If you’ve been down Hollywood Boulevard, you’ve likely stopped by the tip board to see what the posted wait times are around the park. Sure it may not be perfect, but it gives you a good idea of what to expect and perhaps even which attraction to go to next. What you may (or may not) have noticed is a railway map on the rear side of the building and if so, you may have wondered why it’s there.

If you’ve been down Hollywood Boulevard, you’ve likely stopped by the tip board to see what the posted wait times are around the park. Sure it may not be perfect, but it gives you a good idea of what to expect and perhaps even which attraction to go to next. What you may (or may not) have noticed is a railway map on the rear side of the building and if so, you may have wondered why it’s there.

Basically, the tip board follows a theme that the buildings adjacent to it have, which is to be something out of a train station on the old Pacific Electric rail line that served southern California, reaching it’s peak in the 1920’s. The tip board is meant to look like a board where passengers on the rail line could see when the next train serving various destinations will be arriving as well as future departure times.

The map on the rear of the building is a replica of the Pacific Electric railway map that would show customers where the line serves and how to get from point A to point B using the line. Additionally, if you pay attention to the clock above the tip board, it has a Pacific Electric theme to it to further the theme of the area. This is part of the overall theme of the corner of Hollywood and Sunset Boulevards that try to make you believe that along your way in Hollywood, you’ve run across the local Pacific Electric station in the area.

A few weeks ago, we posted an article about the Dining Reservations booth that is part of the Tip Board area and that too plays into that overarching theme that the tip board area has.  When you combine that with the tip board and this map, it all starts to work together to present the story that Imagineers wanted to tell.