Philips MA90 Lantern Installations

The Philips MA90 is the lowest wattage of MA lantern available. It runs 90W SOX/66W SOX-E, with remote and integral geared versions having been available. The integral geared versions are noticeably longer, unless it's the Mk.1 version which is apparent via the shoe on the back of the lantern. A large shoe is the integral geared version, with the remote geared version having a smaller shoe.

Birmingham

An unusual installation of a ceiling-mounted MA90 can be seen on the A38(M) through Birmingham. I also saw a Thorn Alpha 1 and several GEC Z9545s in the same situation. Timing the images was difficult, as there is no pedestrian access to the road. Images will have to be timed perfectly as it was in this instance, the lantern being on also helped. The MA90 sits on a ceiling bracket so it is still technically side-entry.

An integral-geared MA90 was pictured teetering on the edge in mid-2024. It's located at the end of Crystal Drive.

Long Eaton

These incredible Stanton double-arms are located on Lows Lane, Long Eaton.

The bracket on this example is in great condition! No sprawling or cracking was visible from the ground, and both lanterns appeared intact, despite looking tired!

Both lanterns have a 90W SOX lamp inside, but these have not been switched on in a while (as with the other examples on the road).

On the T-junction between Seven Oaks Road and Lows Lane, is this damaged MA90. It lost most of it's bowl around 2011-2019. This gives us quite the close-up of the lantern's internals.

The remains of a 90W SOX lamp are still mounted in the lamp-holder. There's also a small section of bowl clinging on for dear life, due to one of the clips still being fastened.

The capacitor is angled perfectly to reveal a date code: 6/98 which translates to February 1998.

The faded column number was also apparent.

The next column's lantern is in much better condition. By that, I mean it actually has a bowl!

Another column, this one actually situated on Lows Lane.

Tamworth

This picture of a day-burning MA90 was taken just minutes before it's replacement with a Holophane S-line. The photocell unit had failed causing it to day-burn. It ran 66W SOX-E. The gear was located in the column's base, it too was removed and discarded.

A lantern on the same road after it was removed, as you can see, it turned into a swamp while it was up there!

This Philips MA90 is located on Landsberg, Tamworth. It's mounted at a height of 8m, on a concrete column with a short outreach bracket. If you look closely you can see the control gear mounted inside the lantern. It runs 90W SOX.

Integral Geared MA90s litter Buckingham Road, Tamworth.

I was wondering about snapping pictures when I noticed that one of the column's doors had fallen off, I took a photo and reported it. You can see the isolator switch inside! It also confirms that these MA90s are gear-in-head, if seeing it through the bowl wasn't clear enough!

Column 17 on Buckingham road was found in a similar-state in late April of 2024.

The 32A breaker is clearly visible without the column door.

The supply can also be seen.

The lantern is visible above, on it's outreach bracket.

The gear can just-about be seen through the refractor bowl.

Despite being encompassed in trees, the sleeve of column number 18 can be seen poking out, with it's MA90.

Column 19 is an identical installation to column 18.

I also took the time to photograph column 20.

Column 13 also supports an MA90. Brand new column numbers were added to the columns door in early 2024.

Chartwell has two integral-geared MA90s on sleeved Stanton & Staveley 8m columns. They exist among a sea of Eleco GR100s. These columns would-likely have supported Eleco GR100s before the MA90s.

A rather out-standing survivor in the town centre, a double armed column supporting two integral geared MA90s. The other lanterns on this road are Holophane V-Maxes and in the neighbouring carpark, are Thorn Civic 1s. Both of these lanterns work. (Improved pictures coming soon)!

More (unique) mk.1 MA90s existed on Sandy Way, Tamworth. Column T1 is pictured below, an integral-geared MA90 on a sleeved-outreach bracket.

The gear was visible towards the back of the lantern. A 66W SOX-E lamp was fitted inside the lantern.

Column T2 remained unsleeved. This is likely what column T1 would have looked like before it's sleeving, with a Mk.1 MA90 also installed.

A small amount of water had collected in the lantern's bowl.

Column T3 had a longer outreach-bracket as the road is wider here, with a parking area at the side.

Column T4:

The concrete bracket had started to break away at the joint of the lantern.

Column T5 was a nearly-identical installation to column T4

Whereas column T6 was a much-newer unbranded steel column with an integral geared MA90 installed.

Column T13 was the next installation to support an MA90. It had suffered some light damage around the base. Columns T8 to T12 were also missing! They were likely Mk.1 MA90s that were removed when the junctions to different sites were constructed. Old column T7 is still visible on maps, with new column T7 having been moved across the road, now supporting a Holophane V-Max.

Column T14's moment in the spotlight followed shortly after. This was another remote geared Mk.1 MA90 running 66W SOX-E.

Damage to the column door had accumulated over the decades of large trucks, vandals and differing weather conditions. The concrete outreach-bracket had also begun to see some fracturing.

Sandy Way also possessed a column (T15) which appeared from behind to have no door. I walked around the column, but it did! The door was a replacement, likely after the original door had sustained damage.

It looks-to-be the door of a feeder pillar, but hey, what ever works!

Column T17 followed a similar trend, except with little damage to the column door and base.

Column T18:

The steel pipe in this one's bracket was completely exposed!

Column T21 was the next installation to support an MA90 (past the roundabout). Due to it's distance from the kerb, this one was fitted with a long outreach bracket.

New column numbers could be seen towards the very-base!

The lantern was in good condition, but the bracket had (again) started to fall apart. Pieces of the bracket were found in the grass below.

Column T22:

Electrical tape orbited the base of the column to keep the damaged door on.

The MA90 was intact. The same couldn't be said for the bracket!

The next four MA90s were all newer-integral-geared versions on steel columns.

Within this group is this MA90. I am no Sherlock Holmes, but it looks to have been hit by a vehicle.

Looking at the grass, we can see tyre marks and exposed mud. The column was also bent back through the soil. This confirmed the damage was a recent development.

The integral geared MA90 lantern appeared intact, although the front clip was undone.

The column was flagged, and an MEWP van was dispatched to asses the MA90 and the damaged Alpha 9 on the same road. The column was deemed safe, and actually still worked! As a result, the column was wrapped in electrical safety tape and reported as needing re-alignment.