Shaker 18 roll sign update

A huge THANK YOU to Bill Wulfert, who has taken on the project of restoring the 18's roll signs and has sent along this update. We need help with information on the car's side roll signs, located over the doors - please comment or send us an email if you've got any information. Thanks!

Bill writes...

As per the pictures I sent yesterday, I found the correct gear, and cleaned it up. I test fit it in the car, and it works just fine.  I also got a piece of sign cloth from Tim. I taped the new cloth to the bottom of the sign. It looks like I will have to reuse the tiny metal tabs that hold the sign in place, as the piece of wire that I tried to use will not stay in that roller.  I saved the tabs and spread them apart, and I think they will work.

The sign box needs some cleaning and painting.

Do you have any idea what is supposed to be shown on the two very small signs above the center entrance doors?  I can see Shaker Road on one of them, but I've been hesitant to investigate further.  Was it "ROUTE" to the left, and maybe "EXPRESS" or "LOCAL" on the right?  I looked at all kinds of pictures, but those signs just do not show up very well in photographs.  Perhaps I can look at them next.  I suspect those will have to be made new.  Luckily they are small.

...Unfortunately I have no idea about those little roll signs over the side doors. YOU can help!

Bill also left me a diagram listing all of the destinations on the head-end roll sign that came with the 18. For those of you who might be curious:

(Top)

SHAKER BLVD.

CENTER ROAD

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E - 34th ST.

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SHAKER

BOULEVARD

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MORLAND

BOULEVARD

---

PUBLIC

SQUARE

---

TERMINAL

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EXPRESS

VAN AKEN

BOULEVARD

---

LOCAL

VAN AKEN

BOULEVARD

---

EXPRESS

MORLAND

BOULEVARD

---

EXPRESS

SHAKER

BOULEVARD

---

EXPRESS

PUBLIC

SQUARE

---

CENTER

ROAD

---

EXPRESS

CENTER

ROAD

(Bottom)

Note that the name of Morland Boulevard was changed to Van Aken Boulevard in April 1951, and it appears SHRT simply inserted a couple of instances of the new name into the existing roll sign without removing the old Morland entries. That was nice of them. Our car was probably painted from the Bankers colors we'll be using into the later grey-and-yellow not long after that, so I think either Morland or Van Aken would be appropriate for its restoration target era. The one I'm not positive about is E 34th Street, which was the first stop east of Terminal Tower but was also where SHRT cars ran onto Cleveland Railway tracks until the dedicated express tracks to Terminal Tower were built in 1930. Any idea how the E 34th destination sign would have been used? Were there inbounds that would terminate at that stop for some reason?

EDIT: Bill Wulfert points out that E 34th was about where the line's Kingsbury Run shops were located, so it's likely that a car headed to the shops would have carried passengers on its "pull-in run" but only as far as E 34th. This may explain why that destination is among the ones on the roll sign.