SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

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

Post by ManomayLR »

Little Owl wrote: Sat Feb 05, 2022 22:15 I have to report that the surviving section of MA60 street lights on the M1 between Junction 5 and 6 have been removed.
:( I'm going to miss LPS so bad.
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by scott125 »

Still some SOX on the ramps at the M3/M25 junction. A few SOX lanterns on the way into London on the A316 too.
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by scott125 »

RJDG14 wrote: Sat Jan 22, 2022 15:45
Truvelo wrote: Sat Jan 01, 2022 21:40
StockburyRoundabout wrote: Sat Jan 01, 2022 20:56
Once the SOX is gone from this area, it will truly be the end of an era. Started when the M3 was upgraded to Smart Motorway, removing the columns on the M3 carriageway completely and replacing columns on some slips.

Fond memories of the familiar orange glow of the SOX on the slips (and once upon a time the main M3 carriageway). That's been a sight for as long as a remember and they predate my existence by around 25 years at my estimation. The charm of SOX is something that we'll probably never see again.

I presume this replacement also includes the SOX still present on the verges next to the M25 carriageway on the approach to the slips?
These lanterns were to be saved by someone from a streetlighting group and offered to collectors at cost price. I put my name down for one a month ago but have heard nothing since. Although GEC Bricks were relatively common in areas where full cut off is required the M25 examples had the gear in shoe which made them quite unique.

I took a bunch of photos of them 21 years ago expecting them to be replaced but I never thought they would last this long. The catenary on the M25 in the distance went years ago.
Was this taken in 2000 or 2001? It looks to have been taken on an early digital camera.

Is there a reason why cantenary lighting used to be used on some stretches of motorway/dual carriageway, but isn't anymore? I find the appearance of old lighting more interesting and varied than modern LED lights. May I also ask if there are any areas of the UK where there hasn't yet been any mass LED replacement of existing lights? I know that quite a lot of places began to replace their sodium stock en-masse about 2 years ago, though some parts of the South East had been doing so as far back as about 2014.

I vaugley recall seeing a couple of quite interesting looking sodium (I think high pressure, but they could have been low pressure) central reservation lights on the M4 at the junction with the M25 in 2006. There was also a stretch of differently designed interesting looking lights (I think the lampshades were round) on the M4 a bit to the west around Windsor/Slough. According to Street View, these had been replaced by 2008.
I would say Glasgow still has lots of SOX, its diminished on the main roads but still plenty. There is a few SOX lanterns in the centre of Edinburgh if you know where to look.
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by haymansafc »

Meadow Lane in Ellesmere Port have four 'hanger-onners', although I suspect at least two of these will be going iminently... The land behind the hedge you see on the opposite side of the road in this GSV is currently being developed for housing.

Poole Hall Lane also has several 'gentle giant' survivors along with a few MA's, which took me back aback on a recent visit...
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Chris5156 »

scott125 wrote: Mon Feb 07, 2022 18:39 A few SOX lanterns on the way into London on the A316 too.
I think these were missed when LED lanterns were installed, and it seems to have been forgotten about now - they've been there a few years.
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by BugsBunny »

StockburyRoundabout wrote: Sat Jan 01, 2022 22:14
Truvelo wrote: Sat Jan 01, 2022 21:40
StockburyRoundabout wrote: Sat Jan 01, 2022 20:56
Once the SOX is gone from this area, it will truly be the end of an era. Started when the M3 was upgraded to Smart Motorway, removing the columns on the M3 carriageway completely and replacing columns on some slips.

Fond memories of the familiar orange glow of the SOX on the slips (and once upon a time the main M3 carriageway). That's been a sight for as long as a remember and they predate my existence by around 25 years at my estimation. The charm of SOX is something that we'll probably never see again.

I presume this replacement also includes the SOX still present on the verges next to the M25 carriageway on the approach to the slips?
These lanterns were to be saved by someone from a streetlighting group and offered to collectors at cost price. I put my name down for one a month ago but have heard nothing since. Although GEC Bricks were relatively common in areas where full cut off is required the M25 examples had the gear in shoe which made them quite unique.

I took a bunch of photos of them 21 years ago expecting them to be replaced but I never thought they would last this long. The catenary on the M25 in the distance went years ago.
I have absolutely no memory of the Catenary lighting and I believe Trafficvisions now illuminate said stretch.

It wouldn't have been a shock for those to be replaced en masse in the 2000s as they would have been getting on for 30 years during that decade, reaching that age in 2006! It's a pleasant surprise that such a large installation has made it into 2022 - 46 years after installation. Although, some could argue replacement has been a long time coming.
Makes you wonder in 46 years time, 2068, how many current installed LED lanterns will still be standing in comparison. Somehow I think not many! :D
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by ManomayLR »

BugsBunny wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 06:08
StockburyRoundabout wrote: Sat Jan 01, 2022 22:14
Truvelo wrote: Sat Jan 01, 2022 21:40
These lanterns were to be saved by someone from a streetlighting group and offered to collectors at cost price. I put my name down for one a month ago but have heard nothing since. Although GEC Bricks were relatively common in areas where full cut off is required the M25 examples had the gear in shoe which made them quite unique.

I took a bunch of photos of them 21 years ago expecting them to be replaced but I never thought they would last this long. The catenary on the M25 in the distance went years ago.
I have absolutely no memory of the Catenary lighting and I believe Trafficvisions now illuminate said stretch.

It wouldn't have been a shock for those to be replaced en masse in the 2000s as they would have been getting on for 30 years during that decade, reaching that age in 2006! It's a pleasant surprise that such a large installation has made it into 2022 - 46 years after installation. Although, some could argue replacement has been a long time coming.
Makes you wonder in 46 years time, 2068, how many current installed LED lanterns will still be standing in comparison. Somehow I think not many! :D
LED lanterns do have quite a long life.
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by BugsBunny »

EpicChef wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 09:22
BugsBunny wrote: Tue Feb 08, 2022 06:08
StockburyRoundabout wrote: Sat Jan 01, 2022 22:14
I have absolutely no memory of the Catenary lighting and I believe Trafficvisions now illuminate said stretch.

It wouldn't have been a shock for those to be replaced en masse in the 2000s as they would have been getting on for 30 years during that decade, reaching that age in 2006! It's a pleasant surprise that such a large installation has made it into 2022 - 46 years after installation. Although, some could argue replacement has been a long time coming.
Makes you wonder in 46 years time, 2068, how many current installed LED lanterns will still be standing in comparison. Somehow I think not many! :D
LED lanterns do have quite a long life.
An LED chip can practically last forever (from what I've seen/heard) if run well, but quite a few LED lanterns I've seen that were only installed 5+ years ago have had most of their panel fail already/flash on and off extremely quickly/straight up entirely fail. By 2068, it's possible that we would have already moved on to an entirely new technology by then!
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by scott125 »

Still some SOX alongside the A3 heading into London near Kingston.
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Worcestershire Wolf »

Whilst travelling on the train on Friday through Marks Tey in Essex I saw some SOX lights on concrete columns on a road near the line. This looks like the location on streetview:

https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.88068 ... 384!8i8192

Quite an impressive collection still in existence on a dual carriageway I think!
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by scott125 »

Was in Staffordshire, there was quite a lot of SOX around. Some MA50s on main roads such as the A52.
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by StockburyRoundabout »

StockburyRoundabout wrote: Sat Jan 22, 2022 11:49
Darren wrote: Sat Jan 22, 2022 09:42
Chris5156 wrote: Thu Dec 30, 2021 09:42 The SOX lights on the sliproads at M25 J12 - which were original to the opening of the interchange in the 70s - have finally been switched off, and new LEDs are going up at the moment. They were still working until about a month ago, except for the southbound-to-westbound slip where they'd been out for quite a long time.
FWIW, the old lights on the sliproads coming from the M3 (northbound) to the M25 (anticlockwise) are still very much in use - or they were last Sunday, early in the morning. It'll be strange when they finally go!
I went past Thorpe Interchange last night and the only slip that didn’t have SOX was the M25 anti-clockwise off-slip, which has now had new columns installed with post top LEDs, but these were not in use at the time.
The rest of the slip roads, including the M25 anti-clockwise on-slip you referred to, still had all of the SOX lighting intact and in use as far as I could see.
Update on this one.

Went through Thorpe interchange last night and from what I could see, none of the SOX lanterns are now in Situ, with only a few old columns on overbridges remaining, albeit without any lanterns!

For an installation so large dating from 1976 to last in situ for over 45 years until 2022 was quite remarkable.

The loss of another SOX stronghold from our roads - their iconic orange glow will be missed.
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by bothar »

In Ireland, I live in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and in the past they had a fairly standard setup of SON on main routes and smaller SOX lanterns on side roads and estates, including my own. Some of these smaller roads were replaced by CFL for a short period, then by LED and now a remaining SOX lantern is pretty unusual. However, in the Dublin City authority area though they did use high wattage SOX on main routes and were in no hurry to replace these. So if you fly at night in Dublin airport you can see mostly white light in the suburb but a 1990s style yellow glow over the central areas of the city. So if you are nostalgic for yellow than a visit to Dublin will the trick. They have now decided to replace 40,000 installations over 4 years, so don't leave your visit too long.
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by scott125 »

bothar wrote: Sat Aug 13, 2022 16:28 In Ireland, I live in Dun Laoghaire-Rathdown and in the past they had a fairly standard setup of SON on main routes and smaller SOX lanterns on side roads and estates, including my own. Some of these smaller roads were replaced by CFL for a short period, then by LED and now a remaining SOX lantern is pretty unusual. However, in the Dublin City authority area though they did use high wattage SOX on main routes and were in no hurry to replace these. So if you fly at night in Dublin airport you can see mostly white light in the suburb but a 1990s style yellow glow over the central areas of the city. So if you are nostalgic for yellow than a visit to Dublin will the trick. They have now decided to replace 40,000 installations over 4 years, so don't leave your visit too long.
I have only been to Ireland a few times but what I remember is Thorn Alpha 4s being common. The style of wired columns is similar to Glasgow.
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by scott125 »

Still some SOX on the M62 as it passes over the M6 and on some slip roads. I think Lymm services or is it Keele there is old columns with MA80s, I wonder how old these are?
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by A222Dave »

London Road in Bromley has a fair amount of SOX. It seems like it has missed every 'upgrade' going in the borough. A mix of what looks like MA50s/60s and some GEC Z9554Ms (I'm no expert)??
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by Chris5156 »

A222Dave wrote: Sun Aug 21, 2022 16:08 London Road in Bromley has a fair amount of SOX. It seems like it has missed every 'upgrade' going in the borough. A mix of what looks like MA50s/60s and some GEC Z9554Ms (I'm no expert)??
It’s a TfL road, so wasn’t included in Bromley’s fairly comprehensive Borough wide LED scheme. It doesn’t appear to be high on TfL’s priority list for improvement works.
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by AlexBr967 »

It's like a time capsule. Interesting
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by UKboy »

There's only like 1 Alpha 3 that I've discovered like today next to the ASDA at Castleford at Glasshoughton Car Sales. There are also Thorn Lemnis lanterns all around the nearby area, just past the ASDA.
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Re: SOX street lights, which areas still have them?

Post by AlexBr967 »

Found a SOX goldmine in the form of Skegness and the surrounding area. A few of the caravan sites still have SOX and a lot of the smaller streets in the town. The majority seem to be Philips XGS 103/104. This roundabout is like a time capsule with old street furniture. Correct me if I'm wrong but I think this lantern is rare. This one (Thorn Gamma 6 I think) is on a Stanton and Staveley concrete column. All these examples I can confirm are still there as of the last few days
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