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PostPosted: Fri Dec 23, 2016 11:59 pm 
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...services near Burton-in-Kendal / Tewitfield on the northbound slip to the services.


https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.17683 ... 6656?hl=en

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.17706 ... ,16z?hl=en


Last edited by trencheel303 on Sun Jun 10, 2018 4:33 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2016 9:31 am 
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Technically it's not on the mainline of the motorway, it is at a motorway service area and owned by the services. But yes, any mercury nowadays, especially main road mercury, is something special


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PostPosted: Sat Dec 24, 2016 2:57 pm 
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You are correct, although it's so close to the actual motorway it's an arguable case for posterity. The rate at which SOX alone is disappearing at the moment is shocking so I think this one is definitely notable... well, it is to me as a fanatic of "in the wild" mercury! Where I'm going to stop to gander at it is the 64 thousand dollar question, though.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 8:25 am 
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Hi Trencheel303,

Seasons greetings.

That was a good spot which you found on the M6 services, nice to see Mercury still being used in this day and age. One or two of the service stations in Cumbria still have their original lanterns running mercury. On your way back up north call in at Tebay services, you will be pleasantly surprised what you will find in there (If they haven't been removed that is!!).

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.44958 ... 6656?hl=en

Best Regards,

Andrew.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 11:04 am 
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Thanks Andrew, you're the second one to recommend tebay to me, although for entirely different reasons!

Someone on sabre said to me that column is owned by highways england and probably won't get replaced until a car crashes into it. An anomaly in the system perhaps as I reckon it should have been gone decades ago. Never in my life have I seen mercury near arterial routes.


Last edited by trencheel303 on Sun Jun 10, 2018 4:35 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 1:14 pm 
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It's strange that you should mention that lamp and column being owned by highways England. The lanterns at Southwaite services  had all been changed apart from the first and last one at the entrance and exits.

Entrance Northbound:-
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.80181 ... 56!6m1!1e1  

Exit Northbound
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.79638 ... 56!6m1!1e1

Entrance southbound has just a bare column!

Exit Southbound has a twisted Alpha 3
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@54.80049 ... 56!6m1!1e1

They used to run Mercury lamps although i'm not sure if they still do!

Regards,

Andrew.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 1:22 pm 
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I might have got my North and south mixed up there :-)


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 4:39 pm 
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The person who said that on SABRE was talking rubbish. It may be on Highways England land, but that doesn't automatically mean that Highways England own it. The fact that they have not been lantern swapped could be a matter of traffic management legality. On the services land the services can do whatever they like, but if one of their columns is on Highways England land they need to get a temporary traffic regulation order, book roadspace, have a slip road closure put out, and so on and so forth, and the bureaucracy is such that they just don't bother with the hassle.


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PostPosted: Tue Dec 27, 2016 4:55 pm 
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Yeah I could imagine it to be a complete pain to sort out. Although while they are still working and people (which ever department) are still servicing them it is good for us street light collectors :)

Regards,

Andrew.


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 29, 2016 9:49 pm 
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For those interested, I took a drive up there today. Mainly because I had nothing better to do. I'm almost positive now it's an Atlas lantern with either a slim or flat-ish bowl - no, the lantern is not missing its bowl as I initially thought. I seem to remember this being a thing on the Atlas ones, whereas the Thorn ones had the more bulbous (no pun intended) bowl. Cranking up the zoom levels shows what one assumes to be a 250 or 400 (latter more likely I think) reasonably worn out HPL that's probably seen over a decade's use. I suppose it could be an MH lamp, but the circumstances make that seem unlikely so I'm going to make the reasonable assumption that it's a merc lamp as it fits the fixture.

First off I stopped on the bridge (Tarn Lane) to photograph it from a distance. As you can see, illumination levels are nigh on non-existent compared to the more efficient SON around it, with barely a dim glow being cast directly below the lantern.

Image


There it is on the left! Wasting several hundreds of watts of energy  :laugh:


Next I navigated my way back onto the M6, some miles down the line, as I found out that the service road next to the lantern is one way. D'oh! Back up the M6 for a few miles and into the services, turning left and parking up. I got several photos, and surprisingly no unwanted attention.


Image

You can see here it can't even hold a candle to the ambient light around it. There is just the slight mercury glow on the ground although here it's partly obscured by car headlights. The lens flare confirms its likely to be mercury, as I'd expect to also see yellow and red flare if it was MH.


Image

Finally here is a direct comparison between the ageing mercury light and its glare-bomb SON cousin round the corner. Inset shows a closeup of the lantern from two perspectives - it definitely looks bowled, although that's what's blocking around 50% of the light out!

Its positioning on the roadside is probably a large factor in why this sole light has evaded replacement, and going by the levels of ambient light from the other ones when it dies it will probably just be left.

If there are any collectors reading this that wants the lantern, I'd start getting your word out, as this looks to be an early example.


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