Are some Philips products like the Iridium if I'm correct made in France rather than the Netherlands or was that knocked on the head? It may also put pressure on street lighting manufacturers with the fact that sales are likely to tail off as PFI schemes wind up and orders are only for replacements or new roads - is this likely to happen? If so it would make Philips more likely to reduce the number of manufacturing plants and jobs.

When I went to The Netherlands earlier this year all I could see lanternwise were Trafficvisions (one of which were stuck to the top of a highmast column -and there weren't a few either just the one). Flo lamped MA-type lanterns and there were some MA's there too running SOX.

On the gear and lamp tray from a WTRL 2000 that I have, it does say Made In Holland, the old name for The Netherlands. So there is either a Indal/ WTRL / Phillips factory in Amsterdam or in Rotterdam.

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From streetlighting to radio, dance through the night whilst the streetlights are glowing outside.

Am I correct in saying that only the ex-GEC/Davis products are made by WRTL in England with everything else made in Holland?

Yes, only the last remaining ex-GEC/Davis lanterns are produced in the UK by WRTL. I'm pretty sure all other Indal WRTL lanterns are produced in the Netherlands, and I expect most if not all Philips lanterns are too, although I can't say that for sure.

It is Britain that has been keeping Philips and Indal strong through the last decade. I can't remember the statistic I heard, but let's just say Britain buys more than its fair share of Iridiums, and I'm sure Britain buys more than its fair share of Arcs and Libras too. Street lighting PFIs have resulted in sudden orders of tens of thousands or hundreds of thousands of lanterns, with each order having to be supplied within a 5 year period. In contrast, most other parts of Europe are still just replacing a little bit every so often rather than relighting every single street light in whole regions. Some are doing bulk replacements, but generally these are places with large stocks of mercury lanterns.

I don't think the SRL8/MRL6/PTL ranges have that much life left in them now and sad though it is to say I have to agree that the future of the WRTL Tipton factory does look to be murky now Philips have took over.



PFIs must be a great thing for lantern manufacturers although it must prove a challenge keeping up with the increased demand. Plus there is the future problem that once the 5-year (for example) PFI period is over that demand will reach a serious low in this country with so much up-to-date lighting on the streets and little call for lantern renewal for many years to come in a good few areas. Perhaps it is a good thing that Europe has so many countries that still have aged mercury lighting needing imminent replacement to keep Indal/Philips going in the years to come.

The Philips /Indal merger has created much discussion on here already especially what will happen to the ranges of lanterns of each individual company and if they will be rationalised. Philips in particular have several overlapping SON ranges, with some older lanterns such as the SGS201 still being offered despite the popularity of the Iridium.

A bit of a clean up of one of my SGS201s produced this kit parts and that was without stripping the gear tray. It just goes to show how many parts are in some of the older lanterns.



An interesting observation was how complex the fibreglass moulding of the body/canopy is. Something that has been simplified with more modern lanterns.



Given this, I really can’t see this lantern and several others of the era (SGS203) as well as more modern designs –Streetfighter, Selenium to name but 2, remaining in production after the merger.

For the same reasons I doubt that WRTL's SRL8, MRL6, 2600 or PTL will survive, they've had their day now and have been outmoded by their newer designs. Perhaps the Delta could be dropped as well, seeing as it's basically a 2600 with an aluminium canopy and hasn't proved as popular as the 2600 has.

Probably better to rebrand the Delta to a 2600 and kill off the GRP 2600.

_________________
From streetlighting to radio, dance through the night whilst the streetlights are glowing outside.

What would be the point in that?

So that councils don't have to opt for a GRP lantern, as aluminium lasts longer than GRP.

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From streetlighting to radio, dance through the night whilst the streetlights are glowing outside.