57AC. Off Gresty Road, Crewe, Cheshire With thanks to Dwight for informing me of these Survivors. Installed in the car park for the former Rail House office complex are three 15 ft (5 m) Abacus tubular steel columns supporting GEC Z8426 lanterns, for 250 - 400 Watt MBF (mercury vapour) lamps - a rather non-standard mounting height / lantern combination, given that these main road lanterns are intended for installation on far taller columns. Rail House opened in 1968 as the main offices for British Rail's London Midland region, and so the installations are likely to date from then too. With the site now vacated, the futures of the three columns, and possibly Rail House itself, are uncertain, although the latter may be saved for conversion to apartments.
With the imposing structure of Rail House serving as a backdrop, the first of the three columns is seen. The fact that a floodlight is attached to the column shaft suggests that the Z8426 had become disused, even when the building was still occupied.
The Z8426/7 lanterns are noted for their characteristic over-canopy casting - unlike the later Z8526, the bowls on these lanterns are fixed to the canopies, which hinge down to allow lamp changes, etc..
The imprint of where a white diffusion spot would have existed on the underside of the bowl is still visible, although the spot itself has worn away over time. The bowls are Perspex, and have become translucent with age.
The second example is positioned near the main entrance, and is fitted to a later base-hinged Abacus column (the lantern must have been transferred when the column was replaced).
The marks on the lantern's canopy suggest that it may have been brush-painted at some point.
The third column (back to the original non-hinged Abacus type again now) is located near the entrance to the car park.
The two clamps used in securing the lantern to the bracket are visible beneath the casting.
The door was locked, but slightly ajar at the top, allowing the ballast and capacitor to be glimpsed inside. These appeared to be original.
I also spotted the remains of a Z8260 for twin 40 Watt 2 ft (600 mm) T12 linear fluorescent lamps. This too was mounted to a hinged column.
The lantern was just an empty, stripped shell however - the internal lamp assembly having been removed, and the bowl being left open on top of the rotated canopy.
The GEC theme continued at the entrance to the nearby railway station car park on Pedley Street, with a Z5699 illuminating the barrier area.
The lantern was dayburning when photographed; this allowed the lamp type to be determined. Curiously, this was a domestic compact fluorescent; whatever the original lamp type was, had been replaced with this.
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