Philadelphia says goodbye to its iconic 30th Street Station flipboard

The iconic Amtrak flipboard was removed from 30th Street Station after serving travelers in Philadelphia for more than four decades.

The old-style train information sign is removed at 30th Street Station on Jan. 26, 2019. It is wrapped up before being cratedwith its final message at the bottom. The new sign will be installed on Sunday.Read moreCHARLES FOX / Staff Photographer

by Astrid Rodrigues and Tim Tai

Updated Jan. 27, 2019, 4:56 p.m. ET

Published Jan. 27, 2019, 5:00 a.m. ET

It’s the end of an era as travelers and onlookers watched Amtrak crews take down the iconic analog schedule board from 30th Street Station.

The 1970s-era split-flap display was the last in the country to operate at an Amtrak station. Nostalgic fans of the board’s signature clacking recorded the moment on their cell phones when a forklift lifted the sign from its perch late Saturday night.

“The board always fascinated me with the clicking and the clattering. And the movement of the panels too," said Arty Artymiw, a native Philadelphian who filmed the board’s final evening of operation. “I wanted to come here and preserve that memory before it was gone.”

Crews took down the board in favor of a new digital screen, which Amtrak says will comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. In addition, the old sign used parts that are no longer mass-produced and required custom fabrication.

U.S. Rep. Brendan Boyle (D-PA) has urged Amtrak to consider replacing the beloved sign with a modern split-flap board that could provide real-time train information.

For now the flipboard is being sent to the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania in Strasburg, Lancaster County.