Modelling telegraph insulators

[Jeff Young]

All this talk about glass works (and the fascinating articles from Crown Jewels of the Wire) got me to realizing that my telegraph pole insulators (cast in metal as part of the cross-arms) don't look remotely like glass.

I have some glass beads I use on lightning rods, but they're going to be too big (and the wrong shape) for telegraph insulators.

Anyone else come up with a good solution?  Even if I could find more correctly shaped beads, they're going to be beyond tiny in HO scale.

(Which got me to thinking: what if one 3D-printed a telegraph pole cross-arm, complete with insulators, in that sort of translucent plastic Shapeways has.  You could then paint the rest of the cross-arm and perhaps end up with somewhat-glassy-looking insulators?)

Thoughts?

Cheers,
Jeff.

[Todd A Ferguson]

Jeff,

I was thinking either Tichy or Grandt made insulators. Might want to check their web sites.  3D printing might work if you can get the resolution and detail level you are desiring.  

Best,
Todd Ferguson
Harrisburg, NC

[Jeff Young]

Hi Todd,

Yes, Tichy make some, but they’re the hanging high-tension type, not the stand-up telegraph/telephone type.  (And they’re grey styrene, so they’d have the same opacity problem that my cast metal ones do.)

Cheers,
Jeff.

[South Park]

  Jeff, you point out why I find it easier just to model in 12"/1' scale !!!

[Jeff Young]

> Jeff, you point out why I find it easier just to model in 12"/1' scale !!!

He he… yeah, I did a bit of that over the summer in Como, but it’s a bit harder to bring that back to Ireland with me. ;)

Cheers,
Jeff.

[Todd A Ferguson]

Jeff,

Here are some nice ones in O scale.  Perhaps he could scale them to HO or slightly larger... Might be worth asking...

http://micromimesis.com/products/o-scale-insulators/

Best,

Todd Ferguson

Harrisburg, NC

Sent from my Wacked and Cracked iPad III, OUCH!!!

On Jan 5, 2016, at 10:45 AM, Jeff Young [via C&Sn3 Discussion Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Hi Todd,

Yes, Tichy make some, but they’re the hanging high-tension type, not the stand-up telegraph/telephone type.  (And they’re grey styrene, so they’d have the same opacity problem that my cast metal ones do.)

Cheers,
Jeff.

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NAML

[Jeff Young]

Perfect.  All the Shapeways stuff is produced with 3D models, so hopefully scaling is straight-forward.

Cheers,

Jeff.

On 5 Jan 2016, at 16:41, Todd A Ferguson [via C&Sn3 Discussion Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Jeff,

Here are some nice ones in O scale.  Perhaps he could scale them to HO or slightly larger... Might be worth asking...

http://micromimesis.com/products/o-scale-insulators/

Best,

Todd Ferguson

Harrisburg, NC

[Todd A Ferguson]

Jeff,

Scaling should be straight forward...just have to end up within Shapeways parameters for printing...

Best,

Todd Ferguson

Harrisburg, NC

Sent from my Wacked and Cracked iPad III, OUCH!!!

On Jan 5, 2016, at 12:24 PM, Jeff Young [via C&Sn3 Discussion Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Perfect.  All the Shapeways stuff is produced with 3D models, so hopefully scaling is straight-forward.

Cheers,

Jeff.

On 5 Jan 2016, at 16:41, Todd A Ferguson [via C&Sn3 Discussion Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Jeff,

Here are some nice ones in O scale.  Perhaps he could scale them to HO or slightly larger... Might be worth asking...

http://micromimesis.com/products/o-scale-insulators/

Best,

Todd Ferguson

Harrisburg, NC

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NAML

[South Park]

  Just for historical accuracy, the CD 154 (Hemingway-42) like those Todd linked, were introduced in 1921, so they would be entirely incorrect for anything prior to that.

[Jeff Young]

I model 1928.

However, as mentioned in the “Rural Electrification" thread, the Platte Canon / South Park line was re-built in 1919 (before CD 154s).  What percentage of them would have required replacement in the following 9 years?  Very few, or most of them?

Thanks,
Jeff.

[South Park]

  I wasn't spending much time on the South Park in 1928, so I really could not say.  

  But photgraphic evidence shows that by the time the line came down, there were plenty of them scattered on the line from Denver to Buena Vista.  Amazingly, quite a few original build 1871 "bullets" could still be seen too !

  Does anyone here know when the DV to BV line was finally decommissioned ?

[Jeff Young]

South Park wrote

I wasn't spending much time on the South Park in 1928, so I really could not say.  

But photgraphic evidence shows that by the time the line came down, there were plenty of them scattered on the line from Denver to Buena Vista.  Amazingly, quite a few original build 1871 "bullets" could still be seen too !

Sounds like a mix would be most prototypical then, even if we don’t know the proportions of the mix.

Cheers,
Jeff.

[South Park]

  You guys can tell me if I am out of line posting all this telegraph/telephone/power stuff on this site ....  it seems relevant to me, as this, along with finding the ROW out west of Garos that first drew me to have such and interest in the Front Range mining scene.

  But as far as the South Park telegraph went, the original build to Gunnison used CD 133.4 "bullets" with the 1871 Patent marking.  The earliest ones had no skirt letter.  When Gould got his mitts on the RR, Western Union had more involvement in the maintenance and styles more typical to their lines began to appear.  I have photos of the St. Elmo and Estabrook depots where CD 126.4's can be made out.  The CD 145 "beehive" became a standard of nearly all railroads after 1884 and remained so until replaced as WU's "standard" in 1912 by the CD 152, which was subsequently replaced by the 154 in 1921, as mentioned earlier.  These would be the primary styles one might expect to see on South Park lines built  before 1884, with the styles from 145 used beyond Breckenridge.

  Since you cats have discovered the Crown Jewels archives, I will refrain from trying to take a bunch of photos and let you peruse their stuff.  But feel free to ask for specifics, if you cannot find answers.

 

[Jeff Young]

South Park,

I, for one, have greatly enjoyed your telegraph/telephone/power posts -- even those that weren’t relevant to what I model.

(I do wish I had a name to address you with, but that’s a minor detail.)

Cheers,
Jeff.

[ComoDepot]

I would have thought the original telegraph line to Leadville would have taken a similar route to the Railroad as far as South Park?

http://www.ebay.com/itm/W-Brookfield-1879-Patent-Aqua-Glass-INsulator-Denver-South-Park-Pacific-RR-/231788882878?_trksid=p2047675.l2557&ssPageName=STRK%3AMEDWX%3AIT&nma=true&si=wRtMNV5NWw5v337G%252BSZy2qfBSrY%253D&orig_cvip=true&rt=nc

What is this one?

[Jeff Young]

Was there perhaps a telegraph line from Como down to the King coal mine?

[South Park]

  There were two EARLY telegraph lines to Leadville.  One via Breckenridge and (I assume, Clear Creek), and another that ran up Turkey Creek via Morrison to some junction with the RR route (probably Bailey's Ranch) and then on over Kenosha, Tarryall, FairPlay, Mosquito Pass, and on into Leadville.  As mentioned in a related thread, Larry Volmer of Littleton is super knowledgeable on what lines ran where and when around the South Park and other Front Range camps.

  The linked eBay auction is for an insulator never used by the South Park RR line, and is really more of a power/signal type.  The 45 Cliff Street address dates it to 1882-1890, but I am unaware of Brookfield glass ever being used on the railroad's lines.  They had a strong preference for Hemingray.

  I have seen no photos showing a telegraph line to the King coal mines.  Being that it was a company operation, it is not beyond possibility, and since so few photos exist of this operation, I would not say it never happened.  But I have my doubts.  It is unfortunate that so many areas of the SP line were never photographed, while others drew the photographists like fly paper.  Much of Platte Canyon is undocumented, as is my favorite part of the line ....  from Garos to Buena Vista.  How I'd love to see multiple pix of eastbound freights pounding up toward Trout Creek Pass or lazily puttering across the wide open expanses of that area around Antero.

  BTW -  is it just me, or do others find FAR more fascination with the South Park's freight trains than they do the passenger equipment ?

  The name is Burger.

[Jeff Young]

It would appear there was telephone service to King:


Colorado Transcript, January 18, 1893

Note, in particular, the passage "A [...] phone call for assistance was also [...] Como."

Cheers,
Jeff.

[Bill Uffelman]

Wasn't there a single wire phone that could use telegraph lines as a direct connection?

Bill Uffelman 

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android

On Sat, Jan 9, 2016 at 2:13 PM, Jeff Young [via C&Sn3 Discussion Forum]

<[hidden email]> wrote:

It would appear there was telephone service to King:


Colorado Transcript, January 18, 1893

Note, in particular, the passage "A [...] phone call for assistance was also [...] Como."

Cheers,
Jeff.

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NAML

[Jeff Young]

Dunno.  But either way, there were poles of some sort going to King.

On 9 Jan 2016, at 20:02, Bill Uffelman [via C&Sn3 Discussion Forum] <[hidden email]> wrote:

Wasn't there a single wire phone that could use telegraph lines as a direct connection?

Bill Uffelman 

Sent from Yahoo Mail on Android