We can't have a thread about unfinished schemes without mentioning Calton Road in Edinburgh. The new columns went in 2003 and have remain unpainted, meanwhile the four post centenarian Mackenzie Bros. cast iron columns (thought to be the oldest in Edinburgh) soldier on, and I think all the old lanterns still light up at night. http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... ,,2,-11.53

In my neck of the woods is this wee relic that has survived at least two replacements:- http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... 5,,2,-5.63 it has outlived all the other 60s vintage Phoswares, and several early 90s SGS203s and ZX3s. It is the last 35w-er of the two streets that were 35w SOX territory.


That is a lovely column. When time is finally called on the lantern, if the column is still in good nick it would be nice if it was painted and had a teardrop or something installed.

They're near Waverly Train station aren't they? I think I have seen these as they are awfully familiar (I remember it raining too on the day I saw them!)

also, this is an old lantern:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... 06539&z=18

when you arrive in edinburgh by train, this will most likely be the first column you see out in the open air:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... 06539&z=18 - which is the same type of column.

(and since we're here, might as well link to these ones:
http://maps.google.co.uk/maps?f=q&sourc ... 06539&z=18 )

_________________

On Barrack Road in Christchurch, Dorset is this lone MA50 standing among Thorn Alpha 3s

Whether it was a casual replacement for an Alpha 3 at some point and was ordered by mistake instead of an SON lantern or if the columns had SOX on them before the Alpha 3s and the MA50 was a new casual replacement for an SOX lantern and so was left unreplaced is a bit of a mystery. I would think it were probably an accidental order as other casual replacements for Alpha 3s on this stretch of road are Alpha 8s and SGS203s.

The MA50s on this road are casual replacements that were done by the PFI contractor in about 2007 and replaced SON lanterns such as Alpha 3s.

How weird! Christchurch Borough Council have followed Liverpool then and replaced SON with SOX! Seeing as Dorset is mostly an SON county, suddenly becoming a little faithful to SOX seems nothing short of crazy!

While I was hunting for the other MA50s you mentioned, I stumbled across this on one of the island crossings on the same road:

An Eleco post-top on a very rusty column

These are Phosco P170s, common in Bournemouth Borough.

On a waste disposal site adjacent to the A12 Blackwall Tunnel Approach near Stratford is this lone Z9554 on an S&L column from the 70s.

I would assume that this is a private installation judging by its location, but the road it is located on is called WIck Lane, so it looks to have been a road at some point that probably got cut off when the A12 was constructed through the area. Also notice the blue columns with SGS203s on the A12 itself - they look to me like 1960s fold-down Abacus columns, which makes me think that there may have been another lantern installed on these columns before the SGS203s came along.

Bizarrely only half that hill got relit - The rest of the hill was originally Turtles (Hinge from shoe and standard), Alpha 3s and SGS203s, but because a couple of the Turtles are aging/have failed, they are just retrofitting Iridiums to the columns, despite being from the 1970s now as it's be a big inconvenience to pull the old one, and set a new one without closing the whole road. Acceptable if you are replacing more than one installation maybe. I think the council/private contractors were worried that installing a Sapphire where the old Turtle was may have lit the shrubbery too much, but I think it would have been acceptable to have a Sapphire 2 where the old column was, or one where it currently is without having the footpath lit. It's only about 2 metres away from the road anyway, so 2 lanterns is completely unjustifiable.

Yeah, they don't seem to install long brackets anymore, but there again they never seem to install main road lanterns post-top either, meaning short brackets (but not stubs) and medium length brackets are used most often.

_________________
"I used to rule the world... Now I sweep the streets I used to own."
Remembering GEC.

A very rare wall-mounted flourescent lantern on Queen Street in Ramsgate. It looks very similar to the Siemens Kuwait featuring in David's POTM photo.

Another very rare flourescent lantern installed on a concrete column on Westbury Avenue, Westgate-on-Sea. GSV was very lucky to capture this when it did as it's about to be replaced under the 2009 trialling of the Mini-Iridium (I'm not sure if it's a PFI, but Mini Iridiums have replaced many other installations such as GEC Z8896s on the Thanet over the past year, so I suppose it could be). I would imagine all other concretes on this road (and probably most throughout the Thanet) once held flourescent lanterns like this, and for some reason this one escaped being sleeved and fitted with a GEC Z8832 like the others.

The very last one on the Thanet! A top-entry GR150 on a 1970s S&L column! If anyone knows the proper code for this, please let me know and I'll duly correct this!

This lone surviving GEC Z8430 on an S&L column looks to have been under replacement for ages, as the Arc is now the current lantern of choice for both mass and casual replacements on the Thanet. I would imagine that the Z8430 has been disconnected for ages and so the P678 has been in service for several years now!

Found this disused lantern round the back of the post office in Bryncethin near Bridgend yesterday. It is rather well hidden from the main road unless you know where to look, I just happened to glance that way when passing and saw it on the building.
Apologies for the poor photos, taken quickly with my phone.





Looks like an Eleco Welwyn Mk3, as it has the circular top to it. The bracket, control box etc are all Revo products however. The Revo name being proudly cast into all the parts I could see.
The refractor is obviously seriously damaged, and the remains of an 80W MBF lamp can be seen sticking out.
Im going to pop round and speak to the owner of the house later to see about the possibility of a rescue  

Mike.