MY COLLECTION: Thorn Beta 8 (Junior Amberline)

This Thorn Beta 8 (Junior Amberline) was purchased from eBay for just £10. It was in very poor condition and was listed as spares. It has no bowl and the gear and gear tray was severely rusted.

The lantern's age can only be estimated, but based on the inside sticker (or what's left of it) we can deduce that the lantern is one of the later-made versions of the Junior Amberline, this is due to it bearing the Thorn logo.

A close-up of the very rusty gear.

Due to a seized screw, I was unable to remove it completely, but plan to drill the screw out eventually. As I was originally going to use it as spares, I sawed my way through the gear tray to remove it.

The photocell socket is badly corroded, and it fell off when I was moving the lantern to my new place.

Over the past few months I had changed my verdict to use the lantern as spares. It was to be be kept and restored. Restoration commenced on the 21/12/2023. I removed as much of the corrosion as possible and painted the gear tray as a temporary measure until I could find something to replace it. It was also cleaned. The original gear was kept in place, minus the NEMA socket. I was astounded to see the 55W SOX lamp spring to life after powering it on! Despite all of that abuse, vandalism and exposure to the elements, it actually works! The Thorn AME 53182.4 leak transformer produces a low buzzing sound.

This view shows the fouled screw and gear tray. The screw has since been drilled out and a new gear tray (likely a piece of metal the same size) will be put in place. Restoration is still very much in progress, but I am optimistic about the outcome, especially since it actually works!