Savour this while you can. It probably won't be long before the SOX catenary lighting on the M1 south of the M25 is replaced.
The view looking northbound, just south of J6 of the M1 this afternoon.
These have survived for longer than I envisaged, and I hope it stays this way. Am I right in thinking that these are the last surviving catenary lights in the UK? The catenary lighting north of the M1 was replaced with Sapphires in conjunction with the road widening, but thankfully can still be seen on Google Street View:
navigate along at your leisure. This is the last catenary lighting left on a motorway. There is also catenary lighting on the A4 and A30 in west London.Now that is how you light a motorway! Shame it is the last motorway stretch of catenary lighting. Will this last stretch on the M1 make it to Twenty-Thirteen, I hope it does.I’ve just found out that all the SOX lighting on the M1 between J5 and 6A has been fully switched off since last week. That includes the catenary section.
It’s done very well to last this long, but it looks like the catenary may finally be at the end of its life
In addition, the slip roads of J6 are now lit by LED lanterns. A sign of things to come for the main carriageway potentially?
The columns with (mostly) MA60s on the sliproads of M25 J21/M1 J6a are being changed for new columns with LED lanterns similar to those used at M1 J6. Nothing has been done about the missing bridge deck columns. The catenary lights are still in situ, from the angle I was driving I could not tell whether they were being replaced.Judging by traffic camera stills, at least some lighting from M1 J4-6a seems to be working once more. I have to take a trip there to capture footage at some point.
EDIT: Turns out its only an assortment of SON between the Sandy Lane bridge and J5.A non-essential day trip from Colchester in Essex to Davidstow in Cornwall to pick up an Ebay win just four weekends ago (how life has changed!) allowed me the opportunity to have a look at this installation of catenary lighting, perhaps for the last time. The evening had set in by the time I had arrived, and the lighting was not working - the above replies suggesting this has been the case since at least September 2018.
The M1 motorway as seen from Bucknalls Lane bridge in Watford in March 2020.
The switch-off of the catenary lighting appears to be part of a wider switch-off of lighting on the M1 in this area, with these Philips MA60s also switched off. This is the view looking towards London from the other side of the bridge, also taken in March 2020.
Although we will never see them in light again, it is still possible to get excellent photographs of this installation during the day (coronavirus-permitting of course). This photograph was taken from the same bridge in January 2012.
I have also been blessed to see these lanterns back in the day when they were in light. Performance has been patchy over the last 10 or so years - on some occasions many of the "groups" of Phosco P415 lanterns between two adjacent columns have been out of light, whereas on other occasions only one group of lanterns was not working. December 2012 was one such occasion (only one group of lanterns out of light), and the pictures below were taken then. Sadly I have never seen the installation with every lantern in light - perhaps not a surprise given the age of the installation.
This is the best example of a night shot that I have of this installation, once again taken from the Bucknalls Lane bridge. Photograph taken in December 2012.
On this occasion, I was also around to witness the switch-on of the section between junction 6 and the bridge, which was certainly a sight to behold! Photograph taken in December 2012.
It is a shame that this lighting is not being used any more - a decision perhaps hastened by Philips ceasing the production of low pressure sodium bulbs.
We are lucky that this lighting has lasted perhaps 10 years, even 20 years longer than we may have expected. And coronavirus-permitting, it is still possible to get excellent photographs of this installation during the day.