Bardic Lamp

[TrainBoy98]

(Sorry if in wrong place)

One of my mums friends works for the railway and has given me an old Bardic Lamp today. I cant seem to find any information on them anywhere so wondered if any of you knew?

Also, appearently it changes colour, but mine is only white?

 

[Jonfun]

Turn the knob on the top left or right. It's possible you might have one without the coloured lenses fitted though. And what info were you after?

 

[transportphoto]

Have you tried turning the on / off knob? If it doesn't turn, remove the battery cover and see if the colour lens is still there.

TP

 

[TrainBoy98]

Just when they were made, what they were used for; that sort of thing. And I have twisted the know in both directions, nothing happens. How do I find out if the colour lens is still there?

 

[transportphoto]

I doubt they're there then.

Undo the clips shown on the side, this should take the bottom cover off.

The lenses are shown (just) here:

 

[Jonfun]

Ah, in that case the coloured lenses have probably been removed. If you push the clips down on each side, you'll be able to take the bottom cover off - that's where the battery lives, you'd be able to see in there if the lenses are still in. I couldn't give an accurate date they were introduced but I'm sure someone else knows, they're used for handsignalling (eg in shunting moves at night) and guards 'giving the green', people needing to stop a train by giving a red etc. You'll still see them around on the railways, they're quite widespread. They come in 3 and 4 aspect versions (the 3 aspect doesn't have yellow, just white/red/green) and has a different style knob on the top. Were used by the military I believe as well though I'm not too sure what for.

 

[transportphoto]

It is common that most Bardics are 4 lens, however the knob used prohibited the use of Yellow AFAIAA.. replace the knob, you've got all four.

TP

 

[Jonfun]

Could well be the case, none I've had have had that style knob so never had the opportunity to check. Either way, reader insert "have access to" instead of "have" in my post to clarify

 

[TrainBoy98]

Mine has a big red eveready battery in and wont budge :/

 

[Jonfun]

If you've got a small flathead screwdriver, gently prise around the edges - if the battery's been in there a while it may have leaked or moisture might have got in and cause it to stick to the sides. Unless the battery's still working and you just want to leave it as it is - trying to get it out might mean the card around the cells starts to fall apart, which isn't dangerous but might leave a bit of a mess.

 

[TrainBoy98]

Ok, got it out (has best before 01-2007 so might get rid). I can see what looks like plastic with the colours red, green and yellow.

 

[Jonfun]

That's odd then. See what happens when you turn the knob on the top - does the wheel with the different coloured filters turn too?

 

[TrainBoy98]

Nope, no movement at all.

 

[transportphoto]

Well, you've got the lenses.. just the mechanism is dodgy.

TP

 

[TrainBoy98]

Yep, any idea how to get it working?

 

[Jonfun]

I'm not sure what to suggest then other that something's knackered. My first bardic I managed to break by snapping the bit that connects the knob on the top to the colour wheel, so it could be something like that. Does it turn on and off okay? That's done by lifting up and pushing down the knob on the top.

 

[TrainBoy98]

Yep, turns on and off fine, but the know only moves about half a cm in each direction-nothing happens.

 

[Jonfun]

Try and be a bit forceful (but obviously not too much!) and turn it clockwise.

 

[TrainBoy98]

Ok, thanks, that worked and now I can get green and red, assume mine is old type know so cant get yellow?

 

[Jonfun]

If it's got the straight knob rather than the cross shaped on then yeah, you won't be able to access the yellow without some modding. But railway handsignals 'on the ground' don't tend to use yellow anyway, hence presumably why some builds locked it out. Good to hear you've got it working (mostly)!

 

[TrainBoy98]

Yeah, thanks for all your help!! And yes, I have the straight knob, but oh well

 

[Jonfun]

It's no probs. Was a convenient time for the thread to pop up, was halfway through sorting through a few of em that I picked up off the market. They are virtually indestructable and relatively easy to fix if they do go - someone I know dropped one as they were going up a flight of stone steps, banged its way down a bit, lost some of its silver coat but it was just a case of plug the battery back in (it dislodged when it fell) and job was a gud'un.

 

[455driver]

But railway handsignals 'on the ground' don't tend to use yellow anyway, hence presumably why some builds locked it out.

They most certainly do use yellow, had one yesterday.

Only handsignalman use it though hence why bardics issued to traincrew have the yellow locked off.

 

[A-driver]

When it comes to hand signallers on the ground, yellow is used more than green. If being authorised past a signal or over handpoints etc you can only get a red or yellow. The only time you get a green hand signal is to show points are locked off or if being authorised to go over a level crossing under local control.

 

[High Dyke]

The batteries for these are getting to harder to obtain at times. However i've found this: http://www.heritage-ops.org.uk/product_detail.php?p=61&c=3

Alternatively i purchased a conversion pack a number of years ago that uses 3 D-size batteries instead.

 

[Jonfun]

They most certainly do use yellow, had one yesterday.

Only handsignalman use it though hence why bardics issued to traincrew have the yellow locked off.

Glad one of us is on the ball!

Sorry, reading it back my post lacked the context I thought it had - by "Don't tend to" I was referring to traincrew/shunting staff etc not using it (the signals using only red, white or green), yellow only being used for specific applications indeed as you point out by handsignallers, but it wasn't too clear. Serves me right for skim reading before pressing Submit, someone was bound to pull me up!

With regard to batteries, there are a few websites out and about that you can source batteries from but I'd second the suggestion of a converter pack - they're not too pricey and you can get ones that convert to 3 C or D cells.

 

[AlexS]

If anything is likely to fail on a bardic lamp, it's the bulb, so it's worth getting hold of a few of them if you can.

I'm probably in a bit of a minority in that I still dispatch National Rail trains with a bardic - simply because the bloody Halo replacements we have are constantly broken - the bardic is a far more solid bit of kit. The only drawback being you have to carry it around with you.

 

[Flamingo]

They are the same size bulb as a Maglite.

One use nobody has mentioned yet is as an emergency taillight or front light. Hence the bracket on the back.

on another note about batteries. Be careful leavering them out with a screwdriver, wear eye protection, I know somebody who was leavering one out and some of the gunge flew out and into their eye, it was rather uncomfortable apparently, and involved several hours in A&E having their eye repeatedly washed out.

 

[TDK]

When it comes to hand signallers on the ground, yellow is used more than green. If being authorised past a signal or over handpoints etc you can only get a red or yellow. The only time you get a green hand signal is to show points are locked off or if being authorised to go over a level crossing under local control.

Station staff and guards use the green for dispatch I believe as well

 

[Flamingo]

Station staff and guards use the green for dispatch I believe as well

If the driver-guard buzzer is dead.