Greetings, pressure lamp fans. And with that, another Tilley lamp crawls out of the woodwork and into the daylight.. Here is a picture of my Tilley lamp - I bought it a while ago and never quite dared try to light it as it seems more of a high-pressure paraffin bomb than I am used to. Salient points that I have noted are:- Straight legs on the frame The font has a gold coloured plating all over - including underneath There are no stamped markings that I can see There seems to be the remains of a transfer that started with the word 'Tilley' at the lower edge of the font There are wings visible on the pressure relief locknut on the pump.And so my question is:- Exactly what type of Tilley lamp do I have, please, and about when was it manufactured? Many thanks for your time Ian
Paraffin unlike petrol is not very volatile, its a bit like diesel, it must be vapourised or wicked to ignite. Restore it and get it lit. they are quite safe, they must be, as they have lit homes and outbuildings for decades. All it needs is a thorough clean of the paraffin pathways and fount, new rubber washers and a mantle. this is a post 1954 lamp by the cage handle fixings, but the fount waterslide decal tells an earlier story, as does the pump. Waterslide as it would have been: Look at the lamp reference section for more clues to its age and manufacture (Tilley X246) if you think its dangerous or a bomb, give it to me and I will keep it safe from the world!
Tilley X246 'Guardsman'. Now I don't know where Tilley got the term 'Guardsman' from but if you've ever seen a body 'Lying in State' have a look at the four guardsmen, one at each corner of the coffin. I do hope that's not too macabre for some folks on a warm Bank Holiday Monday...
Thank you very much to both of you for your replies here. And thank you too to plantpot for the confidence-boosting information about paraffin... Washers and mantles I have on order, delivery is scheduled for sometime later this week. I'll update this thread with progress as/when it happens. Interesting that the fount and pump tell one story of age, and the cage handle fixings tell another. I wonder how common such a 'marriage of parts' is? And Damn!, but the thing is as old as I am... Ian
oops might have posted the wrong waterslide picture in the reply above, that one is shown on a earlier "pork pie" fount (but its very similar to the one that should be on yours) When you do get it to a stage of lighting, you will need to get a pre heater torch or fashion a similar thing to soak up your meths to pre heat the lamp. You will find more info about preheating on this forum. There are several videos on youtube from a member of this forum too regarding restoration and lighting. Don't try to light without a good preheat or you will just get big flames and soot and smoke that will ruin your lamps cleanliness and your confidence.
Three of the four Guardsmen can be seen. Anyway, your Tilley is likely to be 1954 onward as plantpot said. Tilley began date-stamping their tanks from October '57 onwards so if there's no date stamp underneath, it must be prior to that. Marriages are legion in the world of pressure lamps so there'd be nothing unusual there. Often parts can be easily swopped and was frequently done to keep an old lantern going. Sadly, your lantern is a few years younger than I am - I think they may have still been making Pork-Pies on the day I emerged...
The same place as The Victor (Kl80) The Ambassador (R1) The Yeoman (Wl25) The Queen and The Princess (Tl106 and Tl136) The Warden (Il47) Perhaps the names made the lamps more exciting.
That shape tank is 1950 to 1954. The globe cage is 1954 and later so this X246 must fall into the window between the two changes so we can be reasonably confident it is a 1954 lantern. ::Neil::
Yes, probably some young, thrusting advertising executive pitched that to them and they fell for it! I wonder why 'The King', 'The Prince', 'The Duke' etc. didn't appear? Maybe the X246B was going to be 'The King' and then they thought, "Oh crap, maybe not!"... At a guess, Tilley seemed to give up these names around the time they moved to Dunmurry.
@Ian Roll Welcome to CPL! I always thought Guardsman was more a nod to the railways? (I'll get me coat...)
@Ian Roll Welcome from Queensland Australia Your X246 “Guardsman” is a good solid lantern and when fettled (restored) will provide many years of service. You’ll probably have to replace the seals, the videos and of course us mob hear will happily help you. The seals and any parts can be purchase from the Fettle Box associated with this forum. Enjoy your fettle and we all look forward to the money shot (a photo of the lantern’s first light up after its fettle/restoration) I’m looking forward to your future posts. Enjoy Cheers Pete
I've somehow managed to accumulate 8x Tilley Guardsman and they are certainly much better than the later models. Did it come with the pre-heater in its little jar? If it did, soak it in meths and pop it round the vaporiser to get the fuel inside it hot enough to vaporise and after a few pumps she'll most likely be shining brightly! As soon as you get it working, post some photos please.
