Telegraph poles

[Big_Boy_4005]

All of this talk has prompted me to go and look at my collection more closely. Here is a photo of some of the variety In my collection. I have more commons. There are some interesting shapes here, a few plastics, a couple of hard rubber, and some hardware and pegs.

Any comments about the items in the photo are welcomed. I really don't know a whole lot about these, I just think they are cool.

[richardy]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Rustyrex

Here's a question I was wondering a few days ago before I saw this thread, did certain railroad have a standard for which their Telegraph poles were designed? For Example, you could almost always tell pre 1980 UP right-of-way by the lineside poles with one short crossarm and one, two or three long ones. They still exist on original UP in areas to this day. I understand that railroads had as many crossarms to facilitate the number of communication wires, quite a few in the cities, but was wondering if there was a reason for certain distinct looking designs?

--Rusty

The short crossarm at the top of the UP poles supports the wires for the AC utility power for the lineside equipment. It is high and separated from the other wires because it is a high voltage distribution system. Notice each place the railroad needs power there is a small voltage drop transformer mounted on the pole. This method is used to overcome the unacceptable voltage drop, if using a 120 or 240 volt system, caused by the vast distance to a commercial utility connection.

I have not been to that part of the west in many years. Probably as the commercial utility network expands there will be less use of high voltage distribution by the railroad itself.

[Modelcar]

....Good display of pcs....and good photo of them B B...and O S, will take a look at your site a bit later must run...Enjoyed all the comments just above....I'm sure it is an interesting collection item. Just talking about them brings back memories in the 40's and even back in the 30's.

[Big_Boy_4005]

Thanks Modelcar. After looking at the link OS posted, I went and took a more careful look at what I had. I didn't realize that I had as many different Hemingrays as I do.

In the front row from left to right, they are as follows: 9, 12, 16, 17, 40, 42, 45, and 59. The information in the linked site says that the 40 is the early version of the 42. The 40 was discontinued in 1921. The site made no mention of the 59. I have a bunch of 42's and 45's.

The back row is probably nothing special, but compared to the glass Hemingrays, they seem unusual. The large black one has no markings on it at all, and is made of a hard plastic, and is a close replica of the glass 42. The small one is rubber, and well marked. Made by Continental Rubberworks for Western Union. The next one is made of clear plastic, and is very light. HK Porter Co., Inc 106932. Finally the two ceramics. Neither has any markings. The larger, which is in pretty good condition, seems to be the newer of the two, judging by the condition of the glaze.

Click on the photo to enlarge.

[Anonymous]

Nice collection!

[Modelcar]

O S: That website on the Hemingray 42 is neat....Clearly, what was the predominate design in the area I discribed in my discussions above....They are a neat looking item....Straight forward in design...for the job. I remember they were a good fit on the threads onto the wooden peg on the crossarm.

[Anonymous]

If anybody has any questions about any type of glass insulators, feel free to e-mail me at [e-mail] I have been collecting/researching them for many years now. If by any chance I don't know the answer, I would have no problem finding it.

[dldance]

"Effective January 27, 2006, Western Union will discontinue all Telegram and Commercial Messaging services. We regret any inconvenience this may cause you, and we thank you for your loyal patronage. If you have any questions or concerns, please contact a customer service representative."

dd