Hi All, Ive gone and done it again....Again. I managed to win a Tilley X264A again on ebay. This one needs a glass and the right control cock,pump assembly but it only cost £18 including postage, but its all working which is a bonus. Im tempted to take the paint off this one and buff up the brass. I will upload some pictures when i recieve the lamp Thanks Adam
Well done again Adam another great lantern to your growing collection the x246A and 246 a much nicer and better built lantern than the modern 246B built to last,i will look forward to seeing up and running
Hi All! Well today i recieved my Tilley X264A Its pretty good condition but had to replace the spigot It turns out to be a later one on the base it says 9/66XA, It has the alloy control cock and alloy/brass pump, is this original? Here are some pictures Unlit Date And Lit So what do you all think? Not bad for £18 all in Adam
Hi Adam, Good lamp. The hood enamel looks almost complete and the carrier cage looks also to be mostly corrosion free. I am a bit puzzled as to what you refer to as the "spigot", can you explain? Anyway well done - Steve.
Hi Steve, Yeah the hood is in very good condition, the carrier cage looks like it has been restored before? The spigot is part 707 this is the tube that goes through the mantle, Adam
What I think is that, as far as I'm aware, X246A lanterns stopped being produced in 1964 so there's a little mystery to be solved with that one... Unless I'm going daft in my old age...
Hi David! Now that is a good question? Well i had a look on one of the Tilley Lamp sites and i also saw they stopped in 64? So i wonder if this was one of the last batch and hung around on a shop shelf for a while? Adam
Well no, because it would have been stamped when it was made, not sold. Neil will probably be on soon telling us about a batch made to special order, or Tilley discovering a load of old tanks lurking in a corner of the factory. Unless this is a case of a Tilley lantern actually travelling forward in time, as opposed to the backward trip they often make to take part in war films etc...
Yes I just looked at my data file on Tilley dates. The last recorded X246A is dated 8 64 and the first recorded X246B is 12 64. So yes the A version stopped in 1964 but more importantly from the point of view of the evidence there are quite a few B versions I have recorded between Dec 64 and late 1966. However my list does sort of solve this mystery. I have two recorded BR49A lanterns in July and August 1965 so there is no doubt Tilley were still making the A type tank well after the standard lantern model had changed to the later B type tank. I don't have a BR49B recorded until January 1969 so I can't tell exactly when the BR lanterns switched from A to B but I can say it was between Sep 1965 and Dec 1968. That puts this lantern right in the period. So the tank is OK for date and just maybe Tilley had some left over A globe cages which they used up or this is a BR49A which has been converted to a normal A type afterwards. What would be helpful here is more examples of both BR49A and BR49B between 1965 and 1968 so I can try to narrow own the date this model changed. ::Neil::
Very interesting Neil! Would any there be any markings on it to be a BR version and would the alloy pump and control cock be right for it? Cheers Adam
Does the BR 49A have it always stamped onto the tank if so then the change over would not be possible David what is the date on that guardsman X246A. ? That you have,, Kenny
Does the BR 49A have it always stamped onto the tank if so then the change over would not be possible David what is the date on that guardsman X246A. ? That you have,, My two BRs. Are BR49A. 1963 and the BR49B is 1971 So no help there Kenny
Not all BR49A lanterns are marked with the model. I have seen about four which are not. I just don't have enough date info on the BR49A so if any of you have one then please turn it over and give me the date codes so I can update my file. I would have liked to put the date file on here but it is an excell file and I don't know how to post it. ::Neil::
Not a great deal of help for this specific thread, but for your file, Neil:- BR49 - Yellow painted tank, marked 'Tilley B/R England' and dated 461XA BR49A - Gold painted tank, marked 'Tilley X246A' and dated 162XA BR49A - Gold painted tank, marked 'Tilley X246A' and dated 262XA BR49A - Gold plated tank, marked 'Tilley X246A' and dated 1162XA BR49A - Gold painted tank, marked 'Tilley BR49A' and dated 763XA BR49A - Chrome plated tank and globe cage, with no model number on tank-side and dated 164XA BR49B - Gold painted tank, with no model number on tank-side and dated 1072. I think that's all I have - at least it's all I could see and get to in the garage on a very cold, frosty night - BR! (see what I did there... )
Thanks David. I have added those to the file. It all helps build a picture of what was made when. ::Neil::
