New N Scale Road Signs from Tichy

[Dave Schneider]

Got an email from Tichy Train Group announcing a bunch of new road sign sets.
https://www.tichytraingroup.com/Shop/tabid/91/c/n_signs/Default.aspx

These look really nice and a decent price of $4.95 for 18 signs. A very nice addition to their product line, which is filled with quality N scale offerings.

Best wishes, Dave

[C855B]

Yes, very nice. As a traffic sign aficionado, I think they did a good job. The graphics are well-executed and not fanciful approximations like most I've seen. Most are modern, however, and follow post-1978 signage standards. That is when the icon-based system was mandated, such as the skidding car to indicate "slippery when wet" and the "keep right" sign with the island and squiggly arrow. Many of the text-only signs can be used to represent maybe back to 1950. Speed limit signs would be a push, as a lot of states used white on black before things were standardized in the '70s.

The round RXR with the straight-up X recalls a much earlier sign, but most I've seen in the "collectibles" market are white, not yellow. The yellow stop sign is an old (non-)standard style.

[daniel_leavitt2000]

I have a ton of the Blair Line signs, but was unhappy with the visible dot pattern of the full color signs - they obviously used a laser printer. These look a lot better and seem to be scaled a bit smaller than the Blair signs. I would probably mount the signs on new posts, these appear a bit too flat. I really like the fact that they are pre cut.

[peteski]

I really like the fact that they are pre cut.

Not really pre-cut, but the result is the same. According to the description, these are injection-molded styrene.

[Dave V]

The yellow stop sign is an old (non-)standard style.

The Manual for Uniform Traffic Control Devices specified yellow stop signs until 1954, when the familiar red was specified.  For transition-era modelers, both types would be correct, as it took several years to phase out yellow stop signs.  However, they were indeed standard prior to 1954.

[C855B]

The problem with MUTCD for older stuff is that it was "a strong suggestion" rather than a mandated standard. State DOT engineers still did as they pleased, and even local authorities played free and loose with the recommendations (or ignored them altogether). It wasn't until '66 that MUTCD became incorporated within a federal law tied to highway funding, and everybody was more or less forced to sing from the same hymnal by the early '70s.

At least for a while. It's happening all over again. I spent the last seven years engineering and deploying those electronic sign systems (among other "intelligent highway" features). I was at meeting after meeting thumping MUTCD, railing against bad system usage practices that some high-up state muckety-muck wanted to shove down everyone's throats. I and MUTCD rarely prevailed. 

[peteski]

BTW, these signs are available already from M.B. Klein (at the usual discount).

[Chris333]

BTW, these signs are available already from M.B. Klein (at the usual discount).

And mostly sold out already...

[RSWController]

Yes sold out... quickly.  I went back a couple hours later to pick up some stop signs and they were all gone.