So last year they replaced a 60s GE M400 with an AEL ATB2. And recently I was driving down a street that used to be a goldmine for those American Electric 15000 MV cobras from the early 60s. I discovered they have all three been replaced with AEL ATB0, apparently recently. Very sad. That means as far as I know there are no American Electric 15000 left here. Though they did still leave the Westinghouse OV-25 MV that's there for some reason.

However the odd thing is, none of the HPS streetlights have been replaced. So I'm thinking my town is going and specifically replacing any MV fixtures they find with LED, but not the HPS ones. I had also noticed last year that a Westinghouse Viscount MV had been changed out for an ATB0.

That's too bad. There were a few 175w mercury vapor ITT 13's left in my town and I was not happy when they disappeared. Did it make you angry that those 15-000 are gone like I was about the ITT 13's? I wish I had been more proactive maybe I could have saved them. Those 13's are the only mercury vapor cobraheads I can recall ever seeing in my hometown. There were probably other makes and models at some point.

Maybe 15-000 is not gone maybe that other guy who lives there got them. I saw he said that he worked for the power company and had an in with the guys there. Maybe he got them.

Well, I wasn't as angry as I was sad. I mean this has to be one of the oldest surviving MV installations remaining in the country, and it was all gone at once! I think what made me angry was realizing whoever changed them out had no idea how old or rare they probably were or that people actually have an affection for them.

I'm not aware of any collectors around here, unless you're talking about that guy that lives in Ohio. I doubt he got these. I guess I can blame myself for not trying harder, but I had no luck getting anything from GEC and they're a hometown type company, so I really doubt I'd have gotten anywhere with Duke. If by a 1 in a million chance I had just happened to be passing by when they were taking them down and asked the person, even then they probably would've said it's against policy.

I wish there was some way to gain a collective effort to partner with utility companies at a grassroots level and make them realize that groups want to preserve these rare things and will pay more than scrap value.

There are still two Westinghouse OV-25 remaining here and maybe a few AE/ITT Series 25, that's it for MV cobraheads. There's two GE M400 and a GE M250R1 but they don't work anymore. Actually there are still be some MV GE M250R2 in one neighborhood. And still a few AEL NEMA's left and maybe a GE 101SA or two for MV bucket lights.

I guess overall I'm fairly lucky there are still MV lights on public roadways here at all. All the other towns around me are all HPS or upgraded to LED.

Oh I thought that Stamp Hill guy lived in Sebring. He's in the street light enthusiasts Facebook group.

Really? I've never heard of him, but I'm not on any Facebook groups. You're the only collector I know of in this area, I'm not aware of anybody else that likes them, I'll have to check that out!! I thought you were talking about Memorex Telex in OH. He had interest in them but I don't think he'd come way down to FL...

Yeah his name is Hagen Stamp Hill I think and he said he lives in Sebring and works for the power company if I am correct. He was going to make some contacts and see about getting them. There's a lot I think you're missing out on by not being in the American Street Light Enthusiasts Facebook page. Lots of discussion there. I prefer to use a site like Lighting-Gallery or Gallery Of Lights. However I like the way discussions work on there due to the convenience of using the app on your phone and notifications.

I'll have to check that out then. Do you know if he has a collection? I'm really surprised anybody cares about those or paid any attention to them.

I'm not sure if he has a collection I've only seen comments from him a few times. Are you on Facebook?

Yeah I am but I don't use it much though.

Might be worth joining to at least give the group a try. Lots of networking opportunities to get ahold of luminaires there.

I joined. I didn't see anymore about if he got these. He seems to collect mostly insulators but has a few HPS cobras, newer ones.

Yeah I saw you joined. I think he works for the power company there.

Yeah he posted on there some today but hasn't mentioned anything about it. I'm just going to assume he was able to get them saved, because it seems unusual that they would have replaced those 3 AE's and left the Westy and all the HPS ones. I don't want any of them, but I just wanted to know what happened. Maybe he just doesn't want people asking for lights so is staying quiet. And that's fine too I guess.