Insulator finds

[Bumpa66]

Since the cold weather has settled in, decided to take a walk along the railroad tracks to see what I could find. Not much worth anything, but I figured I would share.

Front row (left to right):
Rubber insulator
Not sure (??)
CD 1049 (there were around 6 of these. only took one)
Rubber insulator

Middle row
CD 154 Lynchburg no. 44
CD 154 Lynchburg no. 44
CD 154 Lynchburg no. 44
CD 154 Whitall Tatum Co. no. 1

Back row
2 ceramic (not sure what type. no markings).

Any comments on any would be great.

Happy hunting!!

 

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[FreeBirdTim]

Great finds! I always like finding insulators. The glass ones are very cool and colorful. The ceramic ones are very tough to find in one piece. Every one I've ever found has had a chip out of it.

I would pick up every one I saw. The glass ones sell for a few bucks each on eBay. Some of the bigger ceramic ones are worth money as well. My general rule is pick up everything that's old and weed out the junk later on!

 

[Bumpa66]

Freebird, I have also found a lot of the ceramic ones broken. I found that the ceramic ones don't have many markings on them, so it's hard to determine what they are.

 

[bottlehunterofcoscob]

Nice insulators, sometimes hard to find without damage. It's amazing to see that for stretches of the RR the poles and insulators are left up because no one cares, they're lazy, and they don't want to spend time and money taking the poles down. But it makes for good insulator hunting! I've found a few from poles that had fallen down. Always fun to collect.

 

[Bumpa66]

I have found a couple of different railroads where the poles are still up and loaded with insulators. I'm just not sure how to safely get these down.

 

[bottlehunterofcoscob]

I have found a couple of different railroads where the poles are still up and loaded with insulators. I'm just not sure how to safely get these down.

I try to find fallen ones. I've heard of people climbing up, I'm not sure how.

 

[Bumpa66]

The ones found here are from a set of tracks where they had cut the poles down, took the poles, and left most of the crossmembers laying on the ground. These were all attached to the crossmembers on the ground.

 

[bottlehunterofcoscob]

That's the best scenario.

 

[NVNutcase]

The brown ceramic ones in the back row are your typical 3kv insulator. Still in use in a bunch of places where 2400 volt and 4160 (phase to ground) systems are being used.

 

[Tnmountains]

I love those things. I had been eyeing a stretch of abandoned track and wondering the same thing on getting them down. They had some nice purple ones. I looked one day and someone had chain sawed them all down. It looked like they got the wooden dowels they went on as well.
Nice finds.

 

[Bumpa66]

Tnmountains, I have seen plenty of the wooden dowels still attached to the crossmembers. Do these have any value?

 

[Bumpa66]

The brown ceramic ones in the back row are your typical 3kv insulator. Still in use in a bunch of places where 2400 volt and 4160 (phase to ground) systems are being used.

NV nutcase, thanks for the info.

 

[gleaner1]

Man you dont see that too often. Ten insulators found on a lazy new years eve stroll. Incredible haul of insulators. Get back there and get the rest!

 

[RobRieman]

Keep an eye out for the marked ones with any RR branding. Those are the ones the collectors are after!

 

[Bumpa66]

Keep an eye out for the marked ones with any RR branding. Those are the ones the collectors are after!

Are you referring to the ceramic insulators? Or all of them? I have never seen any with RR branding.

 

[Bumpa66]

Man you dont see that too often. Ten insulators found on a lazy new years eve stroll. Incredible haul of insulators. Get back there and get the rest!

I will have to get back soon. I know of a location where I grew up where the railroad was in operation from the 1870's until 1942. The road where the tracks and trains ran are still there, but the tracks are long gone. I knew of this when I was a kid, but I only recently started looking for insulators. Does anyone think that there may be insulators left over? I would think that many people have hunted this stretch of old railroad. I will have to walk it and find out next time I'm back there.

 

[FreeBirdTim]

I don't think any of the ones I've found were marked at all. The type I find usually have a metal rod still screwed into them, so that's how I find them metal detecting.

Here's an example of the type I see around here. The "fin" part is always chipped. So annoying!

 

[Bumpa66]

I don't think any of the ones I've found were marked at all. The type I find usually have a metal rod still screwed into them, so that's how I find them metal detecting.

Here's an example of the type I see around here. The "fin" part is always chipped. So annoying!

I have also found the ones with the metal rods attached and couldn't unscrew them. The ones I found here were screwed into the wooden posts, just like the ceramic ones. These two are the only ones I have found that weren't damaged.

 

[Rick (Nova Scotia)]

They are cool. proably would look nice in a sunny window.
I recently found (eyeballed) an aqua blue one, "HEMINGRAY" No 42 I think, but not a glass collector gave to my digging buddy who is.

 

[Bumpa66]

Here's one that I have found with the metal rods attached.