Telegraph poles and their colour

[malmberget]

Hi

I'm putting together a small layout set in the 1930s running PRR. The qustion I'm asking myself is what colour to have on the poles by the track. In the village I grew up (in Sweden)we had telephone poles that were a matte brown from the top till about 3/4 down where it gradually got blacker and blacker. I don't know whether the black came from tar or creosote but I imagine it was put there to protect the pole from rot.

The question I would like to have help with is if it was the same in the US and whether these poles where entirely brown or black when new?

Thanks

/Peter

[dknelson]

The answer is an unhelpful "it depends."    Really old poles tend to be an almost silvery gray like driftwood. 

 

Now poles tend to be pressure treated.  I recall when new poles looked brown (with a hint of reddish brown) on top but darker near the bottom (with a clearly defined line between the two shades) where I assume they apply an extra coating of creosote.   

 

As the poles age it seems the darker part at the bottom stays dark while the upper part gets more and more gray.

The Wikipedia entry is helpful and has photos that I have used here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telephone_pole

Finally in the grand tradition of the hobby you can always take steps to just fudge the whole issue!

 

Dave Nelson

 

 

[orsonroy]

Dave's answer is right on target...for modern modelers. In the 1930s (the steam era) the EPA wasn't around, and the use of creosote was widespread. The base color for all wood on a line pole would have been "creosote brown", which is a little darker than straight Burnt Umber (I like to use Polly Scale's oily black).

Yes, poles would have weathered to a silvery gray once exposed to the elements for a few years, but there was one other major coloring agent in play that we tend to forget about: coal soot. Imagine a pole sitting next to a mainline for 20 years, being passed by 10 steam engines a day, every day. After a few years of that the primary color of the poles turned into a gritty black.

 

[malmberget]

Thank you dknelson and orsonroy for your replies. They were very helpful. It seems that the treatment of telegraph/telephone poles didn't vary so much between Sweden and the USA. I hadn't thought about how the smoke from the engine would affect the poles; interesting.

 

Thanks again

/Peter