Am I on the right track (Pun Intended)

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Kepiper80

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Went Brick Hunting today and figured I will also try to find some insulators in the wild. There is an old interurban railroad I thought I would look around. Tracks are long gone but the poles are still up. I did some surface searching no digging and failed to find anything. The fallen leaves I’m sure didn’t help but this area goes through a well traveled area of trails etc. Wondering if it may have already been picked over and if it is worth my time. I was thinking of maybe digging around the poles next time out. Any advice is appreciated. I will include some photos of the area.
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nydigger

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Went Brick Hunting today and figured I will also try to find some insulators in the wild. There is an old interurban railroad I thought I would look around. Tracks are long gone but the poles are still up. I did some surface searching no digging and failed to find anything. The fallen leaves I’m sure didn’t help but this area goes through a well traveled area of trails etc. Wondering if it may have already been picked over and if it is worth my time. I was thinking of maybe digging around the poles next time out. Any advice is appreciated. I will include some photos of the area. View attachment 232594View attachment 232595
Those poles look like power poles. I would look for the stumps of the original poles

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CanadianBottles

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Do you know if this was a dedicated right of way exclusively for the interurban from the time it was constructed? In the historic photos I've seen, interurbans typically did not have any telegraph lines running on them, which would have meant that insulators would be limited to the ones used on the electric lines powering the streetcars, meaning they would likely have been the ceramic high voltage type anyway. I'd consider most interurbans be worse places to look for insulators than any given roadside. This is a pretty typical interurban line:
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Kepiper80

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Do you know if this was a dedicated right of way exclusively for the interurban from the time it was constructed? In the historic photos I've seen, interurbans typically did not have any telegraph lines running on them, which would have meant that insulators would be limited to the ones used on the electric lines powering the streetcars, meaning they would likely have been the ceramic high voltage type anyway. I'd consider most interurbans be worse places to look for insulators than any given roadside. This is a pretty typical interurban line:
View attachment 232597
Thanks! I believe the section I was looking was dedicated. That would make sense
 

Kepiper80

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Thanks
Those poles look like power poles. I would look for the stumps of the original poles

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Those poles look like power poles. I would look for the stumps of the original poles

Sent from my SM-N986U using Tapatalk
Thanks for the info! I’ll see what I can find next time I’m in the area
 

Len

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I'd give it a try. If they replaced the poles they may have upgraded the insulators and just tossed the originals. Chances are you'll find at least one result of a young man's first .22 but here's hoping you'll get lucky. :)
 

mrechenard

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Went Brick Hunting today and figured I will also try to find some insulators in the wild. There is an old interurban railroad I thought I would look around. Tracks are long gone but the poles are still up. I did some surface searching no digging and failed to find anything. The fallen leaves I’m sure didn’t help but this area goes through a well traveled area of trails etc. Wondering if it may have already been picked over and if it is worth my time. I was thinking of maybe digging around the poles next time out. Any advice is appreciated. I will include some photos of the area. View attachment 232594View attachment 232595
You need to make sure that this was a coded rail line Not all of them had that. You can also go to openrailway on the internet and look for defunct railroads. You can also search in old newspapers where telegraphs are mentioned and that may prove beneficial. check out nia.org, and all insulators crown jewel of the wire. also. Insulators-National Insulator Association on Facebook.
 

embe

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If there are already walking trails, any surface finds are probably long gone. Didn't realize brick hunting was such a thing
 

CanadianBottles

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You need to make sure that this was a coded rail line Not all of them had that. You can also go to openrailway on the internet and look for defunct railroads. You can also search in old newspapers where telegraphs are mentioned and that may prove beneficial. check out nia.org, and all insulators crown jewel of the wire. also. Insulators-National Insulator Association on Facebook.
Yeah that's what I'm thinking. Interurban means they were running streetcars or streetcar-like light rail trains, not heavy rail trains. Since a streetcar is basically a big bus on rails, there was no need to communicate between stations, the car would just stop when the driver sees something up ahead. Most stations wouldn't have even been staffed, they would have just had a shelter like modern streetcar stops do.
 

Kepiper80

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If there are already walking trails, any surface finds are probably long gone. Didn't realize brick hunting was such a thing
Yes, it’s a lot of fun! Can find them along creeks. The ones to look for are the ones with names embossed on them. Here are my keepers from yesterday
You need to make sure that this was a coded rail line Not all of them had that. You can also go to openrailway on the internet and look for defunct railroads. You can also search in old newspapers where telegraphs are mentioned and that may prove beneficial. check out nia.org, and all insulators crown jewel of the wire. also. Insulators-National Insulator Association on Facebook.
Thanks! I will check out those resources. I’ll check the digital archives of the local paper
If there are already walking trails, any surface finds are probably long gone. Didn't realize brick hunting was such a thing
Its a lot of fun! You want to find the ones with the manufacturer name embossed on them.
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