It is currently Thu Mar 28, 2024 9:37 pm

All times are UTC






Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 140 posts ] 


Author Message
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Thu Dec 22, 2011 12:52 am 
Offline
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Fri Nov 06, 2009 12:48 am
Posts: 6227
Images: 1729
:lol: Anorexic cooling tower!

_________________
Tesco brings all the mums to the yard...
and they're like "do you have your club card"
Image


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 7:22 pm 
Offline
Site Administration
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:38 pm
Posts: 3402
Images: 27
Location: Salisbury
Sotonsteve and I have spent a few days in Europe checking out lighting in France, The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany. Literally hundreds of pictures to upload, but just as a little teaser, here are a few pictures of motorway lighting in Belgium, taken this morning. Unfortunately the weather was dull and misty. These installations date from around 1971.

The first on slip road, concrete column with offset bracket (the bracket arms are at an angle to each other - it's not a "normal twin bracket") and 180W SOX lanterns.

Image

Lighting the main carriageway are these concrete columns with FOUR 180W SOX lanterns.

Image

And in my usual style, here's a close up:

Image


Watch this space for more from both of us....


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 9:02 pm 
Offline
Member
Random avatar

Joined: Fri Nov 13, 2009 4:49 pm
Posts: 814
Images: 108
Those pictures look great! I'm looking forward to seeing more!

_________________
"I used to rule the world... Now I sweep the streets I used to own."
Remembering GEC.


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 10:58 pm 
Offline
Offline
User avatar

Joined: Fri Nov 06, 2009 12:48 am
Posts: 6227
Images: 1729
Those lanterns look filthy! Interesting, but filthy.

_________________
Tesco brings all the mums to the yard...
and they're like "do you have your club card"
Image


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 11:02 pm 
Offline
Member
Random avatar

Joined: Sun Sep 04, 2011 9:17 pm
Posts: 411
The design looks a bit like Thorn's classic Alpha 1 lantern, complete with water ingress!


Top
 Profile  
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Tue Mar 13, 2012 11:20 pm 
Offline
Member
User avatar

Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2009 8:54 pm
Posts: 2977
Images: 210
Mainland Europe's answer to the Atlas Opticell and the Phillips Rocket combined. I do know that a few side streets in Amsterdam have old lanterns probably dating back to 60s / perhaps 70s but I don't have any photos of them as I didn't have a digital camera when I went.

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


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 7:39 am 
Offline
Member
Random avatar

Joined: Thu Nov 12, 2009 4:56 pm
Posts: 547
Images: 52
I have always been a fan of Belgium's lighting. Always quirky but interesting!


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 7:50 am 
Offline
Member
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:27 pm
Posts: 1814
Images: 200
The lanterns pictured are Schreder GSO lanterns, and in design terms they are like Thorn Alpha 1s, with a hinged opticell. Unlike Alpha 1s they are cut-off lanterns, with a reflector inside the 'opticell'. All of the GSOs we saw looked quite grubby, but unlike in Britain we saw probably thousands of these lanterns and even though they all dated from the 1960s or 1970s there were relatively few casual replacements, and you would often see long stretches of unchanged 40 year old installations.


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:17 am 
Offline
Member
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:27 pm
Posts: 1814
Images: 200
Well, let's continue where we left off with another selection of images. Let's start at the N18 junction with the E34 motorway at Oud-Turnhout.

Image

Schreder GSO 180W SOX lanterns on curvy concrete columns on the motorway slip road, with 15m concrete columns and quad-Schreder GSO lanterns on the central reservation in the background. Since installation in 1971 there have been hardly any casual replacement lanterns or columns.

Image

Close up of the lantern and bracket.

Image

Whilst the motorway and slip road has concrete columns the N18 over the junction has octagonal steel columns, also fitted with Schreder GSO lanterns. These lanterns may be fitted with 135W SOX lamps rather than 180W SOX lamps, as the large size catered for both wattages. These also date from 1971 and are largely unspoilt.

Image

Double bracket curvy steel columns on the central reservation of the N18.

Image

Close up of a double bracket, showing the Schreder GSO lanterns well. These have aluminium reflectors inside their Thorn Alpha 1 style lamp compartments.

Image

A younger installation dating from the 1980s just off the A18/E40 motorway near Dunkirk with Schreder GZM 135/180W SOX lanterns on curvy octagonal steel columns.

Image

A fine view of typical Belgian slip road lighting on the A18/E40 slip roads at Nieuwpoort. In the foreground a Schreder VTC has replaced a Schreder GZM. The VTC is the successor to the GZM, and the GZM was the successor to the GSO.

Image

A close up of the lanterns on the slip road, showing the Schreder GZM lanterns and a casual replacement Schreder VTC. On the central reservation of the motorway are quad-Schreder RX/TXS lanterns running 180W SOX lamps. In plan view, these lanterns are mounted in a 'H' configuration on the columns.

Image

Possibly slightly younger, these slip roads near Dunkirk are lit with post-top Schreder RX/TXS 135/180W SOX lanterns.

So there we have a brief overview of some of the sights of Belgium. Most of Belgium's motorway network is lit, and most of the lighting is still SOX. They have a policy of keeping their lighting for decades before replacement, and it is not uncommon to see lots of 1960s and 1970s lighting on motorways and slip roads in addition to younger 1980s and 1990s lighting. Even though lighting is often very old, there are relatively few casual replacements of columns or lanterns, and lots of stretches of lighting are unspoilt. Sadly, whilst casual replacements still appear to be with Schreder VTC SOX lanterns, replacement schemes use post-top SON lanterns, typically Philips Iridiums on galvanised octagonal steel columns. Quite a few slip roads are starting to get their first replacement schemes.


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 
 Post subject: Re: Overseas lighting
PostPosted: Wed Mar 14, 2012 10:30 am 
Offline
Member
User avatar

Joined: Mon Nov 09, 2009 5:27 pm
Posts: 1814
Images: 200
A shorter posting now...

Just one image I would like to share at the moment from France.

Image

The French like their coloured lanterns, and these orange Eclatec Clip lanterns on aluminium columns in Calais are no exception.

And on to Germany, and the camera comes out at night....

Image

In Bovinghausen near Dortmund are these typically German installations, slimline "two-forty" type fluorescent lanterns mounted on curvy steel columns.

Image

In nearby Witten, the main street is lit by "three-forty" type fluorescent lanterns suspended from catenary wires over the centre of the road.

Image

SON lanterns are used to light traffic light junctions to increase lighting levels. Driving around urban areas of this part of Germany at night you definitely need headlights on your car. The lighting on this street was not too bad, although it was probably only equivalent in brightness to a street lit with 80W PL-L. Lighting levels were just about adequate. The same cannot be said for other streets in the area which were positively dim. One such street had "one-forty" fluorescent lanterns mounted up at 8m height. Imagine 36W PL-L up an 8m column and you get the idea! It was quite a sight to see, but you almost had to struggle to see it! Additionally, in Germany lanterns often have multiple lamps, but in the area we visited a lot of twin lamped lanterns only had a single lamp operating, resulting in the streets appearing dim at night. Perhaps the local authority has done this to save money. Could Germany be the most dimly lit country in Europe? Quite possibly, and as I said, headlights are an absolute must.


Top
 Profile  Personal album 
 

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 19 guests



Search for: