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Post by M1104 on Oct 4, 2015 23:47:56 GMT
I often wondered why concrete lamp posts came about from the late 50s/early 60s. Was this because there was a shortage of materials from the end of the war? I ask this because the bus section of Stockwell garage is a concrete foundation as there was a shortage of steel at the time and that building was built in the 50s... around the same time that Streatham High street area gained concrete lamp posts. USA's lamppost history differs in that they have more or less used the same materials throughout the same periods in time. Sadly, I don't know the answer to that but apparently, the first concrete lampposts were built in the 30's and the last ones were, shockingly, built in the mid 1990's. At first, I was a bit dubious about that but then I remembered watching a YouTube video about the Brixton riots in the 80's and noticing that Railton Road had steel columns with what looks GEC 'Turtle' lights, yet when I was growing up, it had concrete columns, first with Philips MA60's and then Urbis ZX3's until 2005. Also, the surrounding roads off Railton Road had REVO ex gas lighting columns but yet, when I was growing up, they had concrete columns so I began to trust that information. Railton Road in that respect was similar to Haydons Road SW19 which had concrete lamp posts up until the mid/late 60s, slightly before my time. Unfortunately I don't know the names of the posts but they were similar to the ones that use to be along Wimbledon Common towards Putney Heath. There was one lamp post in one of the side streets of Colliers Wood that got replaced* by a slightly different design concrete lamp post back in the mid 90s. Unfortunately they all got completely replaced by 2013. * - original one assumed to be damaged |
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Post by LT 20181 on Oct 11, 2015 7:03:21 GMT
What's the difference between the Urbis ZX2 and the ZX3, because to me they look the same
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Post by John tuthill on Oct 11, 2015 10:52:49 GMT
What's the difference between the Urbis ZX2 and the ZX3, because to me they look the same 1?  |
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Post by M1104 on Oct 11, 2015 12:10:03 GMT
What's the difference between the Urbis ZX2 and the ZX3, because to me they look the same Just a guess here but it could be in relation to the inside schematics... a bit like how Northern and Jubilee Line trains look identical but have different spec motors. |
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Post by vjaska on Nov 22, 2015 2:17:40 GMT
As people seemed to enjoy my borough by borough analysis a while back, I thought I'll do one on Croydon & Lambeth judging I went through both borough's. I'll keep it short in regards to Lambeth as I know far too much to list at this moment  Croydon: Once a haven of various streetlights dating from the 1950's to the early 2000's, most of this stock has been sadly decimated over the last year or so by various Philips Iridiums. A small number of roads still retain sodium lighting such as a small number of survivors on Green Lane, parts of Melfort Road, Parchmore Road, Kent Gate Way and, according to Street View, Roman Way, etc. Meanwhile, even the modern Urbis ZX2, a favourite Croydon replacement for older sodium lights, are being replaced despite the vast majority being no older than between 15-18 years old. Beulah Hill lost it's Urbis ZX2's very recently despite the section between Harvester & Church Road being just 10 year old examples. Roads that have survived are the small amount along Parchmore Road, South Norwood Hill, a small section of Kent Gate Way and, according to Street View, Portland Road, Thornton Road & a section of London Road. Philips SGS203's still survive along most of London Road between Lidl's & Thornton Heath Pond though the Lidl's to Sumner Road section has replacement poles alongside but not wired up yet. The very rare Thorn Europhanes (so rare in London that the only other borough to have some are Lambeth but more on that later) are untouched along Purley Way and long may they be left alone. Finally, the Urbis Sapphires installed during the late 00's are untouched and can be found in Brigstock Road, Norbury, Norbury Crescent, Northcote Road, Norwood Junction, Selhurst, Thornton Heath, Whitehorse Road and on various other roads. Lambeth: Just a small update about my own borough. Today, I noticed that the Urbis ZX2's on Streatham High Road between the old Kwik Fit garage and Streatham Station have been replaced by ugly LED's on new columns. Only a few old columns remain and none have their lights anymore. These Urbis ZX2's replaced Thorn Europhanes in the mid 00's on the existing columns which in turn had replaced a mixture of concrete columns with sodium lights and Philips MA60's in the late 90's along with Streatham Hill, though Streatham Hill had ZX2's from the beginning rather than Thorn Europhanes. Speaking of the Thorn Europhane, there was only three left in Lambeth, all situated at the Leigham Court Road junction. However, whilst the one on the corner of Leigham Court Road & Streatham High Road has survived and with no new column in sight, one of the other two has sadly been replaced by a LED light and new column whilst the other Euro Thornphane watches on opposite, untouched but for how long. I really like the Thorn Europhane as it was quite modern looking in the 90's so I'm quite sad to see one of the three Lambeth ones disappear. One more thing to note - I've yet to see any evidence of any conversion of existing lights to LED's which was meant to start in September yet I've seen a few roads since then gain brand new LED's which aren't any modification of existing lights as promised and on new columns. These roads are a section of Streatham High Road (as already mentioned), Mount Nod Road, Conifer Gardens & Mountearl Gardens - the last three roads are all just off Leigham Court Road either directly or indirectly and all three roads had Urbis ZX1's yet other roads around these roads continue to have Urbis ZX1's with seemingly not threat of replacement in terms of new columns appearing alongside. |
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Post by Green Kitten on Nov 22, 2015 9:54:04 GMT
The very rare Thorn Europhanes (so rare in London that the only other borough to have some are Lambeth but more on that later) are untouched along Purley Way and long may they be left alone. ...they've all been replaced with those black LED things D:  |
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Post by vjaska on Nov 22, 2015 13:27:17 GMT
The very rare Thorn Europhanes (so rare in London that the only other borough to have some are Lambeth but more on that later) are untouched along Purley Way and long may they be left alone. ...they've all been replaced with those black LED things D: Ahh d*mn, so only 2 in London survive now, such a shame. Having a look on Street View has revealed there is (or was I should say) a Thorn Alpha & on Purley Way at the Fiveways junction. |
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Post by Hassaan on Dec 2, 2015 23:58:04 GMT
Guess you won't be happy that my side road and other nearby roads in Southall are getting LEDs installed  . Western Road has had LEDs since 2012, but I've not seen them elsewhere in Southall (some side roads in Ealing got them at the same time). These are the old ones. Columns in the first photo are from 2006 (although the end one was a replacement earlier in the year), while the second photo they are from 2007 and a different type to the usual ones used. Attachment Deleted Attachment DeletedOver the year TfL has been replacing the catenary-mounted lights in the central reservation of the A4 and A30. While the A30 is mostly done, the A4 still has the old lights lit when the new ones have been working since July! They've also installed LEDs on the A1020 Royal Docks Road and Gallions Reach Roundabout in October, while the bridge on Woolwich Manor Way was done in June. I quite like the LEDs though . These ones are also computer-controlled and one evening I saw half the roundabout in darkness after the lights were at the minimum brightness (which is useless from that height). The nearby Royal Albert Way retains the old lights (similar to these) but only every third column is lit in order to save money. The standard Newham lights look a lot like those Alpha 8 ones but I guess they're different? |
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Post by vjaska on Dec 3, 2015 1:49:31 GMT
Guess you won't be happy that my side road and other nearby roads in Southall are getting LEDs installed . Western Road has had LEDs since 2012, but I've not seen them elsewhere in Southall (some side roads in Ealing got them at the same time). These are the old ones. Columns in the first photo are from 2006 (although the end one was a replacement earlier in the year), while the second photo they are from 2007 and a different type to the usual ones used. View Attachment View AttachmentOver the year TfL has been replacing the catenary-mounted lights in the central reservation of the A4 and A30. While the A30 is mostly done, the A4 still has the old lights lit when the new ones have been working since July! They've also installed LEDs on the A1020 Royal Docks Road and Gallions Reach Roundabout in October, while the bridge on Woolwich Manor Way was done in June. I quite like the LEDs though . These ones are also computer-controlled and one evening I saw half the roundabout in darkness after the lights were at the minimum brightness (which is useless from that height). The nearby Royal Albert Way retains the old lights (similar to these) but only every third column is lit in order to save money. The standard Newham lights look a lot like those Alpha 8 ones but I guess they're different? The older Ealing ones are Urbis Sapphires which were erected in the PFI scheme in the mid to late 00's. Sadly, I noticed that they started replacing them when I did the 224 a few months and noticed the Ealing section of Twyford Abbey Road had LED's along with some side roads. I've no idea why they are replacing lights that are only just 10 years old at the most instead of converting the existing lights especially when Lambeth recently announced that they are converting 12,000 lights to LED's rather than replacing lights. I also was dismayed to see the unique catenary lights along the Great West & Great South West Roads in the process of being dismantled or already replaced and noticed that LED's stretch along part of Woolwich Manor Way too - I just can't stand them as not only do they look ugly but they make surrounding areas look more darker than when the older lights were up due to the fact they don't spill light out. Newham's major roads light of choice was the WRTL MRL6 which is quite similar to the Thorn Alpha 8 (the Beckton area still has Thorn Alpha 8's btw) but is more curved at one end. MRL6's were still in production up until a few years ago and Newham were pratically the only London borough still buying them at the time. Newham's side roads have another similar Thorn Alpha 8 product - the Thorn Beta 79 - but some have recently been replaced in certain areas with Newham already using six different models of LED's. Surely, they can decide on just one or two models. |
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Post by Nathan on Dec 4, 2015 19:40:32 GMT
So I saw someone taking pictures of a lamppost on Merton High Street just now. Anyone from here?  |
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Post by vjaska on Dec 4, 2015 23:47:05 GMT
So I saw someone taking pictures of a lamppost on Merton High Street just now. Anyone from here? Haha, not me as I've not stepped out of Brixton all day - maybe it's M1104 |
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Post by rmz19 on Dec 5, 2015 0:38:18 GMT
So I saw someone taking pictures of a lamppost on Merton High Street just now. Anyone from here? Lool that was worded in quite a funny way |
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Post by M1104 on Dec 14, 2015 15:42:32 GMT
So I saw someone taking pictures of a lamppost on Merton High Street just now. Anyone from here? Haha, not me as I've not stepped out of Brixton all day - maybe it's M1104It wasn't me, not unless a concrete one survived on it from the early/mid 70s.  Had passed Thornton Heath High Street the other day and noticed side street Grange Road is now the latest victim of Croydon Council's replacement program. The first lampost already has the actual lamp missing from its 'neck'. |
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Post by M1104 on Feb 8, 2016 21:30:38 GMT
I don't know why I never noticed this before, but from the 355 bus today I noticed some concrete street lights on Clarence Avenue* at the junction of South Circular Road. They are in the process of being replaced by modern lamp posts but as I passed it during daylight I don't know which ones are presently working. The concrete ones look identical to the solitary concrete lamp post that is still working by the Bricklayers Arms roundabout (assuming that's still there as it's been a while now since I passed that way).
* - Clapham Park area outside the row of shops
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Post by vjaska on Feb 8, 2016 21:44:20 GMT
I don't know why I never noticed this before, but from the 355 bus today I noticed some concrete street lights on Clarence Avenue* at the junction of South Circular Road. They are in the process of being replaced by modern lamp posts but as I passed it during daylight I don't know which ones are presently working. The concrete ones look identical to the solitary concrete lamp post that is still working by the Bricklayers Arms roundabout (assuming that's still there as it's been a while now since I passed that way). * - Clapham Park area outside the row of shops Don't worry mate, those replacement lampposts have been there at least 10 years outside the shops by Clarence Avenue. None of the concrete lights there work but I don't think all of their replacements work either as I walked through their one night and discovered it. Also, if you go into the Clapham Park estate next door, at least one concrete lamppost survives but no idea if it still works. Furthermore, there are a couple of concrete columns on a short road just off Clarence Avenue with Urbis ZX1's and they still work - the area would of been concrete column heaven right up to the early 00's lol. That column at Bricklayer Arms on the estate is still there and amazingly, still works as I passed it last Saturday which made my day. |
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. Western Road has had LEDs since 2012, but I've not seen them elsewhere in Southall (some side roads in Ealing got them at the same time).
