188C. M6 Sandbach Services Northbound, Betchton, Sandbach, Cheshire East Installed around the roadways and parking areas of the Services area (as well as throughout the equivalent southbound services too) are a number of 12 m sheet steel Petitjean (now Valmont-Stainton) columns, many of which still support their (likely) original Philips MA 60 lanterns, for 180 Watt SOX (low pressure sodium) lamps, and probably date back to late 1975 / early 1976, when the Services opened. All is not quite as it seems, however, with the lanterns having been converted to accommodate an internal LED cluster, following the obsolescence in 2019, and relatively high power consumption, of SOX lamps in comparison to LED equivalents, even if the SOX lamps still boast significantly higher lumens per Watt than LED solutions can accomplish.
One of the many columns still fitted with an MA 60 is seen in front of the main Services building.
Given that the lanterns themselves are 1594 mm (5′2″) in length, the outreach brackets are rather substantial.
Only when the lanterns are seen up-close do the internal modifications become apparent.
The bracket on this example near the entrance to the Services was misaligned, and the bowl had become lost.
The missing bowl allowed the conversion to be viewed in closer detail.
Two narrow lengths of pre-drilled steel strut are installed along the length of the lantern's canopy, using the rear casting bolts and former lamp support screw threads for support. The LED array is then positioned in the centre of the canopy, but as this does not also extend to the full length of the lantern, it must look bizarre when lit. I suspect that these retro-fit gear trays are actually designed for the smaller MA 90, which is around half the length of the MA 60.
Another original column is seen further south, while a replacement Abacus tubular steel supporting an MA 50 (which still looked to be fitted with a 135 Watt SOX lamp) is the first column that is passed after leaving the M6 Motorway.
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