Paraffin Platform Lamps

[Jpallis001]

Hi, does anyone know what the original colour would have been of these lamps that were used at Hunwick Station, Bishop Auckland? Also any photos showing what shape the wooden finial would have been?

Thank you

John

[tomburnham]

John,

There are some good photographs on the Disused Stations site http://disused-stations.org.uk/h/hunwick/index.shtml showing the platform lamps. Not much good for colour information though as they are all monochrome!

Tom.

[Jpallis001]

Thanks Tom, I have looked at the black and white photos and still cannot work out what colour they would have been. The 4 top glasses are white glass with one side painted black.

If I cannot find out the correct colour I will probably go with Darlington green. My grandfather had painted them white but suspect that was because he had a tin of white paint!

[PinzaC55]

As far as I know in NER days they would be reddish brown, LNER days they would be chocolate brown, early BR they would be mid green and later BR they would be "baby blue".

[Ecclesweb]

I have some colour photographs of North Eastern Platform Lamps, albeit in, "preservation," scenarios'.

Although they are not from the specific location in question, they all have been previously located in that general area of the north east or are still in position, in the case of the NYMR examples. So, the Cockfield Fell and Evenwood representatives are probably NER original fittings, complete with embellishments. It may be that the NYMR ones' are a later, yet similar style, platform light fitting - all of these pertaining to the north east.

I hope that these pic's help !

They are attached to this post, I hope...

[Ecclesweb]

Hello again.. I had another look and found a full photograph of the Platform Lamp, from Evenwood Station, Co. Durham, now located at the Head of Steam Museum at Darlington.

[PinzaC55]

Hello again.. I had another look and found a full photograph of the Platform Lamp, from Evenwood Station, Co. Durham, now located at the Head of Steam Museum at Darlington.

The Evenwood and Cockfield Fell lamps were both standard products by the lamp manufacturer Sugg & Co and in practice they would have almost certainly been painted the same green as the lamp post. I did a bit of research many years ago and identified about 8 patterns of NER lamp which tended to be distributed by the Region of the NER (Northern , Central, Southern).

[drmditch]

Please excuse a basic question.
I have always seen the pre-gas and pre-electricity lamps referred to as 'oil lamps'. Presumably using the same 'oil' as signal lamps.

I have never seen this referred to as 'paraffin' before this thread started.

Can someone with the requisite knowledge explain the difference (if any)?

[PinzaC55]

In the great days of the railways most "oil lamps" including platform lamps would use Rape Oil made from Rape Seed which gave a clear white light and was practically odourless.
The three Divisions of the NER (Northern , Central and Southern) had their own preferred types of lamp and in 1994 at the Malton auction I managed to pick up an NER Central Division lamp which is rarely seen in auction. It had no glass except for the name glass which had no letters on it. I set about reglazing the lamp and when I held the name glass up sideways under a light I was amazed to see the shadows of the letters "FINGHALL LANE" from the station on the Wensleydale line. I was able to outline the shadow letters in felt tip pen then block them in with paint making it a very nice looking lamp as the paint was original and unrestored. Later in a chance conversation with a railwayana dealer I found that he had bought the lamp at a general auction in Leyburn !