12KAC. Service Route No. 1, Stratford, London Borough of Newham With thanks to "TheLightingEnthusiast" for informing me of these Survivors. Situated around the Stratford Business Centre are several noteworthy lighting installations, all made by Thorn: two top-entry Beta 5 35 Watt SOX lanterns attached to the underside of the central office block, two Alpha 5 135 Watt SOX lanterns, a Gamma 3 post-top, and two sets of twin Precinct fittings. All are likely to be of similar age, and were probably installed when the Business Centre was built.

The Beta 5s are attached to two horizontal box sections of concrete, and illuminate the section of the roadway as it passes beneath the office block.

Unusually, the aluminium canopies show signs of external corrosion - I suspect that their being placed in the underpass is the cause.

The lamps in both lanterns look very worn, and may not have worked for years.

Thorn discontinued the Alpha 5 after 1978, with a new Alpha 4 taking its place in the catalogue. Thus, these installations are likely to date from around the mid-1970s.

Although designed to run 140 - 200 Watt linear sodium (SLI/H) lamps, Thorn adapted the Alpha 5 to accommodate 135 Watt lamps instead, owing to the increased popularity of the single-ended lamps, despite Thorn considering the linear lamps superior.

The other, identical, example was situated opposite, on the other side of the car park.

The outreaches on both 10 m tubular steel columns are surprisingly short, despite the distance between the two lanterns being quite far.

The Gamma 3 was attached to a 12 m column - this was four metres above the recommended mounting height for this lantern, and looked slightly out of proportion as a result.

The significantly wider diameter column shaft is evident at the top, where the diameter reduces to the conventional 76 mm inside the lantern, in order to accommodate the spigot cap.

The additional height is evident from this alternative angle.

As the lantern could accommodate either a single 250 Watt or 400 Watt mercury vapour (MBF) / high pressure sodium (SON) lamp, I would expect that the latter wattage is employed here.

One of the two column doors was missing, allowing the internal wiring to be seen. The capacitor is visible low in the base, although the case of this was too corroded to be able to discern any ratings or date codes. The ballast was situated behind the upper door.

The bowl on one of the twin Precincts was missing.

The close-up reveals that a Royce Thompson P42 two-part photocell detector is installed within the central box section that links the two fittings.

The same switching arrangement existed with the second installation, as seen in the (slightly out of focus) image seen below.

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