ELECO GR501

Lantern acquired in May 2005.

Thanks to Stephen Rowe for letting me have this lantern. This, and the 1989 Thorn Beta 5 were given to him by the staff at Commercial Lamps who had no need for them. GR501s were not particularly common in all parts of Derbyshire, but there were a few about - although one was smashed when I saw it a while back. The majority could be seen in the North of the county; particularly, in the Matlock and Chesterfield areas.

As received, the lantern is in a very good (and clean condition). The only modification since it was first installed is the addition of the P12H minicell. In the past, a NEMA socket looks to have been fitted, and may well have been installed whilst the lantern was still in the factory. The lantern is shown with a 35 Watt SOX lamp, thanks to the placement of the lamp support, but as an alternative, it could hold a 55 Watt lamp, as with the MI 8. The similar GR5011 employs the same canopy and bowl, but the lampholder is situated at the front of the lantern. This may have been a modification that ELECO made, owing to the angles of some brackets being too sharp for the burning positions of the SOX lamps.

The canopy is also very clean and still shows the Eleco logo clearly.

The aerodynamic bowl is similar in shape to the GR100's one, being of the same lineage. One of the two hooks moulded into the rear of the bowl is broken, but there is enough left for the plastic to touch the hinge pin; thus, once the clip is in place at the front, the bowl is secure.

The internal wiring is in good condition - in fact, the lantern's interior is as well, suggesting that it may have seen relatively little outdoor use.

The (minimal) restoration of the lantern required took place on Tuesday, 19th July 2005. I started by cleaning the canopy and bowl to remove any loose dirt.

I then filled the hole in the canopy where the minicell had been. Once the filler had dried, the outside of the canopy was re-sprayed, in order that the new section blended in with the rest of the metal.

The inside of the canopy was left unpainted, except where the filled section (behind the lamp in the above photograph) could be seen.

The lantern was fitted to an AC Ford AC872 wall bracket on Monday, 29th August 2005.

After that, it was powered up using the backboard from Arthur Hind Close.

Lantern warm-up video:

Disano Sella 1 | Thorn Beta 5

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