  Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet Post Number: 499 Registered: 01-2007 |
I was going through some of my quick pics today and came across this photo: http://i148.photobucket.com/al bums/s22/bulletmagnet69/100_56 72.jpg?t=1179970484 Are these wires old telegraph lines? The location is E Warren around Moran. | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 3329 Registered: 10-2003 |
The ones below the crossarms? Probably fire alarm box lines. Definitely not telegraph. | ||
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet Post Number: 501 Registered: 01-2007 |
I've seen similar lines along stretches of rail road tracks. What could those be? Are these fire box lines live? Or they left over from the now defunct fire box system? (Any photos, Mikem?) | ||
Mikem Member Username: Mikem Post Number: 3331 Registered: 10-2003 |
The lines on the crossarms are power lines and probably street lighting on the lower arms with the smaller insulators. Below those - the lines running to the wooden block on the pole - are the ones I thought you were asking about. I doubt they are hot unless they are older street lighting lines. Trace them next time you drive by; see if they lead to street lights. Maybe it's the offset of the crossarms that is leading you to think they are telegraph lines. The pole is built that way because it is so close to the house they needed to avoid having the lines hang over the top of it. | ||
Malcovemagnesia Member Username: Malcovemagnesia Post Number: 29 Registered: 12-2005 |
IIRC, there are lines like this along the railroad tracks that parallel Groesbeck through Warren and over I-696. Not sure what they were used for. | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 3191 Registered: 10-2004 |
Lines along RR ROWs were for electric power or for signaling. But signaling today only rarely uses overhead wiring. | ||
Burnsie Member Username: Burnsie Post Number: 988 Registered: 11-2003 |
There were telegraph wires along RR tracks. The last RR telegraph usage was decades ago, but many of the wires stayed up for a long time. The telegraph was the first use for wires along RR tracks. Also, some tracks had a RR-owned phone line along them. For example, yellow boxes along the Grand Trunk Western contained phones connected to the dispatcher. | ||
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet Post Number: 504 Registered: 01-2007 |
Thanks Mikem, I was referring to the lower lines. The off-set did thro me, as you say. Because I wasn’t shooting the pole per-say, the lines in the photo looked a little odd. I understood the power lines were on the top, with the phone lines under them, then the cable on the bottom. But you did get me thinking about the fire alarm lines, and what ever else that get strung up there. Mikem, who is the primary owner of the utility poles in Detroit, and how do they make the arrangements for the use of them for the different utilities? Thanks Livernoisyard, I have always wondered about those lines in the ROW. I'd like to know more about it, being a casual rail fan. | ||
Cambrian Member Username: Cambrian Post Number: 1117 Registered: 08-2006 |
Exploring rail road trails you can still find old telegraph lines. The poles are pretty crude by today's standards. Definitely 1800s. The Michigan Air Line trail had some as I recall. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 942 Registered: 07-2004 |
Generally, the lower the line, the lower the voltage. That's just a rule of thumb, though, and I don't know if it applies with all wiring of all eras. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 943 Registered: 07-2004 |
Generally, the closer the line is to the ground, the lower the voltage. That's just a rule of thumb, though, and I don't know if it applies with all wiring of all eras. | ||
Detroitnerd Member Username: Detroitnerd Post Number: 944 Registered: 07-2004 |
You still see some F-poles in Detroit, particularly in some alleys in Woodbridge, and in the alley behind the ABC/Forest Arms. | ||
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet Post Number: 506 Registered: 01-2007 |
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Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 1494 Registered: 01-2005 |
... --- ... | ||
Bulletmagnet Member Username: Bulletmagnet Post Number: 507 Registered: 01-2007 |
http://morsecode.scphillips.co m/jtranslator.html | ||
Livernoisyard Member Username: Livernoisyard Post Number: 3196 Registered: 10-2004 |
The lowest voltage for power is/was something around 5200 volts. My service line is probably 5200 V, whereas most others are around 9000 or 13,000 V. I am an electrical engineer but don't deal with the utility aspects of it. Thus, my knowledge of the exact voltages is only a guess based on limited direct experience. I do have my own 5200 volt, 5 KVA pole-pig transformer, purchased from the Wisconsin Electric Power utility in Milwaukee back in 1970 for $9.65--its salvage value. Lucky for me, they even drained off all of its PCB oil. |
