Local GEC Z9454s

Never a particularly common lantern in Derbyshire, examples of the General Electric Company's 90 Watt SOX lantern (in its various versions) are today rather thin on the ground. Prior to relighting as part of Derby's Street Lighting PFI, the City of Derby was perhaps the best location for spotting these lanterns in multiple quantities, particularly around Chequers Road. These are now confined to history, with the remainder of these lanterns only to be found in the wider County of Derbyshire.

This Z9454 is one of several that exists on the heavily tree-lined Langer Lane, in Chesterfield.

The lantern's photocell is mounted centrally on the canopy in this example.

This example is on the same road.

These lanterns are easily recognised by their triangular-based refractor bowls.

This Z9465 (top-entry, gear-in-head version) is also located in Chesterfield. As can be seen, the lantern is situated beneath a railway bridge and is not fitted with any automatic means of switching, meaning that it runs continuously.

The many cobwebs attached to the lantern's bowl make for an interesting pattern, with the familiar SOX glow behind them.

A Revo cast iron fuse box is attached to the nearby bridge support wall. A newer enclosure (possibly housing a malfunctioning time switch) is situated immediately above this. The box also appears to feed a couple of illuminated height signs attached to the bridge structure.

These two consecutive Z9454s can be found in Wirksworth.

Unlike the above Chesterfield examples, which had polycarbonate bowls, the bowls fitted to these lanterns appear to acrylic, as evidenced by their non-discoloured appearance.

The second lantern has rotated slightly on its bracket.