N&W Pole Line Insulators and Suchline Things

[NW Mailing List]

Abe,
As always, I can't thank you enough for the insight. I'm not sure which
material I want to go with for the wiring. Your offer is much appreciated.
I chose the elastic thread in the hope it will reduce accidental damage to
the wire and poles caused by errant hands.

I would love to chat with you regarding how to correctly string the wire
when the time comes.

Mike Rector

On Fri, Aug 11, 2023 at 12:23 PM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
wrote:

> Von Rektor & Gutemann, LLC,
> Licensed  Prognosticators, Counselors and Soothsayers.,
> ... Et alia.
>
> Sirs:
>
> Why stop at laser printed insulators for your model railroad's pole line
> ?  Put a few strands of real wire on them !
>
> Let me send you some 33 or 34 gauge Copper magnet wire (which I use for
> re-winding the coils on telegraph instruments.)  That stuff is just a
> little larger than a coarse human hair.  You can ACC cement it to a few of
> your insulators and put some kind of operating electrical circuit over it.
> I have never tested wire of that size to its  destruction, but my telegraph
> coils regularly operate at 60 milliamperes (0.060 amps) and it should be
> good for at least 200 milliamperes (0.2 amps) and there a lot of things you
> could do with such a circuit (such as lighting a whole bunch of LED's.)
>
> Sincere offer.  Will gladly send you some.  I buy small gauge magnet wire
> in 5-pound rolls (about $60 per roll,) and the length of wire in 5 pounds
> is close to 6 miles.  The only thing that you must exercise care with is
> scraping off the Formvar insulation with a razor blade at points where a
> solder joint is required.  (That Formvar or Vinylec polyvinyl insulation
> was developed for insulating the windings in high voltage transformers, to
> replace the old varnish insulations which were used in the dark ages, and
> it is tough stuff with excellent dielectric properties.)
>
> Before I get banned for posting material not related to 2-8-8-2
> articulated Mallet locomotives, let me offer you something.  In the last
> decades of pole line, all the railroads (and telegraph companies, too) were
> using insulator styles called CD-154 and CD-155.  They were the only glass
> insulators left in production.   All pole line built or re-built had these
> insulators, including all (I think) VGN RR territory where the N&W
> installed Automatic Block Signaling and CTC.  They aren't very pretty
> pieces of glass, but the styles were ubiquitous. I put together a little
> paper on the CD-154 and CD-155 insulators and you may get it (and a few
> other papers I have written on the topic) here.... so don't say that a
> Scotsman never gave you anything for free !
>
>
> https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1q2omtLbcT6zXXOjxTgSS5joyOuBgr8mP?usp=drive_link
>
> Before the N&W had to rely on such late suppliers as  Whitall-Tatum, Kerr
> Glass and Armstrong for the ugly 154 and 155 style insulators, the
> railroad's choice was the Lynchburg insulator.  I have never seen a
> Lynchburg which did not exhibit an absolute clarity of the glass, and
> perfect molding... Lynchburgs are works of art;  The entire Clinch Valley
> Branch was done with Lynchburgs.  I will attach hereunto a photo of one of
> the Lynchburgs found at Daw, Va. in 2018.  Unfortunately Lynchburg Glass
> ceased production in 1925.  I do not recall whether their plant was located
> on the Old Line or the Belt Line at Lynchburg.  Lynchburg insulators are
> plentiful and can be had for five bucks or less at any insulator show, or
> Ebay has them at robber-baron prices plus exorbident postage charges.)
>
> One final piece of information for Y'all:  N&W also used porcelain
> insulators in some instances.  Porcelain was better for use on circuits
> carrying  a voltage higher than regular signal line voltage, due to its
> superior properties of hygroscopicity.  This has to do with the ability of
> the insulator's surface to shed water, at the microscopic level.  Anywhere
> there is moisture on an insulator there is a leakage path for the current
> to flow to ground.  Glass has poor hygroscopic properties, kiln-fired
> porcelain has far superior hygroscopic properties.  So:  (1)  Where the N&W
> hung 220v AC power on its pole line, brown porcelain insulators were used
> and Mr. Hensley tells me they were made bny a porcelain company in Kenova.
> (2) You will also see glazed white ceramic insulators on N&W pole line.
> These were used to mark the Train Dispatcher's telephone pair on the cross
> arms; on every other pole that circuit was identified with white
> insulators.  Their function on this type circuit was purely for
> identification, not for hygroscopic properties.   For reasons I can explain
> should anyone want them, white insulators were not used on the Train
> Dispatcher's circuit in telegraph days -- telephone train dispatching began
> to show up on the property about 1911-1912.
>
> Equal Opportunity Clause:  You will also find around the N&W some
> Hemingray  (Muncie, Indiana) insulators.  I never cared for Hemingrays and
> know nothing of them, other than that some people adore them for their blue
> color (which was a function of trace minerals in the sand Hemingray used.)
>
> Quod Erat Demonstrandum... I hope.
>
>  -- abram burnett
> Sour Mash Turnips Co., a Limited Liability Corporation
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