Culver City, CA
43 pics
18 Jul 2007
SurvivingChecked on "as of" date (either in person or via latest GSV available), so can be assumed to be surviving at least as far as that date
as of Apr 2019
Maybe you wouldn't expect so many pictures of lighting in a place like Culver City, but most of the pics here are of non- roadway lights. There's a big sequence of some old floods at a sportsfield- jump ahead to that here.
We start on the 12900 block of Washington Blvd, with the oldest possible OV-20 combination- a stamped type body, and a rounded lens.
18 Jul 2007
It's not on its own, but modern lights are more common round here.
18 Jul 2007
SurvivingChecked on "as of" date (either in person or via latest GSV available), so can be assumed to be surviving at least as far as that date
as of Apr 2019
Also, an older GE M-400 with another OV-20 in the background.
18 Jul 2007
18 Jul 2007
Status unknownCheck attempted on "as of" date (usually via GSV in this case), but status of light could not be determined at that time, usually as fixture could not be found again
as of Jun 2019
Another OV-20. As I remember, all the ones we found on this stretch are the oldest sort.
18 Jul 2007
18 Jul 2007
RemovedChecked on "as of" date (either in person or via latest GSV available), removal happened as late as that date or before
as of Oct 2008-2014
S Centinela and Marshall, and a couple of really old lights here...the first one, a series incandescent teardrop. As with most other series stuff in LA, if it's intact and up there, it most probably works.
18 Jul 2007
RemovedChecked on "as of" date (either in person or via latest GSV available), removal happened as late as that date or before
as of Oct 2008-2014
...and one light further south, this NEMA head has a gumball type lens.
19 Jul 2007
SurvivingChecked on "as of" date (either in person or via latest GSV available), so can be assumed to be surviving at least as far as that date
as of Nov 2017
Spotted a couple of these near Sony Pictures Studios on Washington Blvd., at first sight looking like a Joslyn MV-141 'spaceship'.
19 Jul 2007
SurvivingChecked on "as of" date (either in person or via latest GSV available), so can be assumed to be surviving at least as far as that date
as of Nov 2017
...but from the closeup, although the body is the same as a regular MV-141, the lens is smaller, and there is a spacing ring to fill the gap. Apparently this is a lower wattage 'mini spaceship' but what the Joslyn designation is, I don't know.
19 Jul 2007
Status unknownCheck attempted on "as of" date (usually via GSV in this case), but status of light could not be determined at that time, usually as fixture could not be found again
as of Jun 2019
Slightly further along Washington Blvd to the west, a quartet of shovel hat floods on a vacant lot.
19 Jul 2007
Long abandoned, they don't even have lamps any more. What happens to the lamps? I'd love to know...I mean why would someone just come and take them out?
19 Jul 2007
Another common theme with installations like this, is the open wire feed. A little of this one remains...
19 Jul 2007
Have a look at the full size picture and you'll see the remains of an
open wire festoon- ordinary medium sockets and household lamps strung
between the two outer lines. I've a pic of a more intact installation
like this on Vine in Hollywood.
19 Jul 2007
SurvivingChecked on "as of" date (either in person or via latest GSV available), so can be assumed to be surviving at least as far as that date
as of Apr 2019
Oh dear, when the remote ballasted luminaires on this parking lot (on Jefferson, north of Sawtelle) were replaced with these more modern, integral ballast, heavier models, someone forgot that these arms weren't meant for the extra weight! The result- a whole parking lot with sad looking twinarms like this one...
19 Jul 2007
SurvivingChecked on "as of" date (either in person or via latest GSV available), so can be assumed to be surviving at least as far as that date
as of Apr 2019
Update Jan 2018: The latest GSV shows all the following is intact as of Sep 2017. It also shows a 5th pole- which I'd missed, despite regular trips to this location. Standing in the middle of the field looking at the other poles, it would be the left most one. It has a single M250 and is overhead wired to the others in the same fashion.
The rest of the pics in this section devoted to another non- roadway find. This is Lindberg Park, a small park in the middle of a residental area in Culver City, and home to a fascinating and ancient sports lighting scheme...The wiring as you'll see is so fantastical I shot many different angles just to try and get an idea of what was going on! Not all the pics are commented, but enjoy this glimpse into the past of this area, as told through the lighting that's been left to rot 50 feet in the air, probably for more than 50 years...
There are 4 wooden poles at one end of the park, connected by an open wire feed system. The array of stuff up each pole is different for each one, and tells of years of modifications and changes. Pics taken July 2007.
19 Jul 2007
This pole is one of the more unmolested ones, with 3 incandescent floods on a crossarm. What the gearbox, and the open frame transformer is for, is anyone's guess!
19 Jul 2007
This pole used to have 3 floods, but all that's left of the right hand one is the socket, the reflector having gone years ago.
19 Jul 2007
A look at those 2 poles, giving an idea of the height, and spacing.
19 Jul 2007
This is a look at the pole in the first picture with its neighbor. There are closeups of this one to follow...
19 Jul 2007
This is the last pole, and a fine assortment we have here! A GE HPS flood, a GE M1000- probably mercury- and two other incandescent floods, one with a shield. There's also a yoke but no 5th fixture.
19 Jul 2007
A different view, you can see there are also 2 pole mounted ballasts despite the two modern fixtures being integral ballast, and the other two incandescent! In addition, there's the large metal gear box, and an open frame transformer on the left. Too much control gear!
19 Jul 2007
The second pole has the remains of a Westinghouse OV-20 with glare shield but no lens, it has an incandescent lamp. There's also another more modern GE area flood (HPS), and two incandescent floods, of different design to any of the others. Another open frame transformer (ballast?) and a paint can ballast complete this setup...
19 Jul 2007
A different view, you can clearly see that 3 of the 4 are incandescent. So what are the ballasts for? Now removed fixtures, or have the ones that are there been relamped wrongly?
19 Jul 2007
19 Jul 2007
The third pole, again with the metal gear box but its function is not known, as these floods have incandescent lamps too.
19 Jul 2007
19 Jul 2007
The last pole, again with the box, this one has the open frame transformer too, and all the fixtures are more or less intact, all with lamps anyway...
19 Jul 2007
A different view to try and see how the open frame transformer is wired. It's all 50 feet off the floor, so this is difficult!
19 Jul 2007
A look at poles 1-3.
19 Jul 2007
Pole 2 showing the GE flood probably the only one pointing somewhere useful.
19 Jul 2007
Pole 1 from another angle.
19 Jul 2007
Pole 2, more of the wiring visible on this shot.
19 Jul 2007
19 Jul 2007
Poles 2 and 3 from the back.
19 Jul 2007
Pole 1. There's a photocell on this one too!
19 Jul 2007
Pole 3 showing the wiring.
19 Jul 2007
Pole 2 from the back, looking straight up. Again, can you trace the wiring?
19 Jul 2007
19 Jul 2007
No.1, showing the wiring for the open frame transformer.
19 Jul 2007
3 and 4 again.
In answer to the question 'Do they work' we did go back that evening and...
In answer to the question 'Do they work' we did go back that evening and...
19 Jul 2007
This is what we found!
Heh the more observant amongst you will notice this is a GE Powerglow, found in a field at the other end of the park. Sadly, the end with the main installation, was all in darkness. There was, however, nothing going on at the park that evening...so we live in hope, and will try and revisit again to see if maybe they are on a switch or timer rather than a photocell. There is a meter cabinet which appears to be feeding it all- look at the pics of pole 1 and you'll see a conduit running up from it, so all is not lost! The Culver City Parks Division website does list it as having night lighting...
Heh the more observant amongst you will notice this is a GE Powerglow, found in a field at the other end of the park. Sadly, the end with the main installation, was all in darkness. There was, however, nothing going on at the park that evening...so we live in hope, and will try and revisit again to see if maybe they are on a switch or timer rather than a photocell. There is a meter cabinet which appears to be feeding it all- look at the pics of pole 1 and you'll see a conduit running up from it, so all is not lost! The Culver City Parks Division website does list it as having night lighting...
This pic taken July 2008
I went back a year after I took the preceding set of pics, and found eveything more or less exactly as I'd left it. Here's a pic of the meter cabinet I mentioned, it looks energised and the padlock looks fairly recent, but who knows as to whether it does anything...
I went back a year after I took the preceding set of pics, and found eveything more or less exactly as I'd left it. Here's a pic of the meter cabinet I mentioned, it looks energised and the padlock looks fairly recent, but who knows as to whether it does anything...