Eleco HW846 Golden Ray MK7, 45w/60w SO/H lantern

 

Dating from the early 1960's, this remote-geared lantern was originally designed for use with 45/60w SO/H and SOI lamps. In terms of its size, it is quite typical of the deep-bowled, bulky lanterns of the period. The lantern was also available in top-entry configuration (HW747), with or without internally mounted control-gear.

The lantern in the collection came from an installation in Hoyland, South Yorkshire, where many lanterns of this type existed until early 2006, when they were removed and replaced with Phosco P567 CFL lanterns mounted onto new steel columns. This particular HW846 is showing its age with its 'milky' bowl, but is otherwise complete and in reasonable condition. A spare bowl was sourced along with the lantern and will be used in the eventual renovation.
 

 

The HW846 is typical of early 1960's lantern design. The bowl is original and has gone 'Milky' with age.

With the bowl opened, the HW846 appears to be complete and in good condition and hasn't been spoilt by having the canopy drilled for fitment of a two-part photocell; although the asbestos sheathing over the wires will have to be carefully removed as they pose a health hazard.

 

This HW846 was day-burning along with others on the day this picture was taken in Hoyland, South Yorkshire, but no effort was ever made to correct the fault, as all of these lanterns were removed within a few  weeks of this picture being taken.

 A similar lantern seen when still in use in Hoyland, and prior to disconnection and removal in April 2006. An identical out-reach bracket was also saved from this installation along with the lantern. These lanterns all originally used Philips 3035 leak transformers to power the lamps, and were group switched. Unusually, virtually every one of these elderly columns had been set back from the kerbside, which would have been un-common at the time of installation, but is seen as a major road safety feature by today's lighting engineers.

 

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Copyright(c) 2005 Claire Pendrous. All rights reserved.

Please note that all pictures are by Claire Pendrous, or are part of the Claire Pendrous photographic collection unless otherwise stated; none of these images can be copied without obtaining prior permission.