Automation

When did Automation really start

Automation of lighthouses began in Scotland as early as 1894, when Oxcars in the middle of the River Forth, just off Granton, had its two lightkeepers withdrawn. The light was operated using gas delivered weekly from Granton Gasworks and controlled by a clockwork timer to turn the light as required. An attending boatman delivered the gas from Granton and wound up the timer during a weekly visit.

Automation During 1960-1980

The impetus for automating lighthouses in this period came as a result of the high costs in manning in excess of 90 Lighthouses. It should be noted that over 100 Minor Lights also existed that were unmanned from build but these were small structures, usually less than 7 metres high, that had light ranges of less than14 Miles.

Gas operated lights were installed to Automate manned Lighthouses from 1960 to 1980. The gas pressure was used to power a mantle giving a very bright light. The gas pressure was also used to rotate a lens around the gas mantle at the focal point of the lens. Such equipment was able to provide the 18 Mile plus ranges of Major Lights.

This was the first major phase of automation of lighthouses in Scotland and involved approximately 25 stations.

It is possible that more installations would have been automated much earlier had there not been Fog Signals and Radio Beacons present at many locations.

Final Automation - the end of an era

With advances in technology, the provision of automatic fog signals and reliable offshore power supplies operating to better than the International Association of Lighthouse Authorities (IALA) standard became possible and the automation of the remaining 65 Major Lighthouses took place from 1980 until completion in 1998, when Fair Isle South became NLB's last manned Lighthouse. During this final era of automation, the development of monitor systems enabled all Major Lights to be supervised from NLB Edinburgh using radio and telephone.

Solar power also became an option during this period but was not extensively used as lamp technology had not yet yielded the benefits which are now available. All of the previously automated gas lights have now been solarised.