Streetlighting Discussion Thread (WARNING; Big Images)

DorsetWay · Post by **DorsetWay** » Sun May 14, 2006 16:31

Funnily though you mentioned the Thorn Alpha 2000 - that is the current standard lantern for main roads in my area mounted post top with shallow bowls but sometimes with flat glass. Apparently this might be superseded by the Arc sometime in the future...

Prior to the Alpha 2000, the council has trialled post top Philips Traffic Visions in the mid 90's then went for the Alpha 2000's permanently shortly afterwards. The Traffic Visions are still around today on only one main road looking dirty and tired.

haymansafc · Post by **haymansafc** » Sun May 14, 2006 17:03

DorsetWay wrote: I was hoping that I won't see any Arcs being installed in my area that I will get sick of seeing them everywhere like the Vectra up north and the Urbis ZX in London and on motorways. But I have spoken too soon, a newly constructed cul-de-sac with new homes down the road from where I live has post top Arcs with shallow bowls - the first for my area!

There are currently no Arcs used on main roads in my area.

We have A LOT of Vectras in the North West. Not only do I think they are bulbous, ugly looking things, I'm also sick of the sight of them used for practically any replacement or new installation as a 'default' choice whether on a main road, a side road or even car parks now. I only know of a couple of side road Arc installations which are currently going up on a brand new housing estate (still being built) close to me.

As for main roads, unfortunately, the Vectra seems to be springing up like a rash all over the place! I only know of a few Arc installations. One of which is along the A41 between the A5117 and the M53. They have been there for roughly two years or so, replacing old Industria/WRTL 2600's which are now used as new side street installations. The second, which really took me by surprise is close to Ellesmere Port town centre (Vectra HQ!) where there is currently major rebuilding works going on of a local car park. The few new lanterns going up around there are Arcs! I almost jumped for joy knowing at least someone in that department has at least some imagination and acknowledges the Vectra isn't the only new lantern that exists!

DorsetWay · Post by **DorsetWay** » Tue May 16, 2006 13:22

Here are the rare Philips lanterns, as discussed earlier, from Hull city centre:

from eriding.net

boing_uk · Post by **boing_uk** » Tue May 16, 2006 13:41

As ive said before, those lanterns were a Humberside favourite in the mid-80's.

Grimsby is littered with them all over.

Simon · Post by **Simon** » Thu May 25, 2006 16:59

Gareth wrote:Another example. Note the wire externally going from one pole to the next.

A charming example of a 1950s street lighting scheme. The columns themselves are not designed as street lighting columns because they've got no gear compartments. (They were probably either tram or trolley bus columns). Notice how the gear had to be bolted in a separate box close to the top of the bracket, which is also bolted on.

Gareth wrote:This one was retrofitted years ago with a different lantern. This type of lantern has itself long been discontinued.

That's a GEC cut-off lantern. A nice touch as the lighting engineer who replaced the Wardle realised it had a cut-off distribution and replaced like-with-like. You wouldn't see that attention to detail today.

Gareth wrote:They're all gone now. Consigned to street furniture heaven.

Thanks to the stirling effort of a friend in Liverpool, I have two of the lanterns and their gear waiting for collection. They didn't all disappear!

Garth - can I use some of your photos on my website? It'll be good to show the lanterns in-situ before they were replaced.

All the best,
Simon
www.simoncornwell.com/lighting

Gareth · Post by **Gareth** » Mon May 29, 2006 14:32

Simon wrote:Garth - can I use some of your photos on my website? It'll be good to show the lanterns in-situ before they were replaced.

All the best,
Simon
www.simoncornwell.com/lighting

Sure thing. I've got a few more examples including photos of a small stretch that are still standing in Deysbrook Lane. I'll have a look.

Gareth · Post by **Gareth** » Mon May 29, 2006 14:58

Here's one example of a short stretch of Wardles which remain on Deysbrook Lane. There were no sign of replacements when I last looked, about three weeks or so back.

I've got more examples of these but my image host is being a pain at the moment.

haymansafc · Post by **haymansafc** » Mon May 29, 2006 16:12

Great pictures of what are becoming extremely rare installations. There may be no current signs of replacement, but looking into the background of the pictures, the rest are new installations so I have a bad feeling the old Wardles don't have much time left.

Truvelo · Post by **Truvelo** » Mon May 29, 2006 18:51

Here's another unusual installation that's bitten the dust. This was taken in Walsall 5 years ago shortly before they were replaced. The control gear is on a separate post running alongside the column. I have never seen anything like this anywhere else in the country.

Bryn666 · Post by **Bryn666** » Mon May 29, 2006 18:57

Those look like some hangovers from the 1950s. Manchester had similar columns until the 1980s.

Truvelo · Post by **Truvelo** » Mon May 29, 2006 19:01

Bryn666 wrote:Those look like some hangovers from the 1950s. Manchester had similar columns until the 1980s.

Former trolleybus poles again maybe?

Here's another view. On the right hand side there is a concrete column adjacent to a metal one. Presumabley one of them is a replacement for the other but they look to be of the same vintage.

Bryn666 · Post by **Bryn666** » Mon May 29, 2006 19:05

Ah that view could be from the 1970s! Spot the wonderful arched column in the distance.

Yes, they look like former trolleybus poles which have been reused.

Truvelo · Post by **Truvelo** » Mon May 29, 2006 19:09

You want arched columns? Go to Dudley where they are everywhere. Here's a pic from my site showing one in the distance. These are huge monsters.

Lewis · Post by **Lewis** » Mon May 29, 2006 22:09

Theres quite a few of those arched columns on the A23 in Brighton.

haymansafc · Post by **haymansafc** » Tue May 30, 2006 18:44

Truvelo wrote:Here's another unusual installation that's bitten the dust. This was taken in Walsall 5 years ago shortly before they were replaced. The control gear is on a separate post running alongside the column. I have never seen anything like this anywhere else in the country.

Neither have I! Excellent find - it's a pity it's an old picture and the installations are now gone. Obviously the GEC lanterns are retro-fitted to a column of an earlier vintage, presumably used for something else before street lighting even.

Truvelo wrote:You want arched columns? Go to Dudley where they are everywhere. Here's a pic from my site showing one in the distance. These are huge monsters.

Those arched columns in the pictures as huge! I haven't seen any column of that sort here in the North West easily since my earliest childhood memories of looking at street lighting. I'm going back so far here in my past I can't even remember where they were now, but I know they're long gone. I'm pretty sure monsters like those are now extinct here and have been for some years. I'd love to see an installation like that again - maybe I'll have to plan a trip to Dudley soon.

Truvelo wrote:Here's another view. On the right hand side there is a concrete column adjacent to a metal one. Presumabley one of them is a replacement for the other but they look to be of the same vintage.

They do. I've got a feeling the concrete installation is the replacement for the metal one and obviously they have forgotten to remove one or the other. I'd like to know if both lanterns worked. There is a similar example only a few miles from me where two columns are very close together and the older installation has never been removed. One is a sleeved concrete column with a Thorn Alpha 9 lantern on and the other is a 'middle age' metal column (probably 1970's) with a rather worn GEC Z9454 lantern on. Both work and both are literally only about eight/ten feet apart.

Bryn666 · Post by **Bryn666** » Tue May 30, 2006 19:02

There used to be plenty of Revo based hockey stick columns in Accrington. I have a photograph of a rare surviving one from a backroad which I will dig out later.

Truvelo · Post by **Truvelo** » Tue May 30, 2006 19:11

There's a lamppost near me that I think would win a spalling competition

Bryn666 · Post by **Bryn666** » Tue May 30, 2006 19:32

YIKES!!!

That really is beyond dangerous, it needs sleeving or replacing at once... if that lantern fell onto someone below it'd be dire.

MotorwayGuy · Post by **MotorwayGuy** » Wed May 31, 2006 08:49

That does look bad! It hasn't even been taped up.

Below are some streetlights around the Local area (Bexley & Greenwich)

This is one that I have been chasing the council up with. They said it is going to be sleeved, when they get the parts, plus one further down the street. That was 3 week ago. It is a standard AEI amber (B) on a Stanton concrete column, once the standard for side roads in Bexley.

This one, about half a mile away from the one above is also spalling quite badly. The strange thing about it is, it has what appears to be a polycarbonate bowl. most of the other AEI ambers in the area have arcrlic bowls, which have gone cloudy over the years. It was most problably a replacement.

I am not quite sure what happened to this bracket. The day before it was there, but badly spalling. The day after, it was gone. The column was not sleeved, but replaced with a metal one, and a Philips XGS103.

This type of bracket and lantern is very common around the greenwich area. It is more often seen on metal columns. I don't think they look very nice on metal columns myself. The one above is spalling, like many of the concrete ones around the area, it had no concrete around the top, and had a crack by the bracket joint. There is a road around the area with arc 2 CU columns, and philips SON lanterns on them. Most of them are spalling badly at the joint of the bracket, and at the top. There are quite a few metal replacments along the road. One of the columns, the bracket was so bad, that it was removed, and a metal column installed instead.

I was going to post this last night, but there was a power cut.

Also, does anyone know of a concrete bracket that was replaced with another concrete one, or where one was repared?

sotonsteve · Post by **sotonsteve** » Wed May 31, 2006 11:57

From Truvelo's earlier thread I was wondering how old the oldest column to be replaced but not removed was.

Post away...

Not technically a column, but there is a pre-WW2 telegraph pole-mounted bracket with hanging lantern in Southampton that was replaced by CU concrete columns in the early to mid 1960s, which were themselves sleeved in the 1980s and are due for replacement. The bracket and lantern are very rusty, and the bulb and glass have long gone. I'll try and put a picture in the photo gallery.