San Marino, CA
29 pics
21 Mar 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 2008
Update Jun 2025: Actually as the border between San Marino and Pasadena runs up San Gabriel Blvd, this shopping centre is actually in Pasadena -
just. I'll leave it here though. The HPS fixtures were changed for LED at some point in the 2010s.
Update Oct 2010: As of sometime in 2008, they have been replaced with HPS fixtures.
For a video some of these lights click hereUpdate Oct 2010: As of sometime in 2008, they have been replaced with HPS fixtures.
San Marino is a leafy city 8 miles NE of downtown Los Angeles. It's a very interesting place, lighting- wise as this city has a very different approach to lighing it's streets than the surrounding communities. Light levels are much lower, there's also a multitude of cool old incandescent and mercury fixtures, but also there's streets retrofitted with MH and CFL. Here's an unusual sight- this is the carpark of a shopping centre at Huntington & San Gabriel in San Marino. There are two fluorescent fixtures there, in good condition too.
21 Mar 2007
That's it- just these two.
21 Mar 2007
A closeup of the lefthand one-
21 Mar 2007
-and the righthand one. They are in surprisingly good shape.
21 Mar 2007
These are notable because they are 'real' GE roadway fixtures, not the usual sort of gas station fixture you would find usually in this sort of situation.
21 Mar 2007
22 Mar 2007
Here's some nighttime shots of these fixtures- they do work...
22 Mar 2007
...sort of! The tubes still light, but as this pic sort of shows, they are so dim as not to throw any useful light at all on the car park.
22 Mar 2007
They flicker, but probably retubing them would sort them out.
22 Mar 2007
A great sight, and although not onthe public road, the nearest you'll get to a roadway fluorescent fixture anywhere in LA.
25 Mar 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 2011
Another unusual sight- this suspended series merc is at the intersection of Wilson Ave, and Granada Ave in San Marino.
25 Mar 2007
The bowl is missing, and the lamp is a coated ED shape suggesting it's been replaced more recently.
25 Mar 2007
The intersection is actually a bend in the road.
25 Mar 2007
Here you can see the series transformer on the righthand end of the second arm, the series loop heading off to the left, and the low voltage wiring on the catenary across to the fixture.
I've seen this at night- as at March 2007 it was working fine.
I've seen this at night- as at March 2007 it was working fine.
25 Mar 2007
A lot of the residential streets in San Marino are lit like this- the following pics are from the area south of Huntington Dr., between Virginia and Del Mar. These are (probably) GE series incandescent, and quite a lot of these have 1000lm lamps even at intersections, so the light levels are really low!
25 Mar 2007
An unknown series incandescent gumball. The fixture is painted to match the pole.
25 Mar 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 Mar 2019
Bradbury & Melville- the green painted poles are much shorter, again, probably 1000lm incandescent.
25 Mar 2007
Still heading east on Melville, more gumballs...
25 Mar 2007
...and the occasional teardrop lens.
25 Mar 2007
On Huntington going through San Marino, despite it being a main arterial road, the light levels are not much higher than the side streets. Quite a lot of this section is only lit at intersections, in this case a cast type OV-20 with 4-bolt mounting, 400W clear mercury.
17 Jul 2007
A very typical scene for the LA area in general, and San Marino in particular- Form 400s, a cast type OV-20 on the right, and a few Marbelite poles with acorns on top, the clamshells are clear mercury, the rest incandescent.
17 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 soon after this pic was taken
There are a couple of radial wave fixtures still up and working in San Marino, this one is on EL Molino, between Monterey and Huntington. They look the same type as the Pasadena ones, and maybe are in slightly better condition.
17 Jul 2007
There are 3 radial waves on this stretch of El Molino as I recall, this one is on a longer arm and you can see the series line heading to the pole arm above.
22 May 2005
The following 3 pics are an attempt to show just how low the light levels are in this city at night- the focus could be a little better but I think they give the general
impression. Here are a couple of incandescents on a side street, these are some of the brighter ones, which might be 2500lm lamps. In addition to the old fixtures that are
incandescent, there are some cobrahead fixtures that have been retrofitted with incandescent lamps- some with just household ones.
22 May 2005
Even dimmer at this intersection- an amazing sight to see what are probably 1000lm lamps at such a tall mounting height! The clear merc on the other side of the intersection is blinding by comparison.
22 May 2005
I'm not sure if this is actually Huntington Dr., but even so it's a great sight, this teardrop and on the other side of the street, an incandescent post mounted acorn or two. The light levels might seem very low by modern standards, but they are brighter than a full moon would be- just!
24 Sep 2009
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 May 2022
A few years later and armed with a better camera I had another go at photographing the San Marino night scene. This is Waverly Rd south of Huntington Dr. If you get the fullsize pic, you can see 3 incandescent teardrop fixtures lighting this cul-de-sac. I don't know if these fixtures are still incandescent but I suspect not - the city has a lot of history modifying its fixtures for different light sources. I suspect they are LED these days.
24 Sep 2009
RemovedChecked on "as of" date (either in person or via latest GSV available), removal happened as late as that date or before
as of Dec 2017
Looking the other way to the previous shot (NE), this is the view of Huntington with a few mercuries about. Unlike the side streets, the fixture nearest the camera was replaced with a LED.
24 Sep 2009
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 May 2022
This is in the same area, possible Bedford Rd, and the situation is the same, with the poles and fixtures surviving but light source unknown, presumed LED. This is how they looked when they were series incandescent.