« Tattoo You II | Main | Triangle Welding »
Westinghouse
Photographer: Cynthia Lammert
Date: 1980s
Place North Side, Pittsburgh
Why this sign?
It was fun to watch the sign evolve as various sections lit up along the raceway. It was said that no combination of lights was ever repeated.
Posted by Mark at December 5, 2004 8:52 PM
Comments
This neon sign was on what I remember as a pinkish-orange building by Three Rivers Stadium. Once a year or so, I'd come down to Pittsburgh with my family to see a baseball game. This sign was a reason to be impressed by Pittsburgh. I've been looking around on the web to get more information. The only relevant things I've found is this article by Chris Potter, and a Queens College computer programming project on replicating a similar sign by the Long Island Expressway. Please help out if you can.
Posted by: Mark Stroup at December 6, 2004 4:46 AM
dang! i'd forgotten all about this sign...man, if i could just turn back the clock and photograph this...great post!
Posted by: Dan Buczynski at December 7, 2004 2:58 PM
Thanks! There's a lot of sentiment attached to these photos...
Posted by: C. Lammert at January 6, 2005 8:43 PM
it's almost a travesty that the Westinghouse sign was dismantled a few years ago... what's next? The Bayer "Pittsburgh" sign atop Mt. Washington? Ooops, that is still THERE isn't it? (Certainly hope so!)
Posted by: bill b at February 2, 2005 10:34 PM
I have a few colour slides (SLIDES???) of the W's in action that I will have to find, scan & post. Way back when, I always used to park in the Stanwix Street parking garage, always took time to watch the W's flash...Really wish I could find more info on the lights and their control system!!! I rem years ago an article in the Pittsburgh Press about them, how they worked, etc. Perhaps someone remembers this article & could post it...
Posted by: Ed Wolinski at April 8, 2005 2:17 PM
I miss that sign so much!!!! When I was little I'd try to watch it as long as possible, hoping I'd see the same sequence of lights (my dad, a lifelong engineer at Westinghouse Bettis in West Mifflin, tried to explain why that wasn't going to happen, but it took a few years of grade school math before I really understood it).
Posted by: anonymous at May 25, 2005 4:46 AM
This is my favorite sign because of my infatuation as a kid. It had a digital feel to it that was so hi-tech.
Posted by: David Sebin at June 7, 2005 6:18 PM
progressive and never repeating sequence!
Posted by: Kenneth Tator at June 9, 2005 3:19 PM
The sign is GONE!!! Living in NJ for the last twenty years, I wondered if the Westinghouse sign was still there. What a shame...it was always fun to go into PGH. on a summer night and watch the sign change.
Posted by: Melissa Jones at August 11, 2005 12:37 AM
I miss the sign, too! I have lived in Raleigh NC for the last 8 years and I brought my boyfriend, Parker, to the Burg' this week. When we went to Mt. Washigton, I didn't see it! The sign is gone and it is a great part of my memories and our city's history.
Posted by: Kathy at August 6, 2006 5:20 PM
Just driving thru the BURGH and suddenly thought about the sign.When was it put up and when was it torn down and why?At some point,mathemtically,it must repeat.......right?
Posted by: gerry and laura at October 2, 2006 9:19 PM