My wife and kids.........

[Len]

Saw a few old original poles with intact glass (no wire) in southern AZ and NM...(1990). Very short compared to the modern ones.

Hey Willong, is that I-90 in pic#2? Great photos of Big Sky. Thanks for sharing.

 

[willong]

This amazingly is not the same in Alaska. I recently visited and took a couple of train rides and was shocked to see old lines with many insulators still intact. While the wire was removed, no one seemed interested in the several insulators left behind. Wish I could have stopped the train and grabbed some.

I varies; I've also seen stretches like you describe, even in parts of California, believe it or not! More than once, I've noticed such places where a marsh spanned the ground between the railroad and the narrow, two-lane blacktop I was traveling. Often, there were no pullout opportunities for miles, which likely explains why the insulators still remained.

 

[willong]

Saw a few old original poles with intact glass (no wire) in southern AZ and NM...(1990). Very short compared to the modern ones.

Hey Willong, is that I-90 in pic#2? Great photos of Big Sky. Thanks for sharing.

Yes, thank you Len, it's I-90 between Clinton and Bearmouth.

The poles along the old Milwaukee Road grade are short too. I think that is probably because they just carried communication lines. That segment was part of a 400-mile stretch of the railroad that was wholly electric. The only remnants of what might have supported wire suited to the purpose of powering the locamotives are some scattered stubs of posts, which I think might have carried overhead hot cables. I'm sure those cables were salvaged along with the rails and ties before the roadbed was abandoned.