OK so you know I won some lamps on line.... One was a 246A in very goos condition considering it was dated 1968 (I think it was the sawdust that preserved it?) and the paraffin in the tank has emulsified to the point of it being a thick gloppy mess...... Its going to tack some cleaning and then there was this..... its got me wondering what i have brought.... So it looks like a normal 246A But I've not come across a valve with this detailing before? And shouldn't there be another ring (no sign of one ever being there either) So I assume made in Feb 1988......... but whats the BR ref all about ?? Its got me scratching my head so I thought i would share and ask (hence the separate post) Like i said confused but with a big grin thanks Andy
It's an X-246-B which has been fitted with a brass GF., control cock, which were in use from 1940 until approximately 1960 and Tilley stopped using the middle ring at some point during the X246B production run. That control cock is missing it's knob. BR may be for British Rail.
Sorry i got my A's and B's mixed up :-)..... I have 10 other 246B's and they all have the 3rd ring? Maybe this is another Tilley I need to keep an eye out for :-)
Hello Andy, we all get things mixed up sometimes and there are plenty of those later X-246-B lanterns around.
I know, I've been buying them as parts lamps to get the 246A's and guardsman lamps up and running...... still have 3 more to pick up this week and check out the optimous 1550 :-)
Just had a look on the Tilley site and sure enough the new lamps don't have the central ring on the lamp frame....... to be honest i prefer the older style :-)
Don't we all - pre-1956 style. I presume the centre ring was dropped in Tilley's never-ending search to reduce the cost of manufacture (in this case about tuppence) irrespective of the loss in quality of their products. I suppose they also took the view that less protection for the glass would result in greater sales of replacement globes, thus double-bubble for them - hoorah! - NOT!! To quote the words of the song - cue Fred and Ginger - 'There may be trouble ahead...' A case of BMD anyone?
Possibly, Jeff - but as you've probably noticed, it's on a slightly different alignment to the rest of the date-stamp. I suppose we'd need to see a good few more examples of this to be fairly certain that Tilley put it there during manufacture...
Is this of any use ?? Looking closely I cant see any distress to the paint around any of the stamped letters / numbers..... I know from working with old radios you cant stamp a painted surface without lifting / chipping the paint..... Any more pic's needed just ask (But i guess its just me being a newbie thinking if was something different )
I've got around twelve of these new old stock Tilley X246B founts/tanks stamped with BR and apparently they came from/were liberated from British Rail, i've also seen quite a few Tilley 171 and 182 glass globes for sale that had British Rail stamped on their boxes, I believe most of the British Rail items were "saved" from the rubbish bin by people that worked for them, i've had two AL15A's that came from the children of parents that had "rescued" them from work
Tilley dropped that middle ring in about 1976. I can't be precise but the last dated lamp I have recorded with the mid ring is Nov 1975 and the earliest without is dated Sep 1977. ::Neil::
I don't own an X246 but just an X-246-B. So I can't make judgements on the difference between them. I live in Malaysia(formerly Malaya), which was in the past colonized by the British. We gained independence in 1957. So we've got British-times artifacts all over the country. From small day-to-day utensils to machines, locomotives and buildings. Most, if not all of them were(and still are) seen and recognized in general, to be in a quality class well above all the others. Just about anything with the marking: 'Made In England' would be top-notched. Fast forward to present, we still have, although much less, items being imported from that far-away land. No longer we could see that once prestigious, highly regarded marking on them. Most present-day items 'Made in the UK' are somehow, not in the same league as those 'Made In England' from the past. Well, that's just how many of us here see it from a simple, unbiased point of view. The emphasis for lowest costs and maximum profitability is indeed truly a force to be reckoned-with.
