Weekend Update 12/16/18

[Curtis Kyger]

I should state the 10 poles to the quarter mile is a UP standard using Class 3 poles.  Perhaps other RRs using smaller diameter Class 5 poles would have them spaced more closely.

[Curtis Kyger]

Okay, now you got me started....
Communication poles are Roofed, Gained and Bored.
The "roofing" of a pole is the cutting of the top at an angle to shed moisture.
"Gaining" is making a flat surface on one side of the pole.  This is the side upon which the crossarms are attached.  Think of it as helping the crossarms resist being rotated around the pole. The gain is only near the top end of the pole in the range where crossarms could be attached.  Typically we would gain and bore poles to allow up to 8 crossarms even though in modern times many fewer would ever be applied.
"Boring" is drilling all the way through the pole for the bolts attaching the crossarms.

The orientation of the gained side of the poles alternate with each pole placed along the railroad.  Therefore as you drive alongside the railroad, you should see the roofed direction alternating also.   

Poles used only for yard lighting are ordered Roofed Only.

[Cajonpassfan]

Well, dang, see what I mean? TRW rocks! Thanks Curtis!
To which I would add, that during the steam era, where speedometers were rare and engineers literally measured speed by the seat of their pants, counting poles and a stopwatch was the only "scientific" way to measure speed. Ten poles in 30 seconds = 30 mph. Twenty poles in 30/ ten in 15 = 60 mph... at least out here in the West.
How the world has changed...
Otto K.

[Mark W]

My gosh, we have a "Best Of" Weekend Update brewing right here!

Aside from modeling the insulator shape for the 3D Print, the alternating arm side is the only other thing I knew about line side poles before yesterday. 

I forgot:  MarkW's way cool and beautifully painted Santa and Sleigh showed up...but the sleigh needed some work before being deemed "flight worthy".  Luckily the Nelson shops are nearly complete and the sleigh made a fitting first customer!



9 days to go!

md

OOOo, I love it!   But, I don't think an old Fairbanks-Morse diesel will make a sleigh fly as well as a bunch of magic reindeer...   

[nkalanaga]

The UP line through Wallula Gap south of the Tri-Cities, in the 60s and 70s, had another detail on the poles.  Besides being 10/mile, the "quarter mile" poles had white stripes painted around them, below the crossarms.  I don't remember anything at the milepost location, just the number, on a board, on the pole.  Quarter mile had one stripe, half had two, three quarters had three, then the next milepost.

[DKS]

OOOo, I love it!   But, I don't think an old Fairbanks-Morse diesel will make a sleigh fly as well as a bunch of magic reindeer...   

No, but it will sound a lot cooler...

[robert3985]

The UP line through Wallula Gap south of the Tri-Cities, in the 60s and 70s, had another detail on the poles.  Besides being 10/mile, the "quarter mile" poles had white stripes painted around them, below the crossarms.  I don't remember anything at the milepost location, just the number, on a board, on the pole.  Quarter mile had one stripe, half had two, three quarters had three, then the next milepost.

I remember Wallula Gap well since I grew up in the 50's and 60's in Kennewick.  Shot my first rattlesnake there at a place called "Hover"  (pronounced "hoe-ver") near the U.P. mainline whilst hunting jacks with my M-1 carbine.  Oh, and we did fry it up and eat it later in the day!  YUM!

At that time, I wasn't into model railroading so I don't remember the white stripes on the utility poles, BUT...I do remember them in Weber and Echo Canyons when doing my research on the area and building my 12' long version of Wilhemina Canyon, Ideal Concrete Siding and Spur, and the Devils Slide Station.  I never knew what they were for, but guessed they had some function as you have described, so I included them in my scenes because they were there on the real utility poles...not because I knew what they meant!

Photo (1) - The Thousand Mile Tree Monument in Wilhemina Canyon between Weber and Echo Canyons, just east of Devils Slide on the U.P. double-tracked mainline.  Scratch-built utility poles before my cat ate them one night:


I don't have any historical information as to when they started painting the poles with the mileage stripes...but I found this...

Photo (2) - 3700 Class Challenger helper running light westbound at Petersen, and a utility pole with three stripes painted on it to the far right!  GREAT! 


As for the last few years, they are still on the mainline in Weber and Echo Canyons, but they're not painted any longer, but the "stripes" are wrappings of reflective material.

Photo (3) - Mile #954 pole with four "stripes" and a mileage placard at Echo Yard (or what's left of it) a couple of years ago:


I'm happy I'll be able to include this detail on my 1947 through 1956 era U.P. layout!

Dave, notice the top two insulators are different. Ceramic vs. glass for one thing, and they have the slot to accommodate top mounting as well as side mounting. These wires are power distribution. Being on the top arm (and spaced higher as Bob mentioned) is was a somewhat standardized method of putting high voltage wires out of the way of the signal lines to reduce the possibility of accidental contact during maintenance.

Dave @davefoxx , the next photo is for you...

Photo (4) - Lots of interesting details here including power lines attached to their insulators as Dave suggested up top.  Also note the potpourri of different styles of insulators being used on a single crossarm!


Evidently, U.P. didn't give a rat's rear about what the insulators looked like, just that they functioned properly.  Also, back when they were first installed and maybe for several years or decades afterwards, it could be that the colors and styles were more standardized, but after 60 or 70 years, the "potpourri" is what it looks like today, and would be an interesting modeling challenge.  I keep having to remember that this mainline in Echo was first laid in 1868 or '67, and telegraph poles were put up just as quickly as trains were running.  My green-glass insulator I found on the abandoned U.P. mainline near Locomotive Springs out in the desert just south of Idaho, has a patent date on it of 1893...sooo...my estimation of 60 to 70 years in place may be too conservative.

Merry Christmas!
Bob Gilmore

[robert3985]

Well, to each his own.  For those that decide it's worth the visual reward to string wires, it's great to know how to do them correctly.

EDIT:  Hey, @robert3985 , any chance you'd want to do a tutorial thread on proper line pole modeling?  I can cut this out of the Weekend Update into another thread so it doesn't get lost, but I think it merits a how-to thread.  I'm guessing you have even more info and modeling examples you could share.

@Dave V , I'd be happy to share with TRW what I have.  I've been researching the subject for decades since the poles are so prominent alongside the U.P. where I'm modeling it.  Gotta say that my info is very U.P.-centric however, but I assume there'll be techniques and resources that will apply to other modelers' preferences.

AND, most of my modeling examples I wouldn't consider successes...particularly in the glass insulator department.  However, looks like technology is gifting me with a fairly easy way to create proper ROW utility poles in N-scale finally without having to win Powerball as Mark W's backlit photo so spectacularly illustrates!

Message me with details...

Cheerio!
Bob Gilmore

[Chris333]

Here is an old Erie pole that someone cut down for the copper.

[DKS]

Here is an old Erie pole that someone cut down for the copper.

I'm just guessing here, but it looks as though that row of insulators mounted on the pole near the top are spares to replace any broken ones on the crossarms. Fascinating little detail...

[Chris333]

I'm just guessing here, but it looks as though that row of insulators mounted on the pole near the top are spares to replace any broken ones on the crossarms. Fascinating little detail...

Nope I just stacked them there before stuffing them in my pockets.  They are out in the garage now:

[Chris333]

BTW that cut down pole is one of these in the center here:


https://www.google.com/maps/@41.1898378,-80.7719167,34a,35y,270h,39.46t/data=!3m1!1e3

[DKS]

Nope I just stacked them there before stuffing them in my pockets.

Brat!

BTW that cut down pole is one of these in the center here:

Of course. In a former life, you were the Erie!

 

[Philip H]

So, who is going to pull all the line pole thread parts together in either a single thread or PDF which gets pinned to the Best Of tab?

[DKS]

So, who is going to pull all the line pole thread parts together in either a single thread or PDF which gets pinned to the Best Of tab?

I think it would be easier to start a new one--I'm sure it will acquire even more value that way, once folks catch on.