Ha - the train wanted to stretch its legs after a career on the slower commuter lines! I seem to recall that the A Stock tour had some rather "lively" moments too, particularly when we left Harrow for the Uxbridge branch, and traversed the points at something above the usual speed limit - seat belts would have been useful!

I do quite like them, for saying that LED lanterns are not my cup of tea at all, but they do look a bit silly atop even a 5 m column!

Indeed, that's why I decided to photograph the earlier examples for page 12DA - I was surprised that these older Alpha 8s were still going!

You'll have to nip there with some fresh lamps and cleaned bowls, and bring them back into 'proper' condition!

Staffordshire still has plenty of them too, and these are unconverted examples.

@ I doubt the Staffordshire ones are safe however due to the LED replacement scheme, although certain parts of Birmingham has loads from what I saw.

Indeed, and as Birmingham's finances are less than rosy right now, the 2600s will probably keep going for a while yet - the same for the remaining (and quite common) Group B mercury stock!

Probably with rather severe-looking canopies, I'd imagine!

@ yeah and most had yellowed bowls too, although some others had whiter canopies and the bowls looking clear, which suggested they were much newer casual replacement types.

If only the canopies had some lacquer applied at a point prior to installation, they could stay looking clean for a lot longer!

The 250 W version was renowned for cremating bowls after only a short amount of time!

Are the converted examples missing their bowls and original optics?

@ they’ve been retrofitted with TrueForce lamps from what I saw on street view. The ones with the ridiculously large heatsinks.

I'm surprised that the sealed optics are long enough to accommodate such lamps - if only the powers that be had waited a little longer, the actual SON-T retrofits could have been used, which would have looked far superior!

I always consider it a "London" lantern too - it was probably there that I saw it for the first time.

You won't be surprised to learn that I had similar aspirations at that age. Sadly, life took me in other directions, and I doubt that I will ever see them through now, but if you can work in something that's your hobby, you'll never have to do a day's work, ever! You might not necessarily be able to choose such variables, however - usually, that would be dictated by the client, but there is no harm in providing opinions on products in an attempt to persuade them, however.

I am glad that you enjoyed the video, and the associated site update - I have added a few extra Survivor articles since the update went live as I'm unstoppable! Good luck in creating your own website!

That's still a good number, even if so many are out!

@@StreetLightOnline True, I should probably appreciate the fact that there's any left at all. I've recently had the idea of purposefully removing a small amount of remaining MA60s so they can be stored and be reused for spare parts or complete spare lights but I don't know if national highways would ever consider this.

Sadly, I suspect that they would consider them obsolete technology these days, and not go to the trouble of storing remaining examples for part cannibalisation, given that there are so many examples that have stopped working, and yet, have been left in place. Then again, they did have the second-hand GEC cut-off lanterns that were being used as replacement 135 W lanterns up this way, so I guess that it depends on the individual Area teams.

​@StreetLightOnline The main reason why most of the remaining MA60S don't work is due to a lack of relamps. I'm confident that at least 95% of them would work if given new 180w lamps.

Yeah, the gear is fairly robust - what seems to kill the ballasts is when the required capacitor fails, as then the ballast overheats / overdrives the lamp.

Is it the same light green type, as this used to use? I must say that I haven't found them to be too reliable, sadly - the paper labels wear off, and they seem to go open-circuit too readily. The later Z1616 ballasts were better, apart from the ignitor circuits being quite fragile, resulting in countless examples being scrapped when the workaround solution using an external ignitor would have kept them working.

@StreetLightOnline Yep the gear in my Z9533 is the exact same as your Z9532 the ballast is still really quiet for now

The one in mine never became terribly noisy, but the equivalent one running my HW-918 was a different story entirely!

This would work, although I think that you'd be overdriving the lamp a little - the running current / voltage for 400 W MBF is around 3.2 A / 140 V, whereas it's around 3.4 A / 125 V for a metal halide. I did have this exact Alpha 3 running on MH gear (including with an ignitor, as I didn't realise that these were not required for an MBF lamp at the time) for a while, but it's probably not recommended to mismatch over a prolonged period.

More is the pity!

Merry Christmas to you too! Yep, all ELECO, conveniently, and I'm glad that the concrete paint effect may inspire you to have a try yourself. I suggest buying a few cans, as the mixture is quite thick, and doesn't last too long, particularly when applying multiple coats to cover the metalwork. Ooh, what page/s are you browsing where there's that possible issue with the lanterns appearing?

Thanks - what do you make of the imitation concrete column?

@StreetLightOnline Love it mate, concrete columns are so beautiful if I do say so. Especially the 1940s to 1960s with lovely brackets.

Thanks! Yeah, for saying that they were rather utilitarian, we still could design things to have some level of architectural flair back then!

Yeah, as the current electric bell doesn't quite cause a complete bowel movement when it goes off, this would be preferable - though Royal Mail may not be happy at the amount of posties going off with PTSD!

Oh, I hope that you're successful - they're becoming quite a rarity. As the gear in them is pretty reliable, unfortunately, this may mean that your wait is somewhat prolonged!

@@StreetLightOnline Good to hear that they are reliable, it's more the lamps I'm waiting on to fail, as public road sox here has not been relamped for around 4 years or more now! Won't be too long till our sox finally begins rapidly failing. I'm more worried about how our contractors deal with taking the lanterns down, perhaps I will give them a bonus profit if it comes down in one piece!😂

Ah, true - back in the days of 'proper' OSRAM lamps, they could go on for years, but the later SOX lamps had far more finite lives. In some cases here, it was because there were no more lamps in stock that lanterns ended up being changed, rather than there being anything wrong with the actual lantern. I like your thinking - an extra pound for every extra bit of care provided to the lantern during removal!

Yeah, I hadn't quite appreciated the size that we were talking when I bought this one - in its boxed form, it took up about the entire porch and only just fitted through the door! It would be interesting to see examples out on the road using the LED lamps (even if converting the green arrow was a faff) - I don't know if the damp conditions would cause premature failure, mind you; the red and amber optics aren't terribly well sealed. Absolutely, the fade is the classic look - I hate modern Pelican crossings (not that they're all that common - Puffins seem preferable nowadays) as the flashing amber LED just looks so wrong!

​@@StreetLightOnline I'm very tempted to get one, as I have the pedestrian signal and the wait push button box, therefore I'd have the full set together! I find the 38 automatic sequences quite cool as you can just let it do It's cycle by itself as my pedestrian one only has a switch at the back😅.The LED siemens traffic lights here I find too bright compared to the soft fade-in halogen ones, some here are really glarey! I do agree though, the flashing amber does look strange and quite annoying too from It's speedy bright flashing! At least with your Mellor, the optics make it rather nice on the eye, and at first you wouldn't even notice It's LED!

I wonder if the sequencer includes a routine for a pedestrian signal head - you could simulate a crossing sequence quite easily. The beams are certainly stronger nowadays - I believe that modern regulations require a higher brightness than was permitted formerly, but the drawback is that this then worsens the glare, as you have noticed. Indeed, the Mellor offers a far easier experience on the eye!

It won't last, I can assure you!

I love the idea of a live cut-out emerging from the ground, with the remains of a chopped-off tubular steel column surrounding it, and no-one bothering about it, mind you! ;-)

Indeed, they have practical uses as actual departure boards, especially those little ones if you're travelling somewhere and have a Wi-Fi enabled laptop handy!

I see from your videos that the cell in question is an Oasis 1000 - they're pretty reliable, and not prone to failure, though the standard fail-safe is for the load to remain lit, so it could be that yours is a very rare example of one that has become faulty, assuming that the internal wiring to the NEMA socket hasn't been altered to bypass the cell control, of course. It must seem a bit strange to have a typically British street light (complete with photocell) in Germany!

@StreetLightOnline Thanks for the info. It turns out that it does work. The problem was that there was not enough light shining on the cell.

Ah, splendid - that's an easy fix! I like the "instant" switch-on of these if they are covered briefly - it's not something that newer examples do.

Ah, that is a pity - they could have been converted to take an LED retro-fit lamp (just to keep them in place) so easily!

@@StreetLightOnline Yes there's some SOX lanterns around here that have been fitted with LED SOX replacement bulbs, which is great as the CU columns are still in good shape. Looks good at night too, but I still prefer SOX of course!

If only the retro-fit lamps contained amber LEDs, the appearance would be far more reminiscent of a SOX too!

Very kind of you to say that, Ben - it is a pleasure to be of assistance! Lantern-wise, there are four new additions, as well as a few other random luminaires...restorations aren't quite as rosy, however - just the HW-898, but it has turned out well. Funnily, one Survivor article (there could be more, but I've just completely lost track of what I've photographed since the last update!) features Z5760s. Fingers crossed tightly that you are able to save it when the time comes!

I've not heard that myself (though I am a bit out of the loop on LED developments), but it sounds plausible. It used to be the case that the wattage had to be higher for warmer colour temperatures, to factor in the more dense phosphor coating.

Nope; just EFS120 Pulsestarters.

No harm in trying that approach, though many tend to refuse these days on "Health & Safety" grounds. If you chance upon any of the maintenance crews out and about, that might be a more fruitful option.

I've not had to endure them (yet) - the 810s are due to replace the (equally horrific) 222s on the Midland next year, so we'll see how they compare, but they will never better a 125!

@@StreetLightOnline The seats are horrific; hard and the backs are too upright. The ride quality is also quite rough tbh. You really wouldn't want to do long distance on them... I'd rather be on a 158! 😂😂😂 I recently had a go on a TFW Class 67 hauled Mk4 set and it was wonderful! The ride was so smooth, quiet and the seats were comfortable... really shows up how bad the new ones are. It's a shame nobody else bought Pendolinos tbh as they are miles better too IMO!

That's progress for you! You wonder how things might have differed, had the APT been more of a success - the seats always look proper comfy in archival footage!

@@StreetLightOnline I was at the museum at Crewe not long ago and the APT seats are indeed quite comfy... if a little dated looking with their tartan fabric😂😂

I photographed it through the railings a few weeks back - must pay a proper visit at some point, and experience the interior Bay City Rollers' concert for myself!

Absolutely - proper trains! Oh, apologies there - the website is actually there to try to dissuade others from embarking on the wild world of collecting! ;-) No, that's great to hear that it has influenced you! Watch this space...something positive might be on the horizon for the website soon..! Good luck in acquiring the SNK70; a worthy first lantern, for certain. The capacitor and NEMA socket (and cell, if original) should contain manufacturing dates, which will help to establish the lantern's likely age. As regards the gear, initially, if it looks as if it's past it, it probably will be - the original ballast in my own (MI55) was rather crispy - unfortunately, these lanterns have poor thermal management, being SOX to SON conversions. If it looks OK, one way of checking the internal workings is to use a meter to test the continuity between the incoming live terminal, and any exposed metalwork on the ballast body. A healthy ballast should have no continuity, whereas a failed (or failing) one will produce a figure of quite a low resistance figure. Internal-ignitor SON lamps have a letter 'I' surrounded by a triangle (with an 'E' instead where an external ignitor is required), though as you say, when buying online, it's not always clear. I tend to go on Lamp Specs / CP Lighting (it's the same background company) when lamp shopping, as they offer a variety of products. In the case of 70 W SON-Is, these will all be OK: www.lampspecs.co.uk/Light-Bulbs-Tubes/Elliptical_SON_With_Ignitor_2 (just be sure to ensure that only the 70 W filter is selected). Starting collections in the modern era can carry problems as many lighting contractors refuse to give lanterns over, citing Health & Safety - I am forever grateful that I didn't encounter much of that in my early days. The best bet seems to be to speak to the electricians on site - if you see one carrying out a repair, you could try asking politely to see if they have any old lanterns in the van. Don't be disheartened if they refuse, however - there's always next time. I'd steer clear of buying lanterns on eBay, unless you find something going for a fairly low price, or there's something especially rare or of interest - the seller who (at the time of writing) is selling an electronic ballast Beta 5 for £100 is definitely one to avoid like the plague!

@@StreetLightOnline Thanks for the prompt reply! Sadly about 95-98% of public lighting in my area is all either ASD Highway Diamond Mini's with 12 LEDs, or for main roads CU Phosco P872's with 32 LEDs - there are only a few SON lanterns (all but one are Iridiums, with one flatglass SGS203 and one Arc 90) left in public ownership in my district, and no SOX at all - the few SON have all been missed by the lighting crews who came about 7 years ago now with the LED invasion. The ASD/ Phosco mix has proved quite reliable, with no more than 5 or 10 failures in the whole district, which is quite good (there may well be 5,000 - 10,000 lanterns in my district - so this is very impressive so far!) Now on the topic of my school, as well as the lone SNK70 (only one for some reason, and no evidence of any others) there are: Two Philips MI26/XGS103's on short arm Pudsey Diamond "Universal Wall and Pole" brackets - these were added to a redeveloped 'science annexe' as it is called by the school, and all I know is that the annexe opened in 2003, so they're at least that old. One surviving, wide brim, Mercury Gamma 6 with an acrylic bowl - there is another Gamma 6 but it has lost it's bowl, lampholder and canopy - only the base and 2 prongs that hold the lampholder remain. The Gamma 6's are on interesting 76mm columns which do not taper at all, and remain at around 76mm when they enter the ground. They also have a flush column door which is very small. One wall mounted, post top Mark 1 Thorn Areaflood, very high up at about 3 floors in height - it has been superseded by a newer SON-T flood much further below it. I am confident the Gamma 6 is Mercury too, despite never seeing it lit in person - 2009 and 2014 Street View imagery shows a faint, but visible green hue eminating from the lantern! I might set up a Lighting Gallery to show pictures of these, but I believe I saw you reply to another person, that you don't use LG - is this the case? PS. I believe the SNK70's photocell is original, because it is about as yellowed as the bowl! I probably won't swap for a new bowl as it isn't all that bad, and finding a new bowl is a bit of a faff really. Thanks once again for replying :)

That's not a bad failure rate from the LEDs, but the old order is always far more interesting, even if it's relatively modern SON! Your school's lighting sounds great - I've seen some non-tapering tubular steels on my travels, and feel for whoever was tasked with fitting the cut-outs into them! The second Gamma 6 sounds rather sad, but at least its surviving counterpart seems to be MBF, by all accounts, even if the lamp is now very dull indeed. I guess that the height is what has caused the older Areaflood to become abandoned when the replacement took over. That's right - I'm not on LG, but I do tend to lurk in the (limited!) shadows, so should be able to see any pictures that you post. The SNK does sound pretty much original from that description - it's rare to see one where any polycarbonate parts haven't yellowed beyond all comprehension! Not a problem - always happy to encourage enthusiasm!

@@StreetLightOnline Hi Mike, me again! I may have the slim chance, if parents allow, to obtain an 'abandoned' Thorn Alpha 3 - it is languishing on the roof (not attached to a wall - actually resting bowl down on the flat roof!) of a local MOT centre. According to GSV, it has been resting on the roof since at least March 2009, so I would imagine it isn't wanted. Outside the garage there is a vintage petrol pump installed however, so it may be part of a collection of sorts! Of course this also depends on the garage owner allowing me to have it. Is there any info you might be able to tell me about the Alpha 3, that perhaps isn't on your website (eg. production dates, crossover time between Atlas and Thorn branding etc.)? Obviously I understand if they have been lost to time, or you simply don't know :) Eventually I would love to own an early Atlas Alpha 3, but preferably one of my local ones - ironically it is more abundant in my county of Kent, than any other variant of the Alpha 3! There are a grand total of 9 early Alpha 3's (that I know of!) in Kent, being a pair in Maidstone, a triplet in Northfleet (only 1.5km from the abandoned Alpha 1's on your website!), and 2 separate pairs in Margate. The canopy of one of the Margate ones has been slid out for at least 3 years - however the lamp is miraculously still located firmly in the lampholder! All of the above Alpha 3's are owned privately, and one of the Margate pairs is on abandoned land that did have a planning application lodged. Thankfully this was turned down, so I assume they are safe for now! Some of the Alpha 3's are also on identical steel columns - one of the Margate pairs have a pair of columns, that are also found in Northfleet too, as well as a separate pair in Stockport that I haven't mentioned previously. As I say, they all have the exact same column design, and all seem to be white too (the Stockport ones are now red, but their original white is showing through in places.) Any ideas on the columns? Perhaps offered by Atlas as a combined 'column and lantern' package? The white paint may be a coincidence though, now I think of it... Also, on your website (you may have forgotten about this), but your example of the early Atlas Alpha 3 had a melted plastic bag in the canopy, under the lamp. My only thought is that somebody put it in there to try to diffuse the light, similar to the white diffusion spot on your later Atlas example, and did not know how hot the lamp would get. Otherwise, I can't see how a plastic bag would manage to both fly up, presumably when the canopy was left slid forward, manage to be blown into the very small opening for the lamp, and then the lantern be closed again without removal of the plastic bag?? Thanks again for any thoughts :0

Oh, fingers crossed that the factors of being allowed to have it by the garage owner, as well as those of your parents agreeing, are in alignment! Does this one have the two or four bowl clips? I believe that early Thorn examples still featured the four, but it wasn't long before they reduced to two - my own "Atlas" one like this could be a Thorn in reality, as there's no Atlas logo on the base casting, as other examples have. I've seen some examples branded as BLI, which would date them to 1964-7; this being the period when Thorn and AEI had shared ownership of the lantern division, before Thorn bought out the lantern division completely, though they retained the Atlas branding until the early 1970s, when it all became Thorn. Given that Atlas and Abacus seem to have had some sort of agreement back in the day (as you often see an Atlas A3 atop an Abacus base-hinged column, which is too regular to be coincidental), could the mystery columns that you have spotted be Abacus too, perhaps? The paint colouring is interesting, given the considerable distances between both installations, so it might be linked, though as you say, equally, it might just be a lucky use of the same colouring. No, I've definitely not forgotten about the plastic bag - it was so horrendously foul that I don't think I ever will! The anti-glare theory isn't an impossibility, and as you say, that would be far more likely than the bag blowing in (and being left) there! Assuming that the lantern at the front of the premises was the one that is in the Collection, the bowl appears clear in the 2008 Google image, but the bag might be there by 2012 (the image is dark), and it's definitely there by 2016. If you do struggle in saving a local Mk 1 type, I might be able to assist, incidentally...

There were several others in the storeroom, and if I had my time again, I'd have had them too, though my car at the time was a Micra, and this example, in its box, only just fitted - I'd have had to have collected the others in multiple trips!

The size - the Civic 1 is smaller, and is more suited to residential applications (with appropriate lamps for lower mounting heights), whereas the Civic 2 is larger, and caters for main roads.

Splendid - I hope that you are successful in that conquest!

@@StreetLightOnline How rare you reckon they are?

Quite rare these days, certainly - I chanced upon a car park that used these (along with other big GEC post-tops) over the weekend, but prior to that, I'd only ever seen one other example out in the wild...photographs of both will be appearing soon!

I seem to recall that it was on eBay, but we are talking a long time ago, so I'm not absolutely certain on that!

Certainly, if there were others, I don't remember them, and I can't check the Internet Archive for old versions of the Designplan website at present to confirm this as it's offline, typically! Even this version is quite glary, owing to the non-coated lamp employed, so an opal bowl option would have been handy, even in the discharge days. The ones at my secondary school were SON-E, bar one, which was MBF (with a far more yellowed bowl too!).

No, just the standard MBF phosphor, though I agree that the camera has enhanced the appearance to make the lamp seem warmer.

The 'A' represents medium pressure, whereas 'B' is high pressure (I don't know why they're not the other way around, when 'C' is low pressure, however). MAF is quite rare, though according to this video, a modern MAF lamp looks identical in operation to an MBF: kzbin.info/www/bejne/pJi5e4KGaJKEd9U .

Yeah, a very good innings, even with it being a Philips PIA.

Funnily, I've just been speaking to someone bearing more than a passing resemblance to your good self - very strange! Thanks for the good wishes too!

The current choice is a Canon SX70HS bridge camera - it struggles a bit with 50 Hz frequency flicker if I'm photographing a lantern that is lit, but in good sunlight, with a blue sky, it produces some excellent close-ups...as will be seen when the next site update lands (hopefully soon)!

@@StreetLightOnline I'm sure looking forward to the next update - I have a feeling it will be a big one since it's a couple of years since the last update

Ohh yes! Hopefully, it'll be up before the end of this year - nearly 400 new Survivor articles at the time of writing - phew!

@@StreetLightOnline Not sure if it is a bit late but on Gutteridge Lane near Romford there is an old concrete column submerged in foliage but still in plain sight

Found it! What's the story with that one - was there a premises on that piece of land in the past, do you know?

The Philips system sees the number and letter swapped every ten years - in the instances where the number is first, as with your mystery lamp, the production decade was odd (i.e. 1970s, 90s, 2010s, for example). Where it's the opposite, the lamp was produced in an 'even' decade. Thus, sometimes, you have to look for other clues that would suggest a particular decade being more likely than another would be - is yours in a cardboard carton or wrapped in paper, for example? The latter would certainly hint at a 1979 lamp, rather than 1999. Month 'M' would be December, regardless.

In the case of the one in the video, as the column was replacing an existing one in the same location, the hole in the ground was there already, so swapping over was easy. In the case of my own, it was all hand-digging using shovels and trowels to the depth (and width) of the root section, which was far more time-consuming - it was lucky that I had an inset day from school just before the column was due to be installed! Most actual lighting contractors use a special twin-headed shovel, known as a "Post Hole Shovel" ( www.diy.com/departments/bulldog-post-hole-digger-l-332mm/5013693051117_BQ.prd?storeId=1052 ), which can speed the process up. Columns are sometimes placed into a pre-installed plastic sleeve, as you thought, although most are just plonked straight into the ground, and secured with concrete that should fill the hole until slightly below ground level.