It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 8:55 pm

All times are UTC






Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 140 posts ] 


Author Message
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Sun Aug 06, 2017 3:37 pm 
Offline
Member
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:27 pm
Posts: 1814
Images: 200
The Wallonia region of Belgium is due to commence an upgrade of highway lighting from next year on its motorways and equivalent of trunk roads. This will see sodium lighting phased out and replaced with LED. This will result in a significant loss of main road SOX.

In the Flemish region, much motorway lighting has been switched off for several years and existing lighting left to fall into disrepair. So whilst there is probably still a lot of SOX to be seen in the central reservations of their motorways, not a lot of it actually works. Slip roads tend to still be lit down to the main carriageway, but even a few years ago there were efforts to lantern swap or replace ageing columns. Bear in mind Belgium has a huge number of columns from the 1960s and 1970s on its motorways. I have also seen news stories suggesting that the Flemish are of this year also rolling out LED and are no longer relamping with sodium.

With the cutbacks and LEDification in Belgium, SOX is taking a hammering.


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Mon Sep 24, 2018 8:55 pm 
Offline
Site Administration
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:38 pm
Posts: 3402
Images: 27
Location: Salisbury
In Gibraltar, the column in the background has a SON lamp fitted to the GEC Z9454.


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Fri Jan 29, 2021 3:55 pm 
Offline
Random avatar

Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2021 8:50 am
Posts: 55
Images: 1
Location: Western East England
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@58.39329 ... 312!8i6656 Trac Itineras (?) in Estonia

_________________
No LED is better than other light sources (apart from probably lanterns such as Philips LumiStreets)!


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Sat Mar 20, 2021 5:51 pm 
Offline
Random avatar

Joined: Sun Jan 24, 2021 8:50 am
Posts: 55
Images: 1
Location: Western East England
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@44.37148 ... 312!8i6656 Some Urbis/Schreder Opalos (or Thorn Jets) in Serbia, located south of Belgrade.

_________________
No LED is better than other light sources (apart from probably lanterns such as Philips LumiStreets)!


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Tue Dec 28, 2021 12:37 am 
Offline
Site Administration
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:38 pm
Posts: 3402
Images: 27
Location: Salisbury
It is 6 years since I have been to Northern California and the region near the city of San Jose an hour's drive south of San Francisco. Back in 2015, LED lighting was just making an appearance around SFO airport, elsewhere SON was everywhere, but the City of San Jose uniquely for the US, retained a lot of SOX lighting. Historically this was used in this area due to many observatories being within the city - the monochrome SOX lighting easily being removed with filters in the telescope optical paths.

All of that has changed, LED is now everywhere, however at this intersection, a full cut off 135W SOX lantern still survives.

The only other places that SOX still exists is in private car park lighting, 90/135 and even 180W "shoebox" lanterns are common. This is a 135W Twin bracket example. I'm not sure if SOX lamps are still manufactured in the USA, but given energy prices, they probably won't be around when I next visit.


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Thu Dec 30, 2021 2:14 am 
Offline
Site Administration
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:38 pm
Posts: 3402
Images: 27
Location: Salisbury
These architectural columns in Seville, Spain, that I last saw in 2014, have been updated with LED.

In Granada, there are these columns which could almost be sculptures. They look impressive along the street.

Another view of these impressive installations.

In Cádiz, really old installations, seen at sunset,and the next day.

A different type of heritage lantern.

I also spotted several Eleco HW918s, but I suspect they are actually Philips HRL-10s. Another 2 at the railway station and here.

New LED heritage lanterns are in use around Cádiz but they are open sided.


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Sun Jul 03, 2022 9:33 am 
Offline
Site Administration
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:38 pm
Posts: 3402
Images: 27
Location: Salisbury
The Italian authorities think nothing of tunnelling through their mountains in the north west of the country even for minor roads, let alone the Autostradas. Most tunnels have now been updated with modern LED lighting, but some SON lighting is still in use.

The S46 which is a mountain road to the ski resort of Breuil-Cervinia, which is on the Italian/Swiss border and near the Matterhorn, yet has numerous tunnels on it, one of which is lit with 90w SOX.

The E25 Autostrada through the Aosta Valley to the north west of Milan amazingly has SOX lighting through the tunnels at Châtillon Saint Vincent. The west shorter tunnel is lit with what looks
like a mixture of 90 and 135W SOX.

The longer eastern tunnels are lit with a mixture of SON and SOX luminaries mounted in pairs/groups. The difference in the 2 light sources can clearly be seen
here.

SOX predominates in the centre sections of the tunnel.

Even more amazingly is that more SOX lighting has been installed at the exit portal since this 2021 shot.

https://www.google.com/maps/@45.7217135 ... 384!8i8192

There are now additional SOX fittings so that the tunnel crown is now completely filled with additional rows of lantern between the main longitudinal rows. With them all lit it was a truly amazing sight, unfortunately I didn’t get a pic.


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Sat Oct 15, 2022 1:42 pm 
Offline
Member
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:27 pm
Posts: 1814
Images: 200
France (observations from the train):

SOX catenary lighting on concrete columns still present on the A1 motorway on the outskirts of Arras, south of the A26 interchange. I'm not sure if this is still operational (wasn't dark enough to assess).

Philips SRM SOX lighting on a slip road at the D950 interchange. Both exit slips have lighting, though it doesn't extend all the way to the roundabouts (and hasn't done as long as GSV has been present). The motorway main carriageway used to be lit, but has had its columns removed. I'm unsure if this SOX still lights up at night (wasn't dark enough to assess), and a couple of columns have been felled/removed.


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Sun Apr 09, 2023 8:11 pm 
Offline
Member
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:27 pm
Posts: 1814
Images: 200
First spotted on Lighting Gallery, but Texas Thrift in Irving, Texas USA has imported GEC Z8422 lanterns, which were apparently branded as Quality Lighting Broadlume:

Single brackets
Double brackets

They run clear mercury lamps, and have an additional part attached to the top of the shoes which I believe carried the capacitors. So odd seeing GEC "turtles" on American columns in the USA.

Links to Lighting Gallery:
Pair of single brackets
Single bracket, lit up
Close up of lit lantern
Double brackets, lit up
Close up of double bracket, lit up


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Tue May 16, 2023 6:58 pm 
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Sun Jan 05, 2020 11:45 am
Posts: 22
I have been in France for the past few months and have noticed some key differences between UK lighting.

1. Fluorescent lighting is still in operation.
I'm not talking about CFL lighting, I am talking about the giant fluorescent lanterns that were in the UK during the 1950s and 1960s.  I have spotted these lanterns in a number of towns, but I imagine they’re much newer (it’s very hard to age them as they’re practically non-existent in the UK).

2. Columns are getting shorter, not taller.
It seems like almost all new columns with LED lanterns, are never taller than 8m unless it’s really necessary.  It’s not surprising to see SON lanterns that were mounted from 10-12m, be replaced by high power LED lanterns at much lower heights.

3. Aluminium columns are everywhere.
Now whilst aluminium columns have technically been around for a long time, with Eleco making their Silverline columns in the 1960s and 1970s… pretty much all UK aluminium columns are ‘new’.  In France, aluminium columns are much more widespread and have been used for years.  It’s quite strange to commonly see rust-free newish looking aluminium columns, with weather-beaten 70s, 80s, and 90s lanterns.


Top
 Profile  
 

Display posts from previous:  Sort by  


Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 140 posts ] 

All times are UTC



You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Jump to:  

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 21 guests



Search for: