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PostPosted: Sun Nov 15, 2020 9:20 am 
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Cheers

As for replacement.

The council are not buying LED for casual replacements unless they can help it. The only place i can think they have retrofitted LED in the last 12 months is at some difficult to reach lanterns at a busy major junction. The removed SON lanterns then went into stock for reuse.

Failed SOX are getting LED retrofit which of course can deal with duff lamps and duff gear.

The only SOX /SON that are getting replaced are lanterns with physical defects. The council have had a small column replacement schemes with structurally defective (root rot) columns being replaced and a small number c.50 concretes replaced. I understand they have had the SON/LED lanterns off any of these back for reuse.


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 3:02 am 
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I have found these around Guisborough, this Alpha 3 is on what I think is some private land near M&S it is no longer operational Image

Here is a Philips Mi26 which as you can see is still operational, it is located near J's barber.
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The light opposite that used to be the same is replaced by an LED, apologies for the blurry night pic, didn't have time to stop and focus the camera, also feel weird being *that* guy photographing street lights, maybe I'm just too self conscious.  :?

I should note that I know these may not be too rare elsewhere but here in Redcar and Cleveland there was a huge replacement scheme that they started in 2008 (claiming to) replace all lanterns and columns with new ones the scheme was not fully completed before they started replacing all of the new lanterns with LED ones around 2015.

Many old lanterns and columns were not replaced and just painted dark green, mostly those with SON lanterns such as the Z8600, Alpha 8 and SGS 201 and 203, all have since been replaced by LEDs, still on their 20+ year old columns.

Pre 2008 Saltburn had on the east of the main road interesting concrete columns probably from the 40s or 50s (originally with mercury lamps) that had been interestingly modified (not sleeved) and given GR150s, these were all taken down though, I think the LEDs would look less bad had they been on those old columns.


Last edited by Secret User on Thu Dec 24, 2020 3:12 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 8:49 am 
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Your Beta 2 is a Philips Mi26..


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PostPosted: Thu Dec 24, 2020 3:11 pm 
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You're probably right, as you know I'm still new to identifying things, the top of the lantern always had a metallic look rather than a white one which is what lead me to believe it was a Beta 2. I've amended the mistake.


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PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2020 12:16 am 
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Phosco152 wrote:
Your Beta 2 is a Philips Mi26..


My apologies in butting in,  but I am inclined to disagree with your Mi26 identification of this lantern.

To me it looks more like a Thorn Beta Five (late 1970s / early 80s) model with a two part photocell drilled into the 'shoulder' of  the canopy / spigot casting. The mounting height and scale of the lantern however, does seem to be compatible with a 35W lamp.

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L.S. Lowry. 1887-1976.


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PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2020 1:07 am 
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I had a look comparing the beta 2 and 5, i had initially discounted the 5 as it seemed too short but looking at the first image on this page it looks like it is most likely a 5 http://streetlightonline.co.uk/LocalLig ... /index.htm towards where the lantern connects to the bracket has a very similar design


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PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2020 2:12 am 
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This is what makes traditional street lanterns so interesting.

Before the internet came along, you had to rely on manufacturers catalogues or actually owning the lanterns in a collection, in order to identify them. Many of the folk on Ukastle are far more knowledgeable than I am (when it comes to recalling model numbers). For those lesser mortals (myself included), I would strongly recommend a visit to Simon Cornwell's website (not that I'm knocking Mr Barford's excellent resource btw).  :?

In some respects, lantern identification can be easiest when you apply basic 'human' personalities to them (the notion of which might alarm some people).
It might indeed sound odd, but I reckon the same philosophy is applied to the design of other 'things' such as cars etc.).

My theory tends to work on the idea that a lantern's design tends to look 'happy', 'neutral' or 'glum'.

Example of 'Happy' lanterns.

1. Thorn Beta Five (all models)
2. Eleco GR100
3. GEC Z9530
4. GEC Z9494
5. Thorn Alpha 8 (original style)
6. Philips Mi26

Examples of 'Neutral' lanterns.

1. Thorn Gamma 6
2. Thorn Alpha 3
3. Eleco GR550
4. GEC Z5590
5. Thorn Alpha 6 (S-C/O version)
6. GEC 'Dioptron'
7. Philips SGS201

Examples of 'Glum' lanterns.

1. Thorn Alpha 1
2. Thorn Alpha 6 (C/O version)
3.  GEC Z9480
4. Philips Mi50 (aluminium canopy)
5. Atlas Beta 3

Obviously, the list isn't exhaustive and has no bearing on the 'popularity' of the lantern in a collection. What I have noticed is that most 'glum' lanterns tend to have the lampholder on the 'kerbside', which tends to give them a more 'severe' appearance (compare a 1980s Philips Mi50 with a late Mi26 and I hope you'll see what I mean).

Even the type of bowl can make a difference in its look, ie the Alpha 6 with the cutoff and semi-cutoff variant.

Like I say, this concept might have few supporters, but I have always found it quite an interesting way of identifying lanterns (for the past 40 years).

That said, I have yet to apply this 'logic' to LED lanterns - I think I'll struggle, but I welcome your thoughts.

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"I can't think what you want to go to London for, you won't find any better lampposts there..."
L.S. Lowry. 1887-1976.


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PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2020 3:06 am 
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It's a topic I've had an interest in as long as I can remember, at 23 I only started to learn how to identify things by their proper name about 3 or 4 months ago.

I previously had categories or "families" in my head, some made sense, some didn't.

For example, the Philips MA lanterns, I (rightly) realised that the ones with a gear in shoe were of the same family as those without and (I think rightly) realised that the ones with gear in shoe were also older, however I wrongly saw the Thorn Alpha 4 as an evolution of the MA. I also thought that the latest Alpha 8 and and GEC Z8830 were related with the Alpha 8 being the bigger version. I could tell most Urbis lanterns apart because of the black body and I somehow knew the SGS 201 and 203 were related but the XGS 201 often used around Hull seemed like something unrelated to me for some reason, likely due to one being SOX and the other SON. Would also use human anatomy to compare to a streetlight with the lantern being the head, bracket being a neck and the column being the body, mock vintage lampposts meant to imitate gas ones had "arms".

Also that the GR 200, 150, 100 and 501 were somehow related, I didn't know what to think of the GR 151 or GEC Z9554, they looked too different from each other.


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PostPosted: Sat Dec 26, 2020 4:44 pm 
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In many respects, the design of street lanterns is quite limited (my apologies if this is slightly going 'off topic'). The main reason is because the designer has to shoehorn his imagination around the most crucial (and inflexible) facet of the design - the lamp itself.

SOX lamps are by their nature long, fragile things. They are easily upset by vibration as well as an unsympathetic burning position. The lantern's main job is to hold the lamp in the correct place (and orientation), in relation to the refracting prisms moulded into the bowl.

The main ingredient to successful lantern identification, is what the lantern looks like from underneath (and from a lesser degree, the side). The older Thorn SOX lanterns such as the Alpha 5, 9, and the Beta 8 all share a tapering outline. GEC products did not follow this trend at all, with the result that their equivalent products are basically oblong (initially with a gentle convex curve to the long side). Examples include the Z9494, Z9517 and the Z9530.
Later GEC models such as the Z9554 had straight sides and rounded corners; elements which were taken to the extreme with the Z9545 (aka 'brick').

The other popular manufacturer was Eleco, and probably provided the nicest of these contemporary SOX lanterns. The classic geometric outline as seen on the GR series of lanterns, was standard across the 90 - 180W range, (which I believe was actually courtesy of Philips designers).

Other design variations include the spigot mounting to the canopy. Philips lanterns such as the Mi26 present a flush appearance (due to the snap on GRP cover over the spigot), whilst the 1980s Beta Five had retained its 'heritage' from the original 1960s 'AEI Amber Minor' - a much more graceful design, compared to its final incarnation.

As plenty of these old lanterns had lost their original bowls over the years, their non 'OEM', vacuum formed replacements can make identification slightly tricky, however the lantern canopy itself will never change shape.

Actually, I think there could be the makings of a 'guess the lantern' type quiz on Ukastle. We could all provide a close up view of part of a mystery lantern. It would be interesting to see who would be the first to identify it correctly.

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"I can't think what you want to go to London for, you won't find any better lampposts there..."
L.S. Lowry. 1887-1976.


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PostPosted: Sun Dec 27, 2020 1:19 am 
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Yes I think it would be something I'd enjoy, especially once I've learnt more types. Being much younger than others here I kinda caught the end of when things were interesting, even worse considering the 2007 or 2008 scheme that got rid of many interesting lights in my area. Most of my knowledge is about what existed around Redcar and Cleveland and the roads between R&C and Hull, I had no idea about the use of fluorescents in street lighting until somewhat recently as I had never seen any.

I'd be very interested to see myself if there are any working fluorescent installations left in the UK, privately owned land and abandoned roads seem to be quite good for finding older (but sadly, not working) lanterns. This used to be on some land near Carlin How until a few years ago.
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