GEC Z9554M Lantern Installations

GEC's Z9554M was the GRP-canopied version of the GEC Z9554 (which had an aluminium canopy). The lanterns were side-entry only, and ran 135W SOX or 91W SOX-E. The bowls were made from acrylic, thus they weakened significantly with age, so it wasn't uncommon to see these things missing bowls, clips and other bits.

A51, Tamworth

The remote geared GEC Z9554M street light lantern is easily the second most common SOX lantern still lighting British main roads (After the Philips MA group). These installations can be seen lining the A51 on a chilly winter day.

A close-up of the previous lantern reveals that the rear clip seems to have been repaired at some point. You can also see that it has started to fill with water. Once the water level reaches the lamp holder, the lantern will probably stop working.

Looking closer, we see that the front clip is also missing! With all that water, how on Earth is that thing still up there?! You can see it's slightly loose at the front end.

This repair was far better than the next lantern's repair however. As you can see, a piece of black tape has been wrapped around the back of the lantern to keep the bowl up after the back clip broke. I did actually find the clip, rusty and half buried in the dirt below. Despite the shoddy repair, this lantern is much drier, which could mean it was fixed recently, or that maybe the tape is a better solution...

Amington, Tamworth

The roundabout joining the two-halves of Sandy Way in Amington supports three GEC Z9554Ms.

A Zodion one-part photocell is pictured on top of the first lantern.

Another example roughly a-quarter-of-the-way around the roundabout from the previous example.

It looks to have a cut-off bowl, giving an overall thinner appearance, and again is fitted with a one-part photocell made by Zodion. The GRP canopy on this one has suffered badly against the elements.