50s telephone poles - Model Railroader Magazine

jerryl

 Need pictures of 50s era telephone poles. I was around at that time , but really wasn't interested then.  Seems they only had 1 cross arm with 3 power lines & 1 telephone line.  does that seem right? thanks

It's not that simple, and it never was that simple.

First, are you aking about poles alone streets that supply power and phone lines to homes and businses? If so the term is Utility Pole - as it carries more than just telephone wires and usually belongs to the power company, not the phone company.

The kind and number of wires depends on a lot of factors - but, pole line practices have not changed much in 60-70 years, at least not in ways that can be observed by the casual viewer.

If you remember poles with less on them then you see today, its only because you now live in a more populous area, requiring more utilities than less populated areas.

But typically - at the top is high voltage, anywhere from 4,160 volts to 13,200 volts, usually 3-4 wires, depending on where you are and what era you are talking about.

Then the next lower wires, which could be wires twisted around a a steel messenger or 3-4 wires on seperate insulators, maybe on a cross arms, or right on the side of the pole, is a lower voltage, which comes into your house. This is typically 120/240 volt, single phase (3 wires total), but may be different in business districts. The power comes from the transformers mounted on the poles at regular intervals has you move along the pole line. Each transformer or group of transformers feeds a small number of homes or businesses. These transformers get their power from the high voltage line at the top.

Then, below that, usually attached directly to the pole with no cross arms, are any telephone and/or cable company wires. Usually larger looking and having large splice covers every so often.

In more populated areas, there will often be more high voltage wires at the top, some of which are thru feeders to other areas of the grid.

Phone companies and power companies do not always share utility poles. In one area they may be shared and right down the street you may fine power on one side of the road and seperate poles on the other side with just phone wires.

This just begins to explain the basics of pole lines. to completely understand all the possiblities you would need to learn more about how power gets to your house fro mthe power company, and how phone system networks are configured.

Pole lines along railroad tracks are railroad equipment. They carry phone and sometimes signal system lines and will have wires and cross arms dependent on the needs of the particular system. could be a lot, could just be a few.

Sheldon