SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Discussion about street lighting, road signs, traffic signals - and all other street furniture - goes here.

Moderator: Site Management Team

Post Reply
Divine
Member
Posts: 73
Joined: Sun Dec 24, 2017 16:49
Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Contact:

SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Divine »

I'm wondering, which areas still have SOX? I know Glasgow do and where I live, Barnsley, have a lot of SOX fittings. There are some real gems. Barnsley Council have retained a majority of the SOX street lights apart from a few patches where they upgraded to LED. They only upgraded SON lighting, which I was pleased with as a majority of the SON lights they used were ugly and had a poor glow. They changed to one type of LED, which has worked really well. I personally prefer SOX the most and then Mercury/Fluorescent. I've drove into Kirklees, where the council are way behind and they've chained out a bunch of cheap LED street lights which have failed and been upgraded after 4 months to a year and also removed perfectly functional SOX lights and replaced with ugly LED street lights and left damaged SON lights. I'm glad I live in Barnsley.

Here are some examples for you guys :)

Here is an example: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.52960 ... 312!8i6656
This is close to where I live and few have been upgraded. MA50's dominate this area and few Alpha 5's can be spotted. I'd say 98% are still working/in use.

This is another road filled with MA90's and the street view is up to date:
https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.54871 ... 312!8i6656
This is another area close to where I live.

This Alpha 1 was removed over a year ago: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.57150 ... 312!8i6656
I use to live around this area, which was on the border with Barnsley and was unfortunately in Kirklees. They replaced it with one of those cheap, ugly LED street lights. It's a real shame as it worked perfectly. I moved before it was changed.

This fitting, in Ingbirchworth, close to where I live, on the Barnsley border has been left. Can anyone identify it? It was fitted around Upper Denby and parts of Barnsley. Up the road you can see one of the ugly, cheap LED street lights which are blazing away in the daytime: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.55361 ... 312!8i6656

If you visit Upper Denby and go back in time on street view, you can see some fine SOX lights that have been replaced by again, the same poor quality LED's: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.56264 ... 312!8i6656

This fitting, which I can't identify (Please tell me), has surprisingly managed to stay, even though Kirklees have pointlessly upgraded the rest. It's in great condition: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.57135 ... 312!8i6656

This area is a real treat to those who appreciate SOX, Silkestone Common and Silkestone still have Alpha 9's, MA90's and MA50's: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.53450 ... 312!8i6656

This Alpha 3 was removed some time ago, it was sometime around 2010. It was unusual as all the other street lights were SON, but I think they upgraded them from Alpha 3's. I'm not too sure as I can't exactly remember: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.52633 ... 312!8i6656

This area, close to Barnsley town centre has a range of interesting street lights. Here we see a range of Alpha 5's. Some in good condition: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.54834 ... 312!8i6656
Further down the road, some unusual fittings have been installed. This was apart of a trial. Libra's and FGS224's have been fitted: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.54966 ... 312!8i6656
I like the glow they give out, its not to bright, but bright enough. Philips have made some great lights.

Which areas still have SOX? I know Barnsley, Glasgow and Halifax do. It really is a shame to see SOX die out. I grew up seeing them out and about.
User avatar
FleetlinePhil
Member
Posts: 2067
Joined: Fri Sep 08, 2017 11:26
Location: Calder Valley

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by FleetlinePhil »

Divine wrote: Which areas still have SOX? I know Barnsley, Glasgow and Halifax do. It really is a shame to see SOX die out. I grew up seeing them out and about.
I made a point of taking my head out of the newspaper on my homeward commute yesterday to see if any areas of the upper Calder Valley had changed, but the residential areas and upland roads are still all orange. The only LED lit road I spotted was the A6026 through Copley - not sure when that changed?

The following has appeared on Calderdale Council's website:
An audit of all the Councils street lighting columns is currently taking place in advance of an LED replacement scheme. As part of this survey it may be necessary to remove some lamp columns for safety reasons. Many factors will be taken into account when engineers assess the placement of the new efficient LED lighting columns and as such we cannot guarantee that where a column as been removed a replacement will be provided in the same location. As there are in excess of 30,000 lighting columns throughout Calderdale the scheme is likely to take two years to complete.
User avatar
Patrick Harper
Member
Posts: 3198
Joined: Sat Jan 16, 2010 14:41
Location: Wiltshire

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Patrick Harper »

Bucks still have quite a few in service that are not 'doomed' per say.
Divine
Member
Posts: 73
Joined: Sun Dec 24, 2017 16:49
Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Contact:

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Divine »

FleetlinePhil wrote:
Divine wrote: Which areas still have SOX? I know Barnsley, Glasgow and Halifax do. It really is a shame to see SOX die out. I grew up seeing them out and about.
I made a point of taking my head out of the newspaper on my homeward commute yesterday to see if any areas of the upper Calder Valley had changed, but the residential areas and upland roads are still all orange. The only LED lit road I spotted was the A6026 through Copley - not sure when that changed?

The following has appeared on Calderdale Council's website:
An audit of all the Councils street lighting columns is currently taking place in advance of an LED replacement scheme. As part of this survey it may be necessary to remove some lamp columns for safety reasons. Many factors will be taken into account when engineers assess the placement of the new efficient LED lighting columns and as such we cannot guarantee that where a column as been removed a replacement will be provided in the same location. As there are in excess of 30,000 lighting columns throughout Calderdale the scheme is likely to take two years to complete.
Well it seems they'll be replacing them. I've drove through some of the Upland areas a few years back and I can confirm they were SOX. I don't think Barnsley will be replacing any soon. There work is complete for now.
scott125
Member
Posts: 346
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2016 14:50

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by scott125 »

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.83927 ... 312!8i6656

Noticed this street today , these look over 50 years old .
User avatar
Bryn666
Elected Committee Member
Posts: 35714
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2002 20:54
Contact:

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Bryn666 »

FleetlinePhil wrote:
Divine wrote: Which areas still have SOX? I know Barnsley, Glasgow and Halifax do. It really is a shame to see SOX die out. I grew up seeing them out and about.
I made a point of taking my head out of the newspaper on my homeward commute yesterday to see if any areas of the upper Calder Valley had changed, but the residential areas and upland roads are still all orange. The only LED lit road I spotted was the A6026 through Copley - not sure when that changed?

The following has appeared on Calderdale Council's website:
An audit of all the Councils street lighting columns is currently taking place in advance of an LED replacement scheme. As part of this survey it may be necessary to remove some lamp columns for safety reasons. Many factors will be taken into account when engineers assess the placement of the new efficient LED lighting columns and as such we cannot guarantee that where a column as been removed a replacement will be provided in the same location. As there are in excess of 30,000 lighting columns throughout Calderdale the scheme is likely to take two years to complete.
Most of that 30,000 column stock is old and well past its best, so I can forsee lots of new columns being needed. There was a push to get rid of some before they reached 'likely to fail' stage which is why Burdock Way has lost all but about 4 of its original 1973 columns.

There are some real elderly clunkers on the moors, and even on the A roads - try the A646 at King Cross out towards Friendly.
Bryn
Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already.
She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.

Blog - https://showmeasign.online/
X - https://twitter.com/ShowMeASignBryn
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@BrynBuck
Divine
Member
Posts: 73
Joined: Sun Dec 24, 2017 16:49
Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Contact:

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Divine »

Bryn666 wrote:
FleetlinePhil wrote:
Divine wrote: Which areas still have SOX? I know Barnsley, Glasgow and Halifax do. It really is a shame to see SOX die out. I grew up seeing them out and about.
I made a point of taking my head out of the newspaper on my homeward commute yesterday to see if any areas of the upper Calder Valley had changed, but the residential areas and upland roads are still all orange. The only LED lit road I spotted was the A6026 through Copley - not sure when that changed?

The following has appeared on Calderdale Council's website:
An audit of all the Councils street lighting columns is currently taking place in advance of an LED replacement scheme. As part of this survey it may be necessary to remove some lamp columns for safety reasons. Many factors will be taken into account when engineers assess the placement of the new efficient LED lighting columns and as such we cannot guarantee that where a column as been removed a replacement will be provided in the same location. As there are in excess of 30,000 lighting columns throughout Calderdale the scheme is likely to take two years to complete.
Most of that 30,000 column stock is old and well past its best, so I can forsee lots of new columns being needed. There was a push to get rid of some before they reached 'likely to fail' stage which is why Burdock Way has lost all but about 4 of its original 1973 columns.

There are some real elderly clunkers on the moors, and even on the A roads - try the A646 at King Cross out towards Friendly.
Indeed, on Manchester Road, near Slaithwaite, there are also some fine examples of SOX fittings. Unsure what model they are. They remind me of the posts/brackets in Australia: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.61590 ... 312!8i6656

Also forgot to mention, there's an Mercury Alpha 3 on a road I travel on daily. It has been there for a long time, probably since the 70's. It seems to always be on at 7:30am, so it could be damaged: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.53949 ... 312!8i6656

Also noticed some very unusual fittings on the A628 coming into Tintwistle. The MA50's/60's have been there for years and still are: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.47444 ... 312!8i6656
But 4 were replaced to 3 different types of SON just less than a year ago: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.47526 ... 312!8i6656
If you go back in time, you can see that MA50's were there, just less than a year ago. This is very unusual, as I'd expect the MA50's to still be there or replaced with LED. But what confuses me the most is why there are 3 different models installed? It doesn't make a lot of sense.

Discovered an Alpha 3 by the Railway in Garston, Liverpool: https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.35279 ... 312!8i6656
It seems the further away you get from Liverpool city centre, the more SOX lights appear.
Last edited by Divine on Thu Dec 28, 2017 23:40, edited 3 times in total.
Divine
Member
Posts: 73
Joined: Sun Dec 24, 2017 16:49
Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Contact:

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Divine »

scott125 wrote:https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.83927 ... 312!8i6656

Noticed this street today , these look over 50 years old .
Doesn't surprise me one bit. Glasgow have retained almost all of there SOX fittings. I have barley seen any go. Those Alpha 9's will indeed have been there a while.
Robert Kilcoyne
Member
Posts: 966
Joined: Sun May 28, 2017 11:41
Location: Birmingham

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Robert Kilcoyne »

Bryn666 wrote:
Most of that 30,000 column stock is old and well past its best, so I can forsee lots of new columns being needed. There was a push to get rid of some before they reached 'likely to fail' stage which is why Burdock Way has lost all but about 4 of its original 1973 columns.

There are some real elderly clunkers on the moors, and even on the A roads - try the A646 at King Cross out towards Friendly.
I can remember that there were some really old concrete columns and SOX lanterns on the A58 and A672 west of Ripponden; this is a classic.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.66857 ... 6656?hl=en
User avatar
Bryn666
Elected Committee Member
Posts: 35714
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2002 20:54
Contact:

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Bryn666 »

Yes and that one is surprisingly in decent condition given the very concrete unfriendly weather up there.
Bryn
Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already.
She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.

Blog - https://showmeasign.online/
X - https://twitter.com/ShowMeASignBryn
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@BrynBuck
Divine
Member
Posts: 73
Joined: Sun Dec 24, 2017 16:49
Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Contact:

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Divine »

Robert Kilcoyne wrote:
Bryn666 wrote:
Most of that 30,000 column stock is old and well past its best, so I can forsee lots of new columns being needed. There was a push to get rid of some before they reached 'likely to fail' stage which is why Burdock Way has lost all but about 4 of its original 1973 columns.

There are some real elderly clunkers on the moors, and even on the A roads - try the A646 at King Cross out towards Friendly.
I can remember that there were some really old concrete columns and SOX lanterns on the A58 and A672 west of Ripponden; this is a classic.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@53.66857 ... 6656?hl=en
Indeed. The condition of that is surprisingly good.
Worcestershire Wolf
Member
Posts: 99
Joined: Wed Jul 05, 2017 21:45
Location: Kidderminster

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Worcestershire Wolf »

Birmingham still has quite a few SOX on main roads despite the large amount of ongoing replacements. One of the most surprising area of remaining one is along the B4100 High Street Dertitend / Digbeth as this forms the main road into the city centre from the East and is just a stones throw from the Bullring. Only a few replacement SON units have been fitted.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.47465 ... 312!8i6656
User avatar
Bryn666
Elected Committee Member
Posts: 35714
Joined: Thu Jun 20, 2002 20:54
Contact:

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Bryn666 »

Birmingham was unusual in that after the war it managed to use tubular steel for almost all of its main roads. Stewart and Lloyds must have made a killing out of it.

Those columns along there are the quintessential 1960s Brum installation, although the MA90s are later than that.
Bryn
Terminally cynical, unimpressed, and nearly Middle Age already.
She said life was like a motorway; dull, grey, and long.

Blog - https://showmeasign.online/
X - https://twitter.com/ShowMeASignBryn
YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/@BrynBuck
tipsynurse
Banned
Posts: 407
Joined: Fri Dec 01, 2017 13:37

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by tipsynurse »

I think it would be easier to list areas that don't have any (probably those with PFI schemes). Although more and more councils seem to be putting in "casual replacements" of one LED I'm not sure whether when just the bulb or entire column fails.

It looks very jarring, much more so than a SOX/SON mix. Around here they've also started putting LEDs on slip roads whilst the mainline remains SON, again it looks very messy.

Even when they have replaced whole roads they seem to leave a few SOX, I'm not sure if these will eventually die out if they stop ordering replacement bulbs.

I've noticed that when LEDs fail and so into on/off cycling it is very quick, almost like a camera flash. Very distracting.
User avatar
Ben302
Member
Posts: 1101
Joined: Sat Jun 17, 2006 15:27
Location: Gillingham, Kent

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Ben302 »

Medway has still a few estates where SOX lighting is still extant but very few roads are exclusively lit by SOX - Also recently rather than replace a failed SOX lantern, they replace the bulb with a CFL.
Robert Kilcoyne
Member
Posts: 966
Joined: Sun May 28, 2017 11:41
Location: Birmingham

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Robert Kilcoyne »

Bryn666 wrote:Birmingham was unusual in that after the war it managed to use tubular steel for almost all of its main roads. Stewart and Lloyds must have made a killing out of it.

Those columns along there are the quintessential 1960s Brum installation, although the MA90s are later than that.
I think that the columns would have been installed in the 1970's. I do not remember seeing SOX lanterns in Birmingham until 1977, when a small number of MA90's on new S & L columns replaced GEC Clearmains, which had also been fitted to S & L columns, but with shorter brackets, and also in the Digbeth area. So some of these MA90's will now be 40 years old.
scott125
Member
Posts: 346
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2016 14:50

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by scott125 »

Robert Kilcoyne wrote:
Bryn666 wrote:Birmingham was unusual in that after the war it managed to use tubular steel for almost all of its main roads. Stewart and Lloyds must have made a killing out of it.

Those columns along there are the quintessential 1960s Brum installation, although the MA90s are later than that.
I think that the columns would have been installed in the 1970's. I do not remember seeing SOX lanterns in Birmingham until 1977, when a small number of MA90's on new S & L columns replaced GEC Clearmains, which had also been fitted to S & L columns, but with shorter brackets, and also in the Digbeth area. So some of these MA90's will now be 40 years old.
Must be some of the oldest MA s in the country .
scott125
Member
Posts: 346
Joined: Wed Nov 02, 2016 14:50

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by scott125 »

Divine wrote:
scott125 wrote:https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.83927 ... 312!8i6656

Noticed this street today , these look over 50 years old .
Doesn't surprise me one bit. Glasgow have retained almost all of there SOX fittings. I have barley seen any go. Those Alpha 9's will indeed have been there a while.
On the main roads LED is making inroads , side roads different story .
Divine
Member
Posts: 73
Joined: Sun Dec 24, 2017 16:49
Location: Barnsley, South Yorkshire
Contact:

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Divine »

scott125 wrote:
Divine wrote:
scott125 wrote:https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@55.83927 ... 312!8i6656

Noticed this street today , these look over 50 years old .
Doesn't surprise me one bit. Glasgow have retained almost all of there SOX fittings. I have barley seen any go. Those Alpha 9's will indeed have been there a while.
On the main roads LED is making inroads , side roads different story .
True, recently been up to Glasgow.
Robert Kilcoyne
Member
Posts: 966
Joined: Sun May 28, 2017 11:41
Location: Birmingham

Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Robert Kilcoyne »

A couple of Thorn Alpha 4's on the A45 at The Swan Island in Birmingham. Thorn Alpha 4's were very rare in the city as Philips MA's were usually the main road lanterns.

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@52.46187 ... 6656?hl=en
Post Reply