1960 TILLEY BR no preheater

This is the BR version of the stormlamp (British Rail) This one has been lit but as you can see from the pictures but in this condition i doubt it has been used very much at all. The yellow tank and the hood colouring is excellent. Date code on the base is 160 so thats january 1960.

 

Is BR 49 the model or is it a 246? Juan.

 

Good question. We don't know the model for this one. Not an X246 with BR stamped on the tank and not a BR49 because it lacks the pre heater. These were not as far as I know sold retail so they don't appear in any catalogue. They would have been a contract to Southern Rail in the UK. I suppose we might call them X246BR. ::Neil::

 

Maybe tilley BR as its not stamped with x246 either

pete

 

Well neither were the Guardsman lanterns marked as X246. it was only with X246A that Tilley began stamping the model numbers on the tanks. Anyway it is not really important we just need a name to hang on it. I favour X246BR because that does describe what you see. BR on its own tends to be used as an abreviated name for the BR49s and therefore I think using that would be misleading.We could call it the Short Yellow BR I guess. Personally I prefer to go with what the guy wot writes the PLC likes but then I am a tad biased here. ::Neil::

 

Flicking through the Reference Gallery I spotted this thread and thought - I've got one of those

Lets call it an X246BR.



The fount is stamped "TILLEY - B/R - ENGLAND" on the side with "Made in England" and "860XA" on the underside. It looks similar in design to my X246 / Guardsman, but that is not stamped.

 

Southern Rail bought a large batch of these in 1960 together with a lot of BR49s. Both were painted this yellow colour and are marked as BR. This model always with the standard brown hood and the larger one with pre heater has the black hood from model X359. Both are dated 1960 and neither is common although enough examples have turned up to assume a fairly large batch for each. In the PLC they are just listed as BR lanterns but as seperate items with description of colour and markings. X246BR will do for a model I guess. ::Neil::

 

Based on the comments from @Macburner, I need to swap the hood from black to brown to return the original colours. Shoudn't be a problem, I think I have an X246B with one

 

Marvelous what comes out of the woodwork. An interesting post.

Cheers
Peter

 

Hood swapped, the tricky part was swapping the burner, keeping the mantle mantle intact.

 

Nice rare lantern. All BR lanterns are hard to find but these being specific to Southern Rail and 1960 are quite rare. One to treasure. ::Neil::

 

Well I was lucky then... I've just obtained one of these for less than £6. It came minus a pump, and with a black hood. It's date stamped 461XA which I assume is April 1961. It's working well now, but will need some paint repairs; does anyone know of a spray paint that is a good match?

 

The control knob on my example is a bit unusual, too:

 

No it's not. That is the brass inside of the black plastic knob which has broken off. ::Neil::

 

Thanks, Neil! I did wonder. I'd never seen the insert of a threaded knob before. It still works though. Part of its history!

Have you or anyone else got any suggestions for the BR yellow paint colour, please?

 

Does the BR49 with the pre heater have a x359 hood?
They just look like the brown ones but black.

 

The X246 BR is marked BR on the tank, the BR49 is an X246 with extended legs with a preheater

 

@burntofferings
They usually have the standard brown or black hood, but in the lamp world, there maybe variations to the normal.
Here is mine, is the standard issue.

Cheers
Pete

 

Thanks for the reply KAB and Pete
You're telling me what I kind of already know.
But if you look back up these replies to Neil's 2016 reply
he says the one with the pre heater had the x359 hood but it doesn't
Or am I missing something.
Stunning lantern Pete, a work of art.

 

@burntofferings
I’m not sure about the X359 hood on a BR lamp, it could be a distinct possibility, as I said in my post, “there maybe variations to the normal”.

The X359 does have a prelighter, a Tillite torch.
Here is my example of the X359 with the Tillite preheater fitted with the distinctive hood.


The components of the Tillite preheater or torch.



The Tillite preheater was not a roaring success and disappeared very quickly. After the demise of the Tillite the surplus X359 hoods were used up on subsequent lamps.
So whether British Rail used the X359 with the Tillite preheater or the hood of a X359 fitted on the standard X246BR in place of the regular black or brown hood ....... I can’t say, others will undoubtedly know.
Cheers
Pete

 

Thanks Pete
So much is swapped about with these lamps over the years it gets a bit hard to know what's right or wrong sometimes.

 

The X359 hood was standard on the Southern Rail Yellow BR49 from 1960. It was only ever used on the X359 and that particular BR49. All the other BR models and variations had the standard brown or black hood that was in current production. ::Neil::

 

I get it now.
Thanks Neil, summed it up beautifully.

 

@Mackburner Thanks mate for the clarification.
Cheers
Pete

 

I should have also said that there are two Southern Rail BR49s. They also had a standard X246 painted yellow and marked as BR. That lantern has no kero preheater and was issued with the brown hood. It was only the extended lantern with the pre heater that used the X359 hood. ::Neil::