Western Railroad Discussion > Interesting Item, What is it?

Found this near the tracks along the UP Mainline buried in the dirt.  Too me it looks like the wire holder for the old pole lines?

SouthWest RailCams
CA, NM, CO, TX, AZ
https://SouthWestRailCams.com

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insulator , you were right

Glass insulator, probably were millions of them along the railroad at one time.

Ted Curphey
Ontario, OR

Insulator, obviously.

Pretty neat that you found it with the bolt it attaches to as well. I do not believe I have found one with that intack.
Wes

Wes Chiles
Topeka, KS

The inside of the insulator is threaded into the glass. All you have to do is twist both in opposite ways to seperate.

Posted from Android

Some were also green. Is this just a faded one?

Might want to hang on to it, and if you ever "sell" at a train show or swap meet, I've seen them go for anywhere from $5 to $30...

santafedan Wrote:
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> Some were also green. Is this just a faded one?

I have found clear, green and a solid red.

santafedan Wrote:
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> Some were also green. Is this just a faded one?

After cleaning it up a bit, the glass is clear.

Thanks for the information.

Posted from iPhone

SouthWest RailCams
CA, NM, CO, TX, AZ
https://SouthWestRailCams.com

Great find! Keep it how it is! Usually just the glass cap is by itself.

I think the "faded" ones are the green ones. They started out as clear and fade to green in the sun over time. It has something to do with the manufacturing process and the type of flux (seaweed for faded to green glass?) used in the molten glass. I could also be completely wrong, this is based on a childhood memory from somewhere in the middle of Wyoming!

Rick Bacon
Windsor, CO

We have some of these that turned purple after lying out in the desert sun for decades. The color results from the materials that make up the glass.
Lost of folks collect these things.

Bill Deaver
Tehachapi, CA

There is an organized hobby of insulator collectors. I do not know much about it but I do know a collector. Jeff

My favorite is the colbalt blue ones,

Posted from iPhone

You can also add purple to the colors. also over time the color would change after the sun worked on them for years. We have a collection of about 50 of them.

Many started out green when new.
Gonut



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/18 12:19 by Gonut1.

Not sure what effect (if any) exposure/time would have on colour as these are glass/ceramic materials, which are generally very, very stable to heat. Initially they've been processed/produced at very high temperatures with the colouration coming from ionic/inorganic metal salts ...just a thought, but the initial colour should be extremely stable.

May be different grades existed...or different manufacturers wanted their model to stand out...



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 01/16/18 13:25 by exhaustED.

There are 1,000's of them in a pile at the Bolack Electromechanical Museum in Farmington, NM

BB

Gayner Glass Works, Salem, New Jersey, was one manufacturer. Google Gayner Glass Insulators for more information. There were many other insulator manufacturers.