I don't know what it is with these, but a lot of 400W MV M-400 split doors have the refractors missing. Is it an odd coincidence or something done purposely?
Yeah, I think only the MTO and Richmond Hill ever used them. When the B2255 was still made almost everyone was still putting up drop lens lights. In fact I think some smaller towns were still installing mercs during that time.
when was the B2225 made? The M-400A and M-250A were introduced in 1966 i think. The original single door M-400 and the M-250R weren't replaced with the M-400 split door and the M-250R1 until 1970 though, which is why the M-400A and M-250A share component similarities like the socket mount and the M-250R1 and split door M-400 share their own socket mount too.
Yeah here drop lens lights weren't used until to the 80s. Narragansett Electric (NECo) and Massachusetts Electric (MECo) used the 100/175W MV M-250A2 FCOs. Blackstone Valley Electric (BVE) used the Thomas & Betts model 25s and a few 13s too in FCO. BVE was the first to start using HPS in bigger numbers. They used the M-400 split door and M-250R1 in the late 70s. NECo used the M-400 split door and ITT 25 for both 400W MV and 250W HPS, seemingly at the same time too. Now of course mainly just the HPS versions are left now. The same went for the M-250R1s, almost all of those were MV but in the 80s they installed some 100W HPS M-250R1s and ITT 13s.
From what I can tell (since I wasn't around in the early 90s), when the HPs changeout really took off, NECo was using GE M-250R2s for 50, 100W, and 250W HPS, Cooper OVCs for 50W HPS, Thomas & Betts 113s for 50W HPS, some 100W HPS, and some 100W MV, the M-400R2 for 400W HPS (I know of a few 400W MV ones too), the Thomas & Betts 125 for 250W HPS (i know of a couple of 400W MV ones too).
I think NGrid took over BVE after NECo and MECo, as they seemed to install medium sized 250W HPS fixtures, which has always been a no-no for NGrid.
In the BVE area, from what I've seen, at the start of the HPS takeover they used GE M-250R2 FCOs for 70, 100, and 250W HPS (note they didn't use 50W HPS like NECo and BVE, though NGrid today uses 50W). They also used M-400R2 FCOs for 250W and 400W HPS, which look like pancakes lol. later on in the mid 90s, M-400A2 drop lens lights were used. And sometimes between the mid 90s and the time that NGrid too over, drop lens M-250R2s were used in 70 and 100W (maybe some were 250W but i think most of not all at that time were M-400A2s). then after the M-400A2 got discontinued they used drop lens M-400A lights in 250W and kept using the drop lens M-250R2s. In Pawtucket there's all this variety but in other quieter towns there's pretty much all FCO M-250R2s. Pretty boring but that's really all they used in the smaller towns. Pawtucket is urban so i guess they figures "eh, what the heck" when they used a few drop lens lights there. The Mv changeout was also less thorough in Pawtucket than it was in their other cities and towns. Other places have barely any mercs at all but there's a good number of 100W mercs in Pawtucket. A bunch of them are on my grandparents' street.
The parent company of BVE used to run the Newport/Middletown area (Newport Electric Co) and there there are LOTS of mercs in 100, 175, and 400W. They apparently used HPS a litte in the 80s but returned to MV in the 90s. for HPS lights they have L-150s, M-250R2s that have metallic NEMA tags, Cooper OVS, and I think there are a few HPS OVCs too. All the HPS lights they used were 70W too. I've seen 90s M-250R2s and 113s in 100W MV too so they must have switched back. The only 125s I saw were 400W mercs too.
But now HPS is creeping in with NGrid. 250W M-250R2s mostly, though i saw a few strings of 50W HPs M-250R2s. The utilities under Western Utilities (which owned BVE and NE) seemed to use a lot of 100W mercs/70W HPS and not oo many 175W mercs/100W HPS whereas NECo used more of a mix of 100W MV/50W HPS and 175w MV/ 100W HPS. NECo also had more settled areas too whereas Pawtucket and Central Falls are the only two big cities BVE ran.
Oh, the B2255 came out in 1971 or 1972. So it looks like Powerlite was the one copying GE then.
Over here, drop lens lights were still installed as late as 2007 (and Toronto still installs them to this day) which was when they started using FCO lights. Some drop lens lights have snuck in as spot replacements and in signal installs though.
Richmond Hill probably went FCO in the 80s though, they have a lot of lights not normally seen in FCO, including AE 13, AE 25, OV-15, OV-25, R37, B2255, R47, Unidor 175.
ahh i was wondering who copied who. yeah NGrid will install an FCO M-250R2 out of the blue for some reason every now and then. out of that list i've only seen FCO 13s and 25s. and i've only seen three FCO 13s before...
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Yeah here drop lens lights weren't used until to the 80s. Narragansett Electric (NECo) and Massachusetts Electric (MECo) used the 100/175W MV M-250A2 FCOs. Blackstone Valley Electric (BVE) used the Thomas & Betts model 25s and a few 13s too in FCO. BVE was the first to start using HPS in bigger numbers. They used the M-400 split door and M-250R1 in the late 70s. NECo used the M-400 split door and ITT 25 for both 400W MV and 250W HPS, seemingly at the same time too. Now of course mainly just the HPS versions are left now. The same went for the M-250R1s, almost all of those were MV but in the 80s they installed some 100W HPS M-250R1s and ITT 13s.
From what I can tell (since I wasn't around in the early 90s), when the HPs changeout really took off, NECo was using GE M-250R2s for 50, 100W, and 250W HPS, Cooper OVCs for 50W HPS, Thomas & Betts 113s for 50W HPS, some 100W HPS, and some 100W MV, the M-400R2 for 400W HPS (I know of a few 400W MV ones too), the Thomas & Betts 125 for 250W HPS (i know of a couple of 400W MV ones too).
I think NGrid took over BVE after NECo and MECo, as they seemed to install medium sized 250W HPS fixtures, which has always been a no-no for NGrid.
In the BVE area, from what I've seen, at the start of the HPS takeover they used GE M-250R2 FCOs for 70, 100, and 250W HPS (note they didn't use 50W HPS like NECo and BVE, though NGrid today uses 50W). They also used M-400R2 FCOs for 250W and 400W HPS, which look like pancakes lol. later on in the mid 90s, M-400A2 drop lens lights were used. And sometimes between the mid 90s and the time that NGrid too over, drop lens M-250R2s were used in 70 and 100W (maybe some were 250W but i think most of not all at that time were M-400A2s). then after the M-400A2 got discontinued they used drop lens M-400A lights in 250W and kept using the drop lens M-250R2s. In Pawtucket there's all this variety but in other quieter towns there's pretty much all FCO M-250R2s. Pretty boring but that's really all they used in the smaller towns. Pawtucket is urban so i guess they figures "eh, what the heck" when they used a few drop lens lights there. The Mv changeout was also less thorough in Pawtucket than it was in their other cities and towns. Other places have barely any mercs at all but there's a good number of 100W mercs in Pawtucket. A bunch of them are on my grandparents' street.
The parent company of BVE used to run the Newport/Middletown area (Newport Electric Co) and there there are LOTS of mercs in 100, 175, and 400W. They apparently used HPS a litte in the 80s but returned to MV in the 90s. for HPS lights they have L-150s, M-250R2s that have metallic NEMA tags, Cooper OVS, and I think there are a few HPS OVCs too. All the HPS lights they used were 70W too. I've seen 90s M-250R2s and 113s in 100W MV too so they must have switched back. The only 125s I saw were 400W mercs too.
But now HPS is creeping in with NGrid. 250W M-250R2s mostly, though i saw a few strings of 50W HPs M-250R2s. The utilities under Western Utilities (which owned BVE and NE) seemed to use a lot of 100W mercs/70W HPS and not oo many 175W mercs/100W HPS whereas NECo used more of a mix of 100W MV/50W HPS and 175w MV/ 100W HPS. NECo also had more settled areas too whereas Pawtucket and Central Falls are the only two big cities BVE ran.
Wow... i guess i really typed and essay
Over here, drop lens lights were still installed as late as 2007 (and Toronto still installs them to this day) which was when they started using FCO lights. Some drop lens lights have snuck in as spot replacements and in signal installs though.
Richmond Hill probably went FCO in the 80s though, they have a lot of lights not normally seen in FCO, including AE 13, AE 25, OV-15, OV-25, R37, B2255, R47, Unidor 175.