Pole climbing finds

bne74honda · Oct 14, 2012

Pole climbing......There are many in my area that I'd like to climb but kinda figured that might be a problem, legally. Were these poles along tracks in the bush?.....how close to residential areas? I'm in Guelph and have seen so many insulator coated poles it's driving me crazy!

Brian

jaroadshow · Oct 14, 2012

Hi bne74honda : The poles I got these off of were out in the country east of London but north of Hamilton Road. These poles are not used and I don't have a problem climbing them. I have the spikes to put on my boots and a Safety Harness and rope. Makes for easy pickin's.

I would like to get an aluminum ladder at least 24' long to make it even easier.

I don't think theres any problem legally because these poles will eventually fall prey to time and decay. I have seen poles on the same line I got these Insulators of of that were taken down by Axe or saw ? by someone.

jaroadshow

bne74honda · Oct 14, 2012

jaroadshow,

thanks! Yeah...the spikes are pretty much a necessity without a good ladder. I figure if I do start climbing, I should have quite a few insulators clogging up my over-crowded garage by the spring...[8D]...

143Tallboy · Oct 15, 2012

Make sure to check the pole butt for rot before climbing or using the ladder. In my early days of collecting I was up a ladder grabbing some 102's off an old pole and the thing gave way. I hung onto the ladder on the way down and smacked my shin pretty bad on one of the rungs when I hit the ground. Luckily I was only about 15 feet off the ground when it gave way. When I had a look at the pole base it was completely rotted on the inside but the outside appeared fine. You can use a screwdriver to take a couple of stabs at the wood.

bne74honda · Oct 15, 2012

143Tallboy,

good to know. The old screw driver stab test....cool.

Brian

Bixel · Oct 15, 2012

I don't think theres any problem legally because these poles will eventually fall prey to time and decay.

Trust me, there definately are legal problems. The railroads dont care about the insulators, but they DO care about liability, and if you are climbing on poles, or using a ladder to climb poles, that falls directly into the category of things they hate.

Anymore for me, unless I see a good insulators on a pole, the risk is just not worth it. I remember the days of going out and getting loads of 2-5 dollar insulators, or stuff even better than that, off of poles.

If you are going to climb. Learn the risks, learn the safe and proper way of doing it, and be careful. The poles are old at Chris said, and they can fall over, the crossarm can fall off, and you can become injured or worse. Trust me, its happened to other people before. The railroad engineers, railroad workers, Railway police, local police, and land owners are always on the lookout to keep people off the railway property.

143Tallboy · Oct 16, 2012

Good points Kyle. I would say to try your local shows before climbing for insulators. 99.999% of what is still on the poles can be picked up at shows for free, or at very low cost and what is left on poles is basically worthless to collectors, unless you happen to get very lucky. There was a swap & sale near Orangeville last weekend that had hundreds of really nice insulators in the 1 to $5 range, and there is always deals on buying multiples.

bne74honda · Oct 16, 2012

Well, after hearing all these warnings, I'll stick to 'walking the tracks'. I don't really need a broken bone to prove anything...

tftfan · Oct 18, 2012

Thats some purdy.... glass ! Thanks for the pics.

Pole climbing finds

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