Earliest Mellor Signals

[traffic-light-man]

Truvelo started a thread on this a little while back, but it didn't really go anywhere.

Given TSC Mellors were still on offer until fairly recently (in the grand scheme of things), I imagine there are some pretty fresh sites in areas that installed TSC equipment up them introducing to the Zenith modular design.

these which are newish as I'd imagine they were installed when the houses were built and the houses don't look that old also the lights are still shining nice and brightly unlike most elderly Mellors these days.

That's a fine example of a later TSC installation. I always thought the 200mm arrows/pedestrian heads looked odd in the later model TSCs. I never really got used to that!

Good idea! There are a few in Birmingham that look like recent installations, some still look quite fresh.

A lot of those are Monitron installations (the signal heads are pretty much identical to the later TSC offering), with the less common top-hinged nearside indicators. I'm sure they're a pleasure to work on!

[L.J.D]

I reckon the installation I showed is probly 2005/6 installation because I did some digging and I think the houses were built around that time. Which is quite recent for a Mellor installation if you go further there's another junction with them I'm guessing it was all put in together but the other one is ruined by one Peek Elite ped head otherwise it would be a fully intact modernish Mellor installation.

[WHBM]

One thing I remember about the Mellor signals in the early days was that when they changed, the lights seemed to fade out and in rather than go on & off like a conventional tungsten or halogen bulb.

This is correct, they did. The first set I recall was at Edinburgh Haymarket, when the one-way circuit on the east side was introduced and the roundabout that used to exist in the centre of the junction was got rid of. This was done one weekend in late autumn 1971, probably November. There were maybe a dozen sets or more introduced as part of the scheme, and they certainly had the fade up/down characteristic, in fact that was more novel than the differently shaped heads.

Subsequently installed ones didn't have this feature.

[WHBM]

Lots of interest in that last photo besides the yellow bordered lights. The blue car looks like a Cortina estate? ... I dread to think what the green car is - Ford Anglia?

Blue = Ford Cortina Mk 3 estate. Green - Humber Sceptre about 1964 with two-tone paint https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humber_Sc ... ceptre.jpg

[traffic-light-man]

I reckon the installation I showed is probly 2005/6 installation...

I think this one in Widnes is probably the last full Mellor installation I remember going in, along with this ped just up the road at a similar time. That must have been around 2006/7, so similar to your estimations of your sites there.

There's quite a few TSC sites on the Runcorn busway, but I can't be certain of their age. I thought this on in Halton Lodge might have been one of the most recent given the 200mm peds, but I think the peds were retrofitted after the rest of the site was refurbished, given the vehicle heads have 300mm arrows (and are also a school boy error!)

One thing I remember about the Mellor signals in the early days was that when they changed, the lights seemed to fade out and in rather than go on & off like a conventional tungsten or halogen bulb.

This is correct, they did. The first set I recall was at Edinburgh Haymarket, when the one-way circuit on the east side was introduced and the roundabout that used to exist in the centre of the junction was got rid of. This was done one weekend in late autumn 1971, probably November. There were maybe a dozen sets or more introduced as part of the scheme, and they certainly had the fade up/down characteristic, in fact that was more novel than the differently shaped heads.

Subsequently installed ones didn't have this feature.

This does sound strange. Of course, all the halogen lamps fade by nature, which is more pronounced than the standard 60w tungsten filament lamps used in their predecessors. It gets more pronounced at night, too, when the signals are run at a lower voltage in order to dim the aspects.

I wonder if it was something to do with the controllers of the time, rather than the lanterns themselves?

Lots of interest in that last photo besides the yellow bordered lights. The blue car looks like a Cortina estate? ... I dread to think what the green car is - Ford Anglia?

Blue = Ford Cortina Mk 3 estate.

My mum reckons it's a Vauxhall as Chris mentioned, looking very similar to a Cortina, with the other being a Humber as you say. She also added that that could very well be her driving past in that blue car, though I wouldn't like to put any money on it!

[WHBM]

Yes, it is a Vauxhall Victor 2000, isn't it ? Looks heavily loaded. More interesting on the far left in the garage is a two-tone grey (as many were) Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud.

[traffic-light-man]

Yes, it is a Vauxhall Victor 2000, isn't it ? Looks heavily loaded. More interesting on the far left in the garage is a two-tone grey (as many were) Rolls-Royce Silver Cloud.

Victor 2000 Estate, that's the one. I wouldn't have had a garage in that area down as having the clientele for a Rolls, but maybe times have changed!

[Gareth]

I've been thinking about this thread and I was thinking how fun it would be to stir it up a little. Instead of the oldest or earliest Mellors how about the newest Mellors in the UK or at least some more recent installations? Top of my head I can think of these which are newish as I'd imagine they were installed when the houses were built and the houses don't look that old also the lights are still shining nice and brightly unlike most elderly Mellors these days.

Whoever installed that isn't a fan of farside secondary signals. Those signals have the smaller original terminal caps. Around here, at least, these were changed to the taller type in 2001/2. Some of the earliest post-Mellor signals had these, whilst some of the very last Mellors had the new type.

[Gareth]

I reckon the installation I showed is probly 2005/6 installation...

I think this one in Widnes is probably the last full Mellor installation I remember going in, along with this ped just up the road at a similar time. That must have been around 2006/7, so similar to your estimations of your sites there.

That junction set has the smaller terminal caps. Like I said, the change to the larger type happened in 2001/2, in Liverpool at least. Are you sure it wasn't only a partial refurbishment? The pedestrian crossing down the road has the newer larger type terminal cap, which is a telltale sign of a very late Mellor installation.

[traffic-light-man]

That junction set has the smaller terminal caps. Like I said, the change to the larger type happened in 2001/2, in Liverpool at least. Are you sure it wasn't only a partial refurbishment? The pedestrian crossing down the road has the newer larger type terminal cap, which is a telltale sign of a very late Mellor installation.

It was definitely a full refurbishment, the previous installation didn't have pedestrian facilities. I had a Page RAG from the previous set here in my collection at one stage.

PTC Traffic still supply pole caps in standard or extended height according to their catalogue, but I agree that the extended height became standard in these parts during the early 2000s. I think TSC must have been using standard height caps later than others though, looking at the evidence here. Either that, or it was/is a design decision the same as the poles themselves.

[Gareth]

The traditional smaller cap is much smarter, presumably designed by David Mellor with a holistic consideration for the overall Mellor design. The larger type is awkward-looking.

My personal favourite is the one with the wide base and no terminal cap. Not the one Liverpool is currently using which has a wide base that narrows at the very bottom to fit into the standard NAL sockets. Those are fugly.

[traffic-light-man]

I agree regarding the pole caps. There seems to be a bit of variety in pole types going in at the moment, seemingly depending on who's involved with the scheme. The new installations on Victoria Street in the city centre use the poles you've described as liking, I think - I'll have to pay closer attention to the base of the poles next time I head that way.

I quite like the look of these ones, which have a mid-level access door. There's even a few traditionally cranked poles here, and a strange one-off use of Polymer Solutions backing boards.

[Gareth]

I can't for the life of me make out any door on those poles. Neat though.

I can't stand cranked poles, although I prefer the traditional type to the curvy type Sefton seems obsessed with. I'd sooner they just used straight poles and off-centred the signal heads using brackets if needed. My main problem with those cranked poles in streetview is that they're slightly thicker than standard and narrow suddenly at the very bottom to fit into the socket. I hate the look of poles like that. Really, we need a larger socket standard for wider base poles.