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Old 27th Jan 2014, 12:40 am   #1
echelon
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Default Telegraph poles: historical data?

Does anyone on this excellent forum have awareness of any website with indexed pictures and technical details of telegraph/telephone poles?

I am thinking in particular of UK historical types, from their inception right up to the present day. Details regarding North American poles would also be interesting for comparison. As well as land-located examples, I'd be interested in seeing railway installations for signalling as well as telecoms purposes, from steam to present day.

I'm also looking to learn more about the differing historical types of insulators, metalwork, foot-stands, multiple cross-spars, wood dimensions etc.

Does such an information resource exist? Or do I detect 'number unobtainable'?
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Old 27th Jan 2014, 2:43 am   #2
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

Perhaps try:

http://www.myinsulators.com/ukinsulators/pole.htm

and:

http://www.myinsulators.com/ukinsulators/index.htm

There is a wealth of literature on railway signalling, particularly British. Most books almost unavoidably provide good photographic coverage of the various poles, etc., used, with telecom lines often in view. Some provide more detail about the structures themselves, but that is not usually a primary topic.

It is not inconceivable that someone, somewhere has written a book about overhead telephone lines and their equipment. For example, I recently acquired a nice book about the history of the New Zealand National Grid, probably a topic with a very small potential constituency of interest.

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Old 27th Jan 2014, 11:15 am   #3
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

Atkinson's "Telephony", Vol. 1, has about 80 pages on The Construction Of Aerial Lines. (Actual details will depend on edition.)
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Old 27th Jan 2014, 11:38 am   #4
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

Hi,
Try http://www.telegraphpoleappreciationsociety.org/
British eccentricity rules!

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Old 27th Jan 2014, 1:38 pm   #5
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

Teleramics is a good site for insulators, and I have a (very) modest collection of insulators myself, here.
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Old 27th Jan 2014, 4:47 pm   #6
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

There is a large collection of insulators held in the BT Connected Earth exhibit at Amberley museum in West Sussex.

http://www.connected-earth.com/Partn...ntre/index.htm

Edward

Last edited by Brased; 27th Jan 2014 at 4:52 pm. Reason: addition of web link
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Old 27th Jan 2014, 6:19 pm   #7
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

All I know is that two were scarfed together for greater height during WWII to provide supports for the rhombic aerials used for radio intercepts by Bletchley Park outstations.
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Old 27th Jan 2014, 6:33 pm   #8
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

At least you may see some pictures from Norway here, end we did not invent the telephone line

What actually are of extreme interst are the way of relvolving (twisting) the pairs after well documented (at least in Norwegian) schemes.

The twisting reduced the noise and over-hearing (??) considerably.

dsk

http://www.digitaltmuseum.no/things/...count=45&pos=5

http://www.telemuseum.no/joomla/inde...557&Itemid=137

http://www.ostlendingen.no/nyheter/t...ares-1.7233888

http://www.telemuseum.no/joomla/inde...848&Itemid=137
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Old 27th Jan 2014, 6:33 pm   #9
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

interesting stuff. though i never really thought about it until now.
the GPO aka the british post office would have been the ancestor of the irish GPO irish post office later to become telecom eireann and later still to become eircom (sorry about the capitals.)
insulators then would be relatively common to both sides of the irish sea.basically there were roughly 3 types single groove double groove and screw on cover type. the single groove where a wire would be passing through and tied to the insulator or terminated at that point.
double groove sharp change of direction , connection point to next span ( 50m) both wires terminated and a post office splice between them. the one with the cap generally a connection between a hard drawn wire and a lower guage feed into a building . the wires soldered under the cap and the recess filled with melted wax. regards pierce
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Old 27th Jan 2014, 9:21 pm   #10
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

Quote:
Originally Posted by space charge View Post
'...the wires soldered under the cap and the recess filled with melted wax.'
This may be so, but the No:16 pot-heads I have seen have a brass connector block under the cap rather than a soldered joint, then wax-filled. The ones with the taller caps have fuses fitted in them.
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Old 27th Jan 2014, 10:15 pm   #11
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

hi russell thats very interesting. i never encountered those connectors or fuses in the pothead. my lineman career was rather short 15 months. i was then deployed to exchange duty. regards pierce.
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Old 27th Jan 2014, 10:49 pm   #12
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

I liberated, last week - with permission - an LMS single-groove white porcelain pot-head with a black bitumen screw cap, wire still attached. I shall open it up at some point.

I'm all excited now!
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Old 27th Jan 2014, 11:55 pm   #13
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

Hmmm... Bit of a let-down there. The down-lead was bound and twisted round the incoming cotton-covered copper line, and soldered to it! Nothing inside the cap at all.
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Old 28th Jan 2014, 11:14 am   #14
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

I spotted a couple of wooden poles with turned finials and bare-wire fittings (now disused) the other day. Must have been a better class of tree.

Last edited by AC/HL; 28th Jan 2014 at 1:02 pm. Reason: Off topic aside removed
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Old 28th Jan 2014, 1:45 pm   #15
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Brigham View Post
'I spotted a couple of wooden poles with turned finials and bare-wire fittings (now disused) the other day...'
Power or telecomms? Overhead Rural Distribution electricity poles round our way still have ornate finials on them in places, as they did in the 1930s and '40s not long after they were erected (like this one at Kirkbride, Cumberland). They're gradually being replaced by a rolling network upgrade.

I've never seen such a finial on a telecomms. pole, but have seen them capped with a folded piece of tin, with or without a single Cordeaux insulator atop. That, or a flat circular cap.
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Old 28th Jan 2014, 2:11 pm   #16
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

GPO domestic telephone service. They often had turned finials when I was a lad. I used to wonder how big the lathe was to turn them!
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Old 28th Jan 2014, 4:35 pm   #17
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

One piece of trivia I remember reading which may interest the OP. On the railways, all the cross-bars on the telegraph poles were on the side facing London.
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Old 28th Jan 2014, 4:46 pm   #18
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

For any poleophiles watching, here's an example of one of several poles still extant along the track of the long-defunct Midland and South Western Junction Railway near Grafton, Wilts.

Alas the associated insulators and wires have long since departed.
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Old 28th Jan 2014, 5:04 pm   #19
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

Here's the remains of a couple - extant, certainly, ten years ago - on the Midland Railway (Settle and Carlisle) near Long Meg sidings. The red insulator(s) on pic I were on the ends of the longest cross-arms and carried mains power to remote signalling equipment rather than signal and telegraph circuits.

Pic II shows a right-angle crossing over the line.
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Old 29th Jan 2014, 11:12 am   #20
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Default Re: Telegraph poles: historical data?

looking at g6tanukis pole though the wires are gone the hardware on the pole
ie commonly called cowhorns but really have a number which i cant remember at present. when a number of spans (32 to the mile) run side by side to avoid interference and imbalance the wires are transposed ( crossed) very like old radio radio receiver lead ins. this pole appears to be a transposition pole.as well a crossing pairs the position of the pair changed on the pole in a sort of corkscrew variation.very much like a multicore cable has individual twisted pairs and the whole is also twisted.
pierce ei7ka
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