Philips 'Arc' 2685
Lantern acquired in May 2025.
With thanks to Leo Conway for donating this lantern to the Collection. Following the takeover of Industria by fellow Dutch manufacturing behemoth Philips, along with the Spanish firm Indal, the former product lines passed to the new owner, with the Arc lantern remaining in production for a time, until LED offerings (including the also-absorbed Stela and Luma ranges, as well as Philips' own range) sounded the death knell for this once-popular roadway lantern. The original location of this lantern is unknown as it was purchased through eBay.
Back in the Industria (and WRTL, in the UK) days, the smaller version of the Arc, which this example is, was identified as the Arc 80, while the larger example was the Arc 90. This is my only Arc 80 to feature a low profile, curved glass bowl - the Derbyshire examples tended to use the deeper polycarbonate bowls instead, as these were more resilient to withstanding impact damage.
The same glittery silver finish that was applied to the lantern metalwork prior to the Philips takeover remains unchanged.
A Zodion SS6 photocell, rated at 35 Lux, and dating from July 2017, is fitted.
The NEMA photocell socket, another Zodion product, was made in December 2012.
An alteration made to the lantern's underside is the removal of the Industria Rotterdam logo from behind the optic area in the casting, leaving a blank space in the area that this occupied previously. This is similar to how the GEC logo was omitted from lanterns produced after their lantern division was sold off - firstly, to OSRAM, and then to Siemens, which itself was later absorbed by WRTL. Unlike my other Arc lanterns, which were all intended for side-entry mounting, this example was ordered as a post-top example, and so the adaptor employed for smaller diameter side-entry brackets on UK-specification examples is omitted.
Opening the hinged lid reveals the usual facetted reflector encompassing the lamp in its sealed optic.
The Philips label still uses the old Industria part code for the lantern - ASR42CGN (Arc Side Road, 42 Watt, Curved Glass, NEMA socket). The fact that the primary language on the label is Spanish, with English being secondary, suggests that the lantern may have been produced at the former Indal factory, instead of at the original Rotterdam site. The date code 17W2013 indicates that production occurred in Week 17 of 2013 - the 22nd - 28th April.
As the lantern is configured for post-top mounting, the tilt angle indicator faces the angle positions for that configuration. Removing the central grub screw would allow the spigot section to be removed also, and changed to side-entry instead, with the indicator plate being rotated to face the side-entry tilt positions instead.
Despite the label indicating that the lantern should run a 42 Watt lamp, the ballast is capable of running a variety of lamps from 18 - 42 Watt, and indeed, a 26 Watt PL-T lamp was fitted as acquired.
Rotating the plug at the front of the reflector from the 'Closed' to 'Open' position allows the lamp to be accessed. In this case, an OSRAM 'Dulux' lamp is employed.
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WRTL and Philips Arc Lanterns in the Collection |
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| Arc 80 (26 - 42 Watt) | Arc 80 (70 Watt) | Arc 80 (150 Watt) | Arc 90 (150 Watt) | Arc 90 (250 Watt) |
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