www.soxlamps.com: My collection
 
Indoor swan-neck bracket with Thorn Beta 5 mk 15 (unlit)Indoor swan-neck bracket with Thorn Beta 5 mk 15 (lit)Indoor swan-neck bracket with Thorn Beta 5 mk 15 (lit)
My indoor swan-neck bracket with Thorn Beta 5 lantern ("no. 6"). The left photo is the lamp unlit; the middle photo shows the lamp lit with camera flash; the right photo shows the lamp lit without camera flash. The photos were taken during the daytime.
 

I currently (as at March 2008) have 21 SOX streetlights in my collection. Many other streetlight collectors have far bigger collections than mine — some have 150 or 200 lanterns! I am not really interested in a large collection personally, but I try to look out for a few good examples for prosperity where I can find them, and display a few of them.

  Model
Wattage
Top- or side- entry
Photocell?
Condition
 Received From
1 WRTL Nightwatch 18 18 bulkhead no new Dec 2001 RS Components
2 WRTL Nightwatch 18 18 bulkhead no new Nov 2002 RS Components
3 Thorn Beta 5 mk 15 35 side yes good Aug 2003 Fluorescents Plus
4 Thorn Beta 5 mk 16 35 side yes good Mar 2004 Fluorescents Plus
5 Thorn Beta 5 mk 16 35 top no good Mar 2004 Claire Pendrous
6 Thorn Beta 5 mk 15 35 top no good Mar 2004 Claire Pendrous
7 Philips MI-26 35 side yes good Sep 2004 Paul Jones
8 Thorn Beta 5 mk 15 35 top 2-part good Sep 2004 Claire Pendrous
9 GEC Z9582 35 side yes good Sep 2005 Paul Jones
10 Thorn Alpha 9 90 side no mint Nov 2005 John D Thompson
11 Thorn Beta 5 35 top yes mint Nov 2005 John D Thompson
12 Thorn Beta 5 35 side, slim bowl yes mint Nov 2005 John D Thompson
13 Siemens SRL35AN (Z9582CKX) 35 side yes new Nov 2005 John D Thompson
14 Thorn Beta 5 mk 16 35 side yes new Feb 2006 Claire Pendrous
15 Thorn Beta 8 55 side no new Feb 2006 Claire Pendrous
16 Eleco HW 846 35 side no good May 2006 Claire Pendrous
17 GEC Z9454 90 side yes very good Nov 2006 Claire Pendrous
18 Phosco P223 35 side no new Nov 2006 Claire Pendrous
19 Thorn Beta 2 55 side yes good Jul 2007 Mike Barford
20 Phosco P153 35 top yes fair Aug 2007 John D Thompson
21 GEC Z9532 35 side yes quite good Feb 2008 Simon Brown

 

Pictures of my lanterns are below ...

1 & 2 3
4
5
7
8 9
10
11 12
13
14 15
16
17 18
19
20
21
  

 

Streetlamp no. 16, the 1960s Eleco HW846, was the subject of a restoration project:

The lantern as received.

The inside canopy is very black...

 ...and much cleaning is required!

After scraping and scrubbing off the dirt, the canopy is painted with Galvafroid®.

In November the restoration job is finished!


Safety note: if you plan to collect any SOX/low-pressure sodium streetlights yourself, please dispose of any expired SOX tubes in line with local environmental regulations as they contain glass and sodium. I take my old SOX tubes to the council for disposal. Also be aware that very old lanterns may contain materials such as lead (paint) and asbestos (cabling) which should be handled with caution and removed from the lantern.

 

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Last updated 13th February 2010.