• Our booking engine at tickets.railforums.co.uk (powered by TrainSplit) helps support the running of the forum with every ticket purchase! Find out more and ask any questions/give us feedback in this thread!

Wire and Pole Communication: Where is it still in use?

Status
Not open for further replies.

Millisle

Member
Joined
7 Jul 2013
Messages
233
Location
Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire
On one of my occasional journeys on the Aberdeen-Inverness line a fortnight ago it struck me again that it is, as far as I recall, the only route I travel that still has telegraph pole and open wire communication for much of the way. I wondered where else that can still be found.
 
Sponsor Post - registered members do not see these adverts; click here to register, or click here to log in
R

RailUK Forums

Railsigns

Established Member
Joined
15 Feb 2010
Messages
2,488
I don't think you'll find any other lines on NR that still have a pole route.
 

Millisle

Member
Joined
7 Jul 2013
Messages
233
Location
Lockerbie, Dumfriesshire
So considering that BT eliminated open wire on the telephone network a couple of decades ago, it is probably the last example of the technology in ordinary use in the entire country. I remember how the open wire sang like an Aeolian harp in the wind. Though you had to be on the ground to hear it, not the train!
 
Last edited:

HMS Ark Royal

Established Member
Joined
2 Sep 2015
Messages
2,807
Location
Hull
Was it that line that, under certain conditions, you could pick up the SPT and hear Radio 4 LW?
 

John Webb

Established Member
Joined
5 Jun 2010
Messages
3,048
Location
St Albans
At St Albans South signal box we're planning to erect a few telegraph posts along the garden and fit them with the appropriate cross-bars, insulators and wire to replicate a short sample of the formerly ubiquitous pole routes.
 

47271

Established Member
Joined
28 Apr 2015
Messages
2,983
Not only the telegraph lines, but to complete the picture, the double track section between Insch and Kennethmont still had quite a bit of jointed track both sides when we drove past a couple of years ago. It could be a main line from 100 years ago, they should hire it as a film set!
 

Tio Terry

Member
Joined
2 May 2014
Messages
1,178
Location
Spain
Wasn't the last section in use in England between Ely and Norwich?

I'm not sure but I think the line from Reedham to Lowestoft may have been the last pole route in use.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
At St Albans South signal box we're planning to erect a few telegraph posts along the garden and fit them with the appropriate cross-bars, insulators and wire to replicate a short sample of the formerly ubiquitous pole routes.

If you need any help, I'm probably one of the last people to be trained in pole route construction methods and things like Transpositions and wire terminations.
 

Bald Rick

Veteran Member
Joined
28 Sep 2010
Messages
29,070
At St Albans South signal box we're planning to erect a few telegraph posts along the garden and fit them with the appropriate cross-bars, insulators and wire to replicate a short sample of the formerly ubiquitous pole routes.

If you need planning permission, expect a fight! St Albans DC seem to be refusing everything at present. (He says bitterly).
 

Parham Wood

Member
Joined
13 Jun 2011
Messages
329
If you do manage to get a pole route erected then don't forget the transpositions.
Any idea why the transpositions were as shown? I suspose someone once upon a time measured the cross induction/capacitance/interference and came up with the scheme. I thought it might also depend on what each wire or wire pair was used for.
--- old post above --- --- new post below ---
Was it that line that, under certain conditions, you could pick up the SPT and hear Radio 4 LW?

I can image this could be so as it would depend on the wire lengths. If they approached a harmonic of the radio channel then it would be possible to pick up the channel. This happened to me several times whilst balancing/transpositioning a twisted pair cable that was going to replace a pole route. I was measuring the capacitance between wires using a tone and adjusting the set until there was a null in the headphones. This was to work out how each 500m of cable would be transpositioned at the joint. Since the cable length was 500m when three lengths were together Radio 2 1500m LW could be picked up. Could listen to Jimmy Young in the middle of now where on the Marches line. It was very annoying as it drowned out the null point.
 

Hellzapoppin

Member
Joined
16 Jan 2016
Messages
222
Doping and loading coils, proper cables. Still have plenty of those still working on the Western but becoming less as the projects push through. Although we still have them it's not taught anymore and it relies on old guys like me who were trained to show the young lads how it's done. There is a formula for working out how each pair should be jointed, I'll see if I still have my course notes. Time to fire up the Mox iron ??????????????????
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

Top