to my collection in November 2023, when I spotted a 2-lamp signal advertised online as a “railroad signal” near Cape Cod. Nothing about its service history is known. It came to me with both wire entrances capped with sheet metal, several holes drilled in the back, and a top coat of yellow that did not reach all the way around the back. Fortunately, the tag was never painted over. It’s a TYPE – BCE 21, which indicates a 2-lamp, 1-face signal.
The signal had only minor corrosion, and was fairly easy to work with. The back of the housing modules were slightly warped by an impact. I think someone drilled one of the holes in an attempt to pull the lower section back to shape. Ultimately, I was able to remove all the visor screws and lens tabs with help from a propane torch. The acorn nuts at the top of each tie rod loosened very easily, but I didn’t bother trying to loosen the frozen nuts on the bottom plate.
The end plates are iron, so the light is fairly heavy for its size. The top plate (part # AGA 1316) has a 1 1/2″ smooth bore opening. The bottom plate (part # AGA 1317, pictured above) has a 2″ threaded entrance.
This light was in service in a horizontal configuration with red and green lenses (I assume at some kind of gate or toll booth). I swapped in the Kopp WAIT and WALK lenses, and added a GE finial.
I repainted the signal silver, a commonly used signal color in New Jersey before WW2. I love how this stands out amid my other signals, which are all dark colors.
Garden State Signals 
