Trackside Power Lines.

[G Mack]

Greetings,

I'm sure everyone has seen the powerlines that run along the ROW of most railroads. Most of the ones I have seen are in poor shape with a few worn out looking lines tied to them or, in many cases, no lines at all. If you look closely at some of the poles, they can sometimes have as many as five or more spars with about twenty of the old translucent blue and green glass insulators on each of them. Some poles seemed capable of supporting fifty lines or more.

So,

Do all these lines belong to the railroad they are adjacent to?

What were they used for?

And, in areas where there are no track-side lines, how are the track-side signals powered, especially in remote places?

Have a good Memorial Day and remember the ones that it is dedicated to!

Gregory

    

    

[Poppa_Zit]

Depends on the RR, of course, but a lot of these were mostly telegraph lines -- used in a bygone era both for commercial purposes and railroad traffic control.

We see them here along the ROW of the old Chicago & Alton (later GMO, ICG, SP and now UP) along I-55 between Gardner, Illinois and St. Louis. We just made that drive last week and couldn't help but notice their disrepair. Many poles have rotted and toppled over and the dumpster divers have removed the insulators to sell at flea markets. But a lot of the copper wire is still intact. 

[Anonymous]

Greetings,

I'm sure everyone has seen the powerlines that run along the ROW of most railroads. Most of the ones I have seen are in poor shape with a few worn out looking lines tied to them or, in many cases, no lines at all. If you look closely at some of the poles, they can sometimes have as many as five or more spars with about twenty of the old translucent blue and green glass insulators on each of them. Some poles seemed capable of supporting fifty lines or more.

So,

Do all these lines belong to the railroad they are adjacent to?

What were they used for?

And, in areas where there are no track-side lines, how are the track-side signals powered, especially in remote places?

What you see are railroad-owned POLE LINES, combining communication lines, power lines (to power signaling systems), and signal circuit lines.  Historically there were often Western Union telegraph lines leasing space on the railroad pole line (and in some cases entire Western Union pole lines leasing space on the railroad right of way) but those are long gone.

Communications lines are almost completely gone -- the wire may still be there in some cases but out of service; most communications lines have been removed.  Railroads built their own communications lines because Bellco service was either not available except at major railroad terminals, too expensive, or too unreliable.  Communication lines carried both telegraph and telephone; telegraph largely disappeared from use by WWII.

Signal circuits are still in use in many locations, both as ABS and less often now as coded CTC circuits.  Coded circuits are being replaced either by through-the-rail circuits or HD Linkers (radio), or both, depending on where one is.  Often the codes are transmitted through the rails or via HD Linkers but the ABS still uses a pair of wires.  Modern signal systems are 100% through the rail and HD Linker.

Power lines are the most prevalent remaining use of the pole line, because to replace it either requires a new commercial power service, either overhead or direct burial, or solar panels.  Solar panels become cheaper than commercial overhead service on initial cost if the distance to the signal is more than approximately one mile from the nearest existing commerical utility line, but solar panels are high-maintenance items due to vandalism, theft, abrasion from wind-blown grit, and to clean off the dirt that collects on them.  Many Class Is that have used solar in the recent years have decided it's not worth the trouble.  Not much power is required; about 1-2 amps at 110V is sufficient to keep the batteries charged. 

You asked if signals can get power any other way. Historically there were a LOT of signal systems that ran entirely on battery especially in the Far West on the railroads that built signal systems in the first 15 years of the 20th century (UP, SP, Santa Fe), and the signal maintainers spent much of their time charging batteries.  Signal systems installed by the 1930s almost always included a pole line carrying power circuits.  I am not aware of any signal systems that still run solely on battery though there are sometimes temporary one-location exceptions.

Railroads are budgeting significant sums to retire their remaining pole lines; CPR, for instance, says it is six years away from eliminating its remaining lines.  This is not cheap because in most cases it includes a complete replacement of the signaling hardware, e.g., installing MicroTrax or VHLC microprocessor-driven signal equipment in place of the old relay equipment.  It can be done with HD Linkers but once one is in the instrument shelter, one might as well do the whole thing and do it right. Pole lines are high maintenance and signal circuit failures from broken lines are a frequent cause of delays to trains, which makes the C&S Department unpopular in the morning conference call.  A broken power line is not an immediate problem because there's enough battery at a signal location to operate it for 72-96 hours, but a broken signal line generally results in either a red signal or an aspect downgrade (R to FY, or FY to Y, for example) because signal systems are designed on fail-safe principles.

S. Hadid 

[Modelcar]

 

.....And all those glass insulators seem to be collectors items.  Isn't there something about that glass that has a lot of lead in it and hence a no, no to handle all the time.....?

[solzrules]

 

.....And all those glass insulators seem to be collectors items.  Isn't there something about that glass that has a lot of lead in it and hence a no, no to handle all the time.....?

Just don't lick them.....

 

[Anonymous]

 

.....And all those glass insulators seem to be collectors items.  Isn't there something about that glass that has a lot of lead in it and hence a no, no to handle all the time.....?

No, they don't have lead in them, not the common insulators that were made by the billions for railroad use.  Or any insulator I've ever heard of; you're thinking of lead crystal for fancy glassware which is very expensive and thus not likely to be appearing the cheap, crummy glass cullet that insulator manufactors used.   Collectable value of insulators is a factor of RARITY, and 99.9999999% of railroad insulators are not rare.  The insulators with values in the $1000-plus range are ones with fewer than a few hundred or so in existence.  The Hemingray 42s (the common aqua or clear insulator one sees on railroad pole lines) have absolutely no cash value at all, which hardly stops antique dealers from slapping $10 price tags on ones that are cracked or chipped.  The only one I've ever picked up on the right of way that has any value is a Hemingray manufactured only in 1870-71; it's worth about $125 in perfect condition and mine is pretty beat up after being windblasted by grit and kicked by cows on the Wyoming desert for 135 years.  But it has nice sentimental value.

S. Hadid 

[G Mack]

Hello,

Thanks for the replies, as usual, some very good information.

When I was a child, I collected a few of the glass insulators and made them into candle holders. As S. Hadid said, they weren't of any value as far as a collectors item, much to my disappointment.

I took a trip on the Empire Builder back in March. Along the ROW I saw piles of these poles where they had been cut down. What was interesting was that they were not stacked on railroad property but over the fence line on what appeared to be private land.

Thank you again, especially Mr. Hadid, for the info.

Gregory