I wonder if anyone can help me estimate the age of this lamp, please? It has the short socket for the control cock, and a 14" diameter reflector, so I think it's post-1940. Perhaps the large diameter control knob gives a clue? We are lucky to have the original wall-mounting bracket too. I also had a near disaster when trying to remove the three screws holding the tank to the reflector, the first one came out fine but the second sheared off and I had to exercise some ingenuity to get round that one! Thanks very much, Phil
I think your right Phil 40s to 50s that GF cock must have a replacement knob on they always have the bakelite type on Love that bracket very study Pete
Yeah, I thought that was a replacement knob - it's wider than the originals. I'm guessing the bracket was made by the railway blacksmith - good job which looks the part...
Thanks both. I admit the bracket is interesting, as this lamp used to hang from it on the outside of a Scottish railway signal box to illuminate the area where tokens were exchanged between engine crews and the signalman. I have no idea whether the bracket was made by Tilley or the railway. Perhaps someone has seen another? Regarding the control knob, I believe this to be original as it is held in place by a tiny tubular dowel pin pressed through a hole in the shaft, quite unlike any Tilley knob I've seen before.
Yes, that's exactly what I was thinking and that's what made me suppose it wasn't Tilley. I'm sure any half-decent engineer can manage to drill a hole in a shaft to take a roll pin. All railways would have loads of folk capable of doing that...
Mmmm... from what I've seen, railway mechanical engineers consider anything smaller than 1" Whitworth to be a watchmaker's size, and this roll pin is less than 1/16" in diameter, but perhaps I am doing the engineers of the old Highland Railway a grave disservice! I had an interesting chat at the HLC meeting at Uffington today with a couple of acknowledged Tilley experts, who confirmed that the bracket never appeared in any Tilley catalogue, so I'm grateful for that information.
I think I know the answer to the control knob conundrum. The lamp's previous owner was a member of a model engineering club, whose members would have had access to the miniature engineering machine tools necessary to turn and fit a new knob. Why was a new knob needed in the first place? I noticed that the control cock spindle is shorter than normal, so I assume that the original knob and the tip of the shaft got damaged, and was sawn off. There is also a dent in the tank which bears witness to a substantial collision with something hard and fast-moving, such as a train, full-size or miniature. Who knows? It's interesting to speculate on the history of an old lamp. I'll have to remove the knob somehow in order to replace the shaft seal.
I don't have another GF cock of the same style and vintage, and I'm aiming to keep the lamp as I found it, mods and all, as they're part of its 70-year history.
I am all for keeping it as you found if you get leaks on the gland nut just undo it push it back and wind some ptfe tape round it should seal ok Pete
Good idea Pete, but if you look closely at my first picture, you'll see that the spindle has been cut back too short to allow the gland nut to be unscrewed and moved along the shaft. No, the knob will definitely have to come off, and I anticipate that the roll pin will come out when suitable force is applied in a judicious manner! I'll be working on it this Thursday.
Just a quick update. Today I managed to remove the roll pin and control knob, fitted a new gland washer, reassembled everything and the leak is cured. Thanks to everyone who offered advice. Once we've mounted the lamp and bracket in its operating position, I'll post some pictures in the Gallery.
