Insulator Post -- Glass in the Air -- Southern Ohio

Click on photograph for a closer view.

Having been interested in antique glass insulators for a few years now I don't get overly excited when I spot an existing line during the course of my travels.  It has even become a sort of game between my son and I to see who notices old glass on poles first.  All of these lines that I have seen in various states of disrepair are old signal circuits running along rail road right of ways.



This photograph taken in the Scioto Valley a few miles upstream from the confluence of the Scioto and Ohio Rivers.  The Scioto lies between the trees and line of distant hills in the background.



Deep in the hills of Adams County I noticed a railroad and it's accompanying poles and wires as we made our way to the Serpent Mound Memorial.  The road was curvy and I was not able to get a good look at the insulators but it was fun to watch pole after pole of green and clear glass glinting in the sun as the miles ticked by.  Later that day as we retraced our route back to the campground I could not stand it any longer and I had to stop the car and snap a few photos.  

Many of the insulators were the common CD 154 Hemingrays that were used up into the 1940's and 50s but after I got out of the car and got a closer look I noticed that each cross arm had a couple CD 145 "Beehives" still installed.  This got my attention because I have never seen a beehive up in the air before.  My experience with beehives consists only with the ones in my personal collection and those on display at the shows.  The only thing I know for sure is that Samual Oakman patented the style in 1884.

  

I have no way of knowing how old the beehives are that we saw along this line.  I have California beehives that were made between 1912 and 1916 in my collection so I know the style was being produced as late as that time frame.  Looking around online I could not find a date when production of the CD 145 style stopped but its a fair assumption to guess that some of the beehives we saw could be nearly 100 years old.