Pole-line Construction

In all the years I've been looking up at poles, I've really come to appreciate the older lines as they have more neat hardware and construction methods. Also, some poles have unusual construction methods, and some are good examples of how not to build a line.

(Sioux Falls, SD / 12th. St & 2nd Ave.) - Looks like the line crews didn't do a good job keeping the lines in alignment coming up to this intersection. Sure would have liked a better look at that middle crossarm, though. This pole and the rest of the 12th St. line was taken down as part of a "beautification project". Progress, huh?

(Sioux Falls, SD / Pitts' Inc.) - I've never been able to figure this one out. The poles were the right height and type for a railroad telegraph line, but the insulators were all modern porcelain power pieces!

(1 mile south of Wall Drug) - This pole was put up near a now-defunct antique shop. Good variety of insulators, but all out of reach (literally). As of April 28, 2001 this pole is now gone...

(SD 34 west of Egan, SD) - Quite an unusual application of suspension insulators. This pole was used to stabilize the lines following a transposition done halfway down a hill.

(Lakota, ND) - This was a VERY odd way to create clearance for the new pole in the background. The new line has now been put in service and the old pole is gone.

(Bismarck, ND - E. Divide Ave.) - This is one of a few poles in Bismarck where Montana-Dakota Utilities used a single 14" suspension disk for deadending the wires instead of the more conventional arrangement of two 6" disks, which just makes the pole look weird.

(Westhope, ND) - An unusual way to bring a line around a corner. Perhaps a remnant of an 'in-line' substation?

(South of Chamberlain, SD) - This abandoned railroad telegraph line goes from hilltop to hilltop while the tracks wind their way along the base of these hills.

(Sioux Falls, SD / Falls Park) - This picture was taken when the old powerhouse served as an extension of the substation in the background. When the park got a major facelift, all these old lines bit the dust but the powerhouse still stands.

(Sioux Falls, SD / Near 20th St. & 2nd Ave.) - This is probably the nicest 4kV transformer pole I've come across, and probably the only remaining pole on this line that still has crossarms drilled for wood pins.

(SD 34 south of Flandreau, SD) - Look at all those J-D insulators. 6 U-896s, 11 blue disks, and one BROWN disk!

(Bismarck, ND / near downtown) - Here's a nice pole with a nice arrangement of fish-tail Hewletts and enclosed cutouts. Just a really, really nice example of old-style construction that has now given way to a new line.

(Willow City, ND) - This has got to be the most cramped transformer installation I've ever seen.

(N. of Stillwater, MN) - Here's a line that was once an early transmission line, but now is a distribution line. Check out the big Jeffery-Dewitt suspension disks and the 4 glass Hemingray #1 "Provo" insulators.

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