GEC Z8256

Recently acquired into the collection is this incredibly special, and as far as is known one off GEC Z8256 (not to be confused with the Z8526 – That's a 250w/400w MBF/SON Turtle) fluorescent lantern to survive in a collection. The reason I say ‘one off’ is because its a Blackpool special.

Typically these lanterns are seen with two 40w 2’ tubes, indeed all other examples I’ve seen have this lamp configuration. However this special variant takes four 20w 2’ tubes. The idea is that after midnight, two tubes would switch off allowing dimming through the rest of the night, likely till around half five in the morning.

I bought it from a collector who had rescued it originally in the 80’s, who then simply placed it in his garage and left it untouched until I hosted a lighting meet, and he bought it along. We decided it need to be lit, and having put some wire to it, the lantern shrugged off the disuse and sprang into life after 40 years of not having any power to it. Beat that LED! He then exclaimed he might be looking to sell it, and after I made an offer, he accepted and here we are now.

The lantern features a rather well proportioned wedge shape bowl, and considering the lower tubes follow the bowls profile, I imagine it done an impeccable job of lighting the road. The bowl is sadly cracked and broken, but what goes for it is how clear it is, its incredibly well preserved all things considered. I carefully glued all the cracks and splits back together, and then wet dry sanded the edges to try and hide the damage as much as possible. Its not completely gone, but its a massive improvement, restoring some rigidity back to the fragile bowl. One large hole is yet to be filled in, however I’ve sourced a wrecked Alpha 9 with a perfect matching area in which I can cut off and fit to this bowl.

The gear inside is immaculate, which is shocking considering where it was once installed, Blackpool quite frequently has salty sea mist blowing over, its why I call it the lantern destroyer town. No doubt only seeing 20 years service is the reason why its survived as well as it has.

So now for restoration, this will see a full restoration as per usual, and then its ready for decades more service.