A Pole at Tin Bridge on the Saltbville Branch, Six Decades Ago

[NW Mailing List]

Abram,
Do you have any advice regarding line pole wire color?
Sometimes it appeared to be light gray in photos, but who knows - that
could just be bright light on black.
The EZ Line I bought is black, but I can quite easily with an airbrush give
it hints of gray if that is appropriate? Or even light green, if there was
exposed copper anywhere?

Mike Rector

On Sat, Sep 23, 2023 at 9:55 AM NW Mailing List <nw-mailing-list at nwhs.org>
wrote:

> With an old Illinois Central RR Telegrapher out in the West, I have been
> discussing railroad pole line wire practices, circuit assignments, and how
> "drop wires" (from the pole) were passed through the station walls and
> attached to the local equipment.
>
> It strikes me that something I sent him yesterday may be of interest to
> the N&W Listers. It concerns three photographs taken in 1964 at Tin Bridge
> on the Saltville Branch. (And my thanks to List-member and Saltville native
> Capt. Gary Price for ID'ing the location for me several years ago.) That
> piece of correspondence trails and I will attach the photos to this List
> post.  (I always put details in my file names, so check there if you want
> date, direction &c,)
>
>       -- abram burnett
> Our Turnips are Bottled-in-Bond
>
> >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
>
> Here are three photos I took from a caboose on the N&W Saltville Branch in
> 1964.
>
> Recently I asked the 1957-hire Opr/DS, Tommy Duncan, why there were three
> wire pairs on the pole line between Glade Spring and Saltville. One pair
> was obviously for the Traim Dispatcher's Wire and the other was obviously
> the Msg Wire, but what was the third pair for?
>
> Tommy never batted an eye. He said the third pair was a telegraph line
> looped off the Main Line WU wire at Glade Spring, down to Saltville and
> back, because the truly massive Olin Matheson Alkali Works there did a huge
> telegraph business. Who else would have known a detail like that besides
> Tommy?  He and one other are the last of the old time Radford Division
> Operators.
>
> If you want to see all my Glade Spring/Saltville photos taken almost 60
> years ago, go here:
>
>
> https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1B3o5jOxMT_MH2HDMbvFGWMHbiDQF-1Tu?usp=sharing
>
>    -- 73 SW &
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