And labour was cheap, how many men to change a lightbulb/paint a column.....

An old fashioned cherry picker! Good thing it was telescopic, otherwise there'd be some problems when it came to trees/telephone wires!
I have heard rumors that some places used open top buses for some lighting installations or lamp changes.

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What a great idea! I suppose it made sense in the days when the councils owned the buses to share resources between departments. Also if they used the open-toppers for lamp replacements in the winter it would keep the buses ticking over ready for the summer.

Got some more Blackpool ones for you - I got a few surprises when I first saw some of these myself!  

All images are courtesy of Fylde Bus Blog - http://fyldebus.blogspot.com/

http://tinyurl.com/yeypllq
Believe it or not this was taken in 1986! This was actually the first year that Blackpool had Routemasters after they were purchased secondhand from London Ensign. The lighting is, of course, Gamma 6s which would have been mercury. I find this photo interesting for two reasons -
1) the photo is taken on Dinmore Avenue, Layton. This is the main distributor road for the huge Grange Park estate which is apparently the biggest council estate in Lancashire! Therefore having it lit with 80w MBF Gamma 6s seems a very poor choice of lighting for a road of this magnitude!

2) the CU (and nearest the camera a Stanton and Staveley which will be a casual replacement from about 1984ish) columns look very new. I know Blackpool didn't use Gamma 6s or CU columns for side roads until the late 70s so these installations were probably only about 10 years old. Yet the year after this photo these were replaced by 8m CU columns with MA90s. I wonder what was there before the Gamma 6s? I'll have to do some research!  

Note the column in the background which has lost it's lantern and had a warning bollard placed next to it presumably after a car accident. If this was casually replaced then the replacement would have had a short life! The flats in this picture were demolished some time ago.

http://tinyurl.com/yl845sa
This is Starr Gate at the southern entrance to Blackpool in 1988. Note the lovely old GEC 'Promenade' lanterns which used to change colour during the Illuminations. In the background are a couple of Phosco P222s and if you look really closely you may spot a Beta 79 which would have been quite new then! The buses are a Routemaster and one of those awful Dodge minibuses which used to break your back as they had seemingly no suspension at all!  

http://tinyurl.com/ylroewm
This is an AEC Swift on the long-defunct 3A service in 1982. It is seen pictured at it's terminus at the Borough Boundary in South Shore. This is lit by these lovely Stanton columns with some kind of GEC Z5560 derivative (I think?). These won't have lasted much longer as I can remember as far back as 1985 these columns had been sleeved and fitted with SON Gamma 6s which remain to this day.

http://tinyurl.com/yj73mbe
Although this picture is from 1987 the lighting in it all still exists to this day. In the background is an example of the unusual Blackpool practice of fitting MK II Alpha 8s onto group B columns with their height extended to 6m by double-sleeving. In the foreground is a CU column with a then-mercury but now SON Gamma 6. In the picture are two of Blackpool's Atlanteans.

http://tinyurl.com/yhspvbs
Langdale Road, Mereside in 1984. This picture is very interesting! Can somebody please tell me what on earth those fluorescent lanterns are? The weird thing about this picture is that I've seen an older picture of Langdale Road from the 70s and it had different fluorescents (GECs) and the columns weren't sleeved as they are in this picture. It was a different part of Langdale Road but it's not that long a road and it seems strange if in one part the columns were sleeved and had different lanterns to the other part. Those columns still exist - soon after this picture a second sleeve was fitted onto the first one with an outreach and Alpha 8 MK IIs fitted and in about 2004 the Alpha 8s were replaced with WRTL 2600s. In the background are the Alpha 3s of Preston New Road. Although this is a dual carriageway it was, and still is, lit by concrete columns. The Alpha 3s were swapped over for MRL6s in about 1994 though. The bus is a Leyland National. These were short-lived in Blackpool only running from 1984-1991. The windmill is a nice feature. Notice it is missing a sail as it was for many years until it was restored in the mid 90s.

http://tinyurl.com/yhuv9to
Another Leyland National in 1986 this time on Talbot Road. Note the wonderful Phosco P222s which I remember well and in the very far background is an Alpha 3.

Hope you enjoyed and if anybody could identify the Langdale Road fluorescents I would be most grateful!  

Here in York, we had an ex-fylde dodge/renault minibus for years... E---CWG was the registration series, and it wasn't exactly a looker!


Thos lanterns are a mystery. My only suggestion is it could be an Alpha 2 that's lost it's bowl (so you're seeing the lamp rack)... but I'm probably way out!

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Well they were basically just a LWB Dodge van with a load of seats shoved in the back! They were god-awful but managed to survive until 1996 when the Metrorider finally killed them off! Perhaps that's when York got theirs  



If that is the case then both the pictured Alpha 2s have lost their bowls! It's possible I guess as Atlas/Thorn lanterns do have form for easily losing their bowls!  

Taken in Salisbury in the 1960s this is bound to interest Phosco152

Hmm, that location will take some tracking down...

Here are some old streetlights in some old pictures of London Buses which operate (or operated, as some of them are now defunct) in my local area. All images courtesy of Ian Armstrong on http://www.busesatwork.co.uk. Unfortunately some of the best ones are being sold on a CD-ROM, so are only available in very small sizes, but here's some that are available in a large size:

Some GEC flourescent lanterns here with RM215 on Route 8. I'm not sure where exactly this is but it looks like it's in Central London somewhere.

http://www.busesatwork.co.uk/01-50%20im ... 5%20gb.jpg

Modern bus (VLW106A), but old streetlight! This is the junction of Woodford Green High Road and Broadmead Road. The GR150 on the S&L column on Woodford Green High Road still remains to this day! See the Streetview below:

http://www.busesatwork.co.uk/01-50%20im ... LW106A.jpg

Streetview. The GR150 in the photo is the one in the foreground. I couldn't get the Streetview to line up in the exact position without it being over-exposed, but the view is unchanged. The only thing that is different in the photo is that at the end of Broadmead Road (just behind and to the left of the GR150), it looks like there is a bowlless Z9554 installed, but in the Streetview this has been replaced with an Alpha 4.

Unfortunately this is one of the small ones, but you can clearly see two GEC post-tops in the foreground. I don't know the location. Note how cloudy their bowls look:

http://www.busesatwork.co.uk/01-50%20im ... _thumb.jpg

VA48 in Hainault Street Bus Park in Ilford. The P222 in the background (which ran SON) has been replaced c2004 with double-bracket Sapphires running MH, as shown in the Streetview:

http://www.busesatwork.co.uk/01-50%20im ... 5_VA48.jpg

Oh, what a coincidence! There's an Artic (bendy bus) right by the installation, also on Route 25! The flats in the background were first constructed in the early 2000s and opened in 2004 (I think the double bracket Sapphires were fitted at the same time). The installations look really tacky with unpainted brackets on a white painted column

A Routemaster on Route 35 with a CU Arc 2D column and top-entry GEC SOX lantern. I'm unsure of the location. Scroll down to the first image in the link below and click on it to get a large version. There is also another Routemaster on Route 35 with some GEC 'Fishbowl' lanterns on what I think is Blackfriars Bridge. Scroll down to the second image in the link below and click on it to get a large version.

http://www.busesatwork.co.uk/Routes/035.htm

The GEC Fishbowls are today long gone and, if I am right in saying it's Blackfriars Bridge (the building in the background looks very similar), double-bracket Albanys (or similar) are installed today:

A lovely ancient installation (identification would be appreciated) can just be glimpsed on the right and a GEC flourescent on the left (between the two buses) in this photo of RT577 on Route 38 at Victoria Station.

http://www.busesatwork.co.uk/01-50%20im ... 577vic.jpg

This view has completely changed! The GEC flourescent used to be just behind where that iridium is, and ZXs stand where the ancient one once stood. Note the Gamma 6 (which I think runs SON) lighting the entrance to the bus station as well!

More GEC flourescents here behind this Routemaster on Route 38A. There is a Thorn Gamma 9 in the background to the right as well. The location is Piccadilly Circus, but I'm not entirely sure exactly what street it is:

http://www.busesatwork.co.uk/01-50%20im ... 3_1968.jpg

What look like GEC Z9554s and a GEC "Boat" on Valence Avenue in Barking:

http://www.busesatwork.co.uk/051-100_im ... M377jb.jpg

Remarkably, some of the old columns still survive, but the Z9554s were replaced in the late 90s by the ZXs on the central reservation, as well as being retrofitted throughout the late 90s and early 00s by more ZXs and Iridiums. The GEC Boat is long gone, probably retrofitted with a post-top Iridium as there are a few of these which light the parking laybys.

A Leyland Titan T440 on the 66A on St Edwards Way at Romford. Some fantastic Fabrikat installations with GR150s in the background:

http://www.busesatwork.co.uk/051-100_im ... 440_LL.jpg

Amazingly, the columns are still going strong and are all freshly painted in Havering's white and green livery! They also still have SOX lanterns on the end of them (retrofitted in the mid/late 90s in a mass replacement scheme, with some 2000s casual replacements), which is a bonus! The church has been refurbished and the white house to the right in Ian's image looks to have been demolished, but the Havering Central Library is still instantly recognizable!

RM95 on the 66B on Station Lane, Hornchurch. A CU concrete with an Eleco HW720 mercury lantern installed on it.

http://www.busesatwork.co.uk/051-100_im ... B_RM95.jpg

Sadly the concrete columns are all gone. They were sleeved and fitted with gear-in-shoe MA90s in the early 80s, as I saw the MAs in service about 6 years ago and they were very grubby, but in the last 2-3 years they have been replaced with post-top Sapphires. The scene is still easily recognizable though by the distinctive Tudor gables and chimneys on the parade of shops!

RML2728 on the 86 (the current one) at Stratford Broadway in October 1979 (as can be seen from the URL). A wonderful double bracket installation in the background with GEC Turtles:

http://www.busesatwork.co.uk/051-100_im ... t79_pd.jpg

The GEC Turtles are sadly long gone and double bracket Urbis Saturns now stand in their place. The church building is still easily recognizable and is now a Strettons estate agents. The brown building just on shot at the extreme right of the image is a Primetime recruitment office and William Hill.

Another smallie here, but you can clearly see the Alpha 3 and Fabrikat column on the left. This is Seven Kings High Road.

http://www.busesatwork.co.uk/051-100_im ... 116-tn.jpg

The church is still very much there and hasn't changed at all, making this view easily discernable! The Alpha 3 is long gone however, and the road is now lit with white deep-bowled ZX3s on what I think are S&L columns. These held SGS203s until the PFI in 1994/5 (or mass replacement scheme, as it would've been known as back then). Quite why the SGS203s were replaced I don't know, as they ran SON just like these ZX3s do.  

A modern photo, but it's in the same place as the 66A photo in this post. A view which is exactly the same to this day!

http://www.busesatwork.co.uk/051-100_im ... _TA106.jpg

RM350 on the recently redundant Route 87 (the existing number 5 now covers its route). There's a very unusual post-top lantern in the car park to the right, and there is what looks like a GR150 on an S&L column in the background. Wherever it is, though, they will both most certainly have vanished now! I think this is in Barking somewhere, but it's difficult to tell where this is as Barking town centre has recently been redeveloped and is almost completely unrecognizable, especially with the revolting lime green coloured tower blocks which the council took to!

http://www.busesatwork.co.uk/051-100_im ... _Jan80.jpg

Some octagonal steel columns here with GEC Turtles on them, and RML2524 on Route 100 in Barking:

http://www.busesatwork.co.uk/051-100_im ... ML2524.jpg

Sadly no trace of these installations remain. Fabrikats with long brackets and Philips SGSs now stand in place. The fascia of the shops is completely unchanged, however. In fact, I think I saw an image from the 80s on Buses at Work on another route that shows the octagonal steel columns being replaced!

That's yer lot for the 0-100s. I'll post some photos for the 101-200s if I get enough interest from you guys!  

http://www.busesatwork.co.uk/01-50%20im ... 5_VA48.jpg
Got two of my favourites in the same pic: both the light and the volvo olympian!
granted I'm not so keen on the london-style destination box on this box, but the front end of the volvo olympian/ Alexander RL's is just something i will always love...!


Also, whilst being transport-related, a railway enthusiast has recently snapped a pic of this in Bridlington
http://www.paulbigland.fotopic.net/p65975596.html

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