Philly won't give up its Amtrak flip board without a fight

Amtrak recently announced that it planned to replace this analog technology with a digital screen, just as it had done at stations in Boston, Baltimore, New York, and all the other cities it serves. But Philly residents and lawmakers objected so vehemently that the rail agency seems to have relented.

To be fair, the sign is not in great condition. As the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Inga Saffron notes, it runs on a Windows 95 (!) and desperately needs to be integrated with more current software. Its parts are aging—its manufacturer, the Italian company Solari, no longer makes replacements. Amtrak has understandably argued that it’s a headache to maintain.

Saffron herself, the Inquirer’s Pulitzer-winning architecture critic, argued in favor of preserving the sign in a recent op-ed. Her big points: aesthetics and function don’t have to be at odds, and keeping the sign as is or replacing it with an ugly blue TV screen aren’t the only two options. There are alternatives! If the American office of Solari can’t spruce it up—and they told her they can—there’s also a local company that makes easy-to-read, laptop-controlled split-flap signs. And if you’re still wanting for reasons: It’s also more energy-efficient.

At the end of the day, Saffron argues, this clickety-clackety old technology is now a design icon—flappy signs are coveted by artists, mounted in expensive homes, and appear in high-end restaurants. Milan’s modern airport proudly uses one. The 30th Street board is “an integral part of the ceremony of travel.” To preserve it would be to preserve a key American cultural artifact

The very first train under Amtrak’s control left 30th Street Station at 12:05 a.m. on May 1, 1971, bound for New York.

https://www.citylab.com/transportation/2018/12/amtrak-philadelphia-30th-street-station-split-flap-display-board/578053/