SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

[Divine]

Driving through Cawthorne today, noticed all the old SOX fittings on these retro swan necks have gone aside from one: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.56328 ... 312!8i6656

Shame

[Little Owl]

According to the webcams, the suspended SOX lighting structure on the M1 are not in use.

Most of the Philips MAs, however, are still there, although I don't think it will be long.

[Colinrog]

When I drove past it tonight half of it was working (the south end) and the other half wasn't. It's been like that for at least a few weeks now. In terms of the northbound slip road at junction 6, none of the lighting as you come off the motorway is working. Has been like that for at least the last year. Looking at it, I also really don't think it will be long before replacement.

[Divine]

Barnsley have no replacement scheme for the remaining SOX fittings. These include:

Common:
Philips MA50
Philips MA60
Philips MA90
Philips MA5C (Eleco GR151)
Philips MA6C (Eleco GR201)
Davis GR501 (Could be another model with a similar design)
Thorn Alpha 9
Thorn Beta 5
Philips mI36

Less Common:
Davis GR100/Other Davis fittings
Thorn Beta 2
Thorn Alpha 4
Other Fittings that have been fitted here and there.

The MA series is currently the most common light in Barnsley beside the new LED instalments. Even then, there's still a lot of MA50's/MA90's.
Even the Arcs aren't as common. Beta 5's have rapidly decreased in size since new LED instalments. Shame. There are still a select few. Same with Davis GR series. There were quite few some time ago, roughly 3 years ago before LED fittings took over.

[Glenn A]

Copeland Borough Council have found a cheap way of replacing SOX lighting: simply remove the bulb and install an LED fitting inside the original lantern. Many seventies and eighties street lights are receiving this cut price treatment.

[Divine]

Copeland Borough Council have found a cheap way of replacing SOX lighting: simply remove the bulb and install an LED fitting inside the original lantern. Many seventies and eighties street lights are receiving this cut price treatment.

Interesting. Not the same light as before, but I'm glad this is happening as I prefer the design of SOX lights.

[Patrick Harper]

Copeland Borough Council have found a cheap way of replacing SOX lighting: simply remove the bulb and install an LED fitting inside the original lantern. Many seventies and eighties street lights are receiving this cut price treatment.

Interesting. Not the same light as before, but I'm glad this is happening as I prefer the design of SOX lights.

I'm not so glad as most SOX and even HID lanterns are not optimised for cut-off light distribution like the specially designed LED heads are, so the light pollution is worse.

[Worcestershire Wolf]

Copeland Borough Council have found a cheap way of replacing SOX lighting: simply remove the bulb and install an LED fitting inside the original lantern. Many seventies and eighties street lights are receiving this cut price treatment.

I have seen that Sandwell and Worcsestershire councils doing this.

Unfortuneatley the Worcestershire ones as installed in one road near me seem very poor in terms of distributing light, a tiny pool around the light and no spread to properly illuminate between lights.

[scott125]

Along the A69 there is a lone SOX lantern just past brampton ! Didnt see any SOX in Newcastle

[Glenn A]

Copeland Borough Council have found a cheap way of replacing SOX lighting: simply remove the bulb and install an LED fitting inside the original lantern. Many seventies and eighties street lights are receiving this cut price treatment.

Interesting. Not the same light as before, but I'm glad this is happening as I prefer the design of SOX lights.

As the columns are in good condition, even most of the concrete ones from the fifties, it's far cheaper than removing them and replacing them.

[Divine]

Strange fittings in Liverpool.

It seems Liverpool are still replacing SOX with, well, SOX.

It seems this light by a famous Engineering garage, which took over an old railway tunnel in Liverpool in 1977 and converted it into a garage, but it recently shut down and some great old classic cars remain under there!

The light has been changed, but the column has been replaced twice.

2008: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.38139 ... 312!8i6656
2015: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.38140 ... 312!8i6656
2017: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.38139 ... 312!8i6656
Same light, but it the column was changed.

Looks like a Philips MO62, which were made in the 70's! Interesting replacement.

[FleetlinePhil]

I've just run an errand for a family member living in Cornholme (on the A646 heading from Todmorden to Burnley but still within Calderdale) and the terraced sidestreets off the A646 have been converted to LED. These are the first ones I've spotted in the Upper Calder Valley, apart from odd replacement ones (there are two on Victoria Road, Todmorden).

I've just realised that the LED lights in Cornholme I was referring to are actually showing on GSV from August 2015, so presumably random replacements rather than part of the current rollout? https://goo.gl/maps/VjWD8T9DHxt.
The GSV image on the street itself is an older shot: https://goo.gl/maps/a1waZQ9JRKT2 I had never noticed that the two SOX columns were different. Some of the other sidestreets have also been replaced, but certainly not all.

[Divine]

I've just run an errand for a family member living in Cornholme (on the A646 heading from Todmorden to Burnley but still within Calderdale) and the terraced sidestreets off the A646 have been converted to LED. These are the first ones I've spotted in the Upper Calder Valley, apart from odd replacement ones (there are two on Victoria Road, Todmorden).

I've just realised that the LED lights in Cornholme I was referring to are actually showing on GSV from August 2015, so presumably random replacements rather than part of the current rollout? https://goo.gl/maps/VjWD8T9DHxt.
The GSV image on the street itself is an older shot: https://goo.gl/maps/a1waZQ9JRKT2 I had never noticed that the two SOX columns were different. Some of the other sidestreets have also been replaced, but certainly not all.

RIP Concrete Beta 5's.

[Patrick Harper]

When I drove past it tonight half of it was working (the south end) and the other half wasn't. It's been like that for at least a few weeks now. In terms of the northbound slip road at junction 6, none of the lighting as you come off the motorway is working. Has been like that for at least the last year. Looking at it, I also really don't think it will be long before replacement.

Something is wrong with the electricity supply of the motorway lighting in this area, including the M25. I've even seen batches of SON lanterns flicker on and off randomly around M25 J22. The lighting system employing MA60s south of M1 J6 is still well maintained, so the suspended lighting equipment might still be in fine order, they just aren't being serviced properly.

[tipsynurse]

When I drove past it tonight half of it was working (the south end) and the other half wasn't. It's been like that for at least a few weeks now. In terms of the northbound slip road at junction 6, none of the lighting as you come off the motorway is working. Has been like that for at least the last year. Looking at it, I also really don't think it will be long before replacement.

Something is wrong with the electricity supply of the motorway lighting in this area, including the M25. I've even seen batches of SON lanterns flicker on and off randomly around M25 J22. The lighting system employing MA60s south of M1 J6 is still well maintained, so the suspended lighting equipment might still be in fine order, they just aren't being serviced properly.

Most of the brand new lighting between M25 j16 and j17 isn't working either.

[Patrick Harper]

When I drove past it tonight half of it was working (the south end) and the other half wasn't. It's been like that for at least a few weeks now. In terms of the northbound slip road at junction 6, none of the lighting as you come off the motorway is working. Has been like that for at least the last year. Looking at it, I also really don't think it will be long before replacement.

Something is wrong with the electricity supply of the motorway lighting in this area, including the M25. I've even seen batches of SON lanterns flicker on and off randomly around M25 J22. The lighting system employing MA60s south of M1 J6 is still well maintained, so the suspended lighting equipment might still be in fine order, they just aren't being serviced properly.

Most of the brand new lighting between M25 j16 and j17 isn't working either.

It was working when it was new back in 2010 and I have film to prove it, but I suspect the system was done on the cheap (just as the rest of the widening works were) and therefore has not aged well.

[tipsynurse]

Something is wrong with the electricity supply of the motorway lighting in this area, including the M25. I've even seen batches of SON lanterns flicker on and off randomly around M25 J22. The lighting system employing MA60s south of M1 J6 is still well maintained, so the suspended lighting equipment might still be in fine order, they just aren't being serviced properly.

Most of the brand new lighting between M25 j16 and j17 isn't working either.

It was working when it was new back in 2010 and I have film to prove it, but I suspect the system was done on the cheap (just as the rest of the widening works were) and therefore has not aged well.

I suspect also the engineering challenges of putting drainage, data comms and power, and then three phase power for the lighting, presumably all with different contractors, didn't really help.

[FleetlinePhil]

I notice we have had a random LED replacement appear up the street, but as I walked over the footbridge over the Todmorden-Burnley rail line the other night, I was reminded of the rather elegant wrought iron (I assume) column on the side of the bridge nearer Todmorden town centre, which will presumably be under threat from the LED programme:https://goo.gl/maps/tBQm9jgGbSm.

Those with the eyes of a hawk and the memory of an elephant may recall Stephanie Turner jogging over this bridge in the opening scenes of an episode of Juliet Bravo. I assume it was a fairly early episode, as I watched it as a repeat after I had moved to Todmorden, and the scene continued with her jogging down past Fleetline Towers, but for a moment I didn't recognise it! The street was still setted at the time of filming, and the large weaving shed had not been stone-cleaned, making for a very different scene.

[Divine]

I notice we have had a random LED replacement appear up the street, but as I walked over the footbridge over the Todmorden-Burnley rail line the other night, I was reminded of the rather elegant wrought iron (I assume) column on the side of the bridge nearer Todmorden town centre, which will presumably be under threat from the LED programme:https://goo.gl/maps/tBQm9jgGbSm.

Those with the eyes of a hawk and the memory of an elephant may recall Stephanie Turner jogging over this bridge in the opening scenes of an episode of Juliet Bravo. I assume it was a fairly early episode, as I watched it as a repeat after I had moved to Todmorden, and the scene continued with her jogging down past Fleetline Towers, but for a moment I didn't recognise it! The street was still setted at the time of filming, and the large weaving shed had not been stone-cleaned, making for a very different scene.

Hopefully the iron column isn't removed!

[Divine]

I remember being in Sheffield a few weeks back and noticing what I believe is a MA6C with a replacement stood next to it. This is rare in Sheffield.
https://www.google.com/maps/@53.3904093 ... 6?hl=en-GB