Truesigns TAF

As received, the TAF was in good condition from being in storage for its entire life. There was a small amount of dust on the front, but once this was wiped off, the fitting looked as if it had just been removed from the box. It is really meant to be fitted to a column using two adjustable brackets however it can be wall-mounted if half of each bracket is removed.

The cover is held in place with two 4mm hexagonal screws and a pin on top. Originally, the fitting was key operated however the keys have been lost over the years and so I bypassed the keyswitch and installed a 24hr Sangamo time switch alongside the fitting instead. The visible circuitry is fairly simple - two 60w GLS bulbs are positioned at either end of the fitting. An electronic Royce Thompson flasher system is then employed to alternate power to each lamp on a pre-programmed sequence.

This GIF accurately shows the speed at which the flashing takes place - modern units seem to flash faster than this.

Examples of this type of School Crossing Flasher in situ can be seen below:

This is the only TAF I knew of in Derby. It didn't look to have a keyswitch fitted - maybe this was removed when the keys were lost!

(The fitting has since been replaced with a Microtima one with LED clusters instead of the tungsten lamps.)