171C. Off Derby Road, Coxbench Installed new in 2023 on a short road linking Derby Road with the main slip road leading onto the southbound A38 dual carriageway is a 10 m tubular steel column that replaced a cut-down, damaged previous column. What makes the installation rather notable from a Survivor point-of-view is that this new column supports a second-hand GEC Z9553 lantern for 135 Watt SOX lamps, with the lamp control housed within the lantern. The installation falls under the ownership of National Highways (formerly Highways England, and the Highways Agency before that), and this lantern must have been removed from elsewhere on their network, as I am not aware of any examples ever having been used within Derbyshire. Given that Philips SOX lamp production ceased in 2019 (this being the last major producer worldwide of the lamps by then), and the fact that the lantern must have clocked up over 30 years' service already, its use is surprising, but at the same time, welcomed!

Somewhat ironically, the previous column here supported a 1990s' Philips MA 50 - the Z9553 is an older lantern.

GEC's cut-off range of SOX lanterns are some of the most functional street lights ever made - the lamp is housed in an aluminium box with a plain, low profile acrylic bowl below.

The lamp control gear is housed in the rear section of the lantern - where the gear is mounted remotely (in the Z9555), the bracket attaches straight into the main lamp housing.

A modern SELC / Westire photocell is fitted; again, giving the lantern a strange 'time traveller' feel.

A second Z9553 appeared on the northbound entry slip road a little earlier than the above one did. Rather than being fitted to a new column, this example was attached to one of the original 1970s' columns, which looked far more in-keeping. Somewhat ironically, the Z9553 replaced a damaged 1990s' Philips MA 50.

I assume (and hope!) that a photocell is fitted, despite there not being one visible in this image.

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