Observations
Updated

The following is a list of observations I have about utility poles. Originally, I considered a history page, but my in-depth knowledge of utility poles is a bit limited at this present time, but is growing, thanks to a few replies that I have received.

  1. Colors
  2. Slants
  3. Engrave Marks
  4. Replacing
  5. I.D. Numbers
  6. Insulators
  7. Wires
  8. Street Lights
  9. Climbing Hooks
  10. Inspection Tags
  11. Push Brace Poles
  12. Train Track Poles
  13. Downtown
PREVIOUS
  1. I.D. Numbers
    1. Name Tags
      1. In my area, the electric company name on the poles is W.M.E. Co. and the telephone company name on them (in most cases) is NET&T Co. Of my knowledge, the following nearby towns also have both of the same company names on them: Greenfield; Leverett; Deerfield; Amherst; Sunderland; Erving; Northfield; Bernardston; and Gill. I believe Shelburne does as well.
      2. The electric company name is different for Shutesbury, Northampton, and Granby: ME Co. This electric company apparently used sans serif metal numbers for a number of years; this is especially evident on the poles in Shutesbury. The numbers that ME Co. currently uses are like what WME Co. uses, only about twice as big.
      3. Shutesbury's local electric company was named "GEL Co.," as indicated by some of the metal name tags still on some of the older poles in that area.
      4. I saw yet another electric name on a few old poles in Shutesbury. I believe it was "WCE Co."
      5. South Hadley's electric company name tags on the poles read "SHELD"; I saw a couple of older ones where they read "SH-ELD."
      6. Surprisingly, Granby is affiliated with a different phone company instead of Bell Atlantic. They seem to have their own local phone company.
      7. During the same New Hampshire trip mentioned above in the Colors section, I noticed that the electric company name tags are round or oval-shaped (didn't remember which shape already, soon after).
      8. Name tags in at least some parts of Connecticut are oval-shaped as well.
      9. During more recent New Hampshire trips, looking at the electric company name tags further (at least in Winchester), there are both round and oval-shaped tags. The round ones are older, while the oval ones are newer. The oval ones look more streamlined and just say "PSNH" on them. The older and round name tags say what those initials stand for: Public Service of New Hampshire. Also, there is an image of a torch on the round tag (with the top and bottom edges of the torch going a bit beyond the circle shape), as well as a ring shape going around the edges of the circle shape.
      10. Until in recent years, the telephone company name hammered on the utility poles (at least where I'm from) said "NET&T Co." When New England Telephone merged with a telephone company in New York a few years ago, they became NYNEX, and a new set of numbers began to be used. The silvery sans serif metal numbers and letters that had been used for years were replaced with ones that are black with orange background that slide into a silvery colored long piece. These numbers probably began to be used by 1995. In 1998, they began to say "Bell Atlantic" because of yet another merger. By late 2000, another merger took place, and in April 2001, the tags began to read "Verizon."
      11. WMECo.'s metal tag remains the same, except that the periods were dropped in recent years, with the "WME" letters appearing closer together.
        1. The newer look of the ME Co. name tags have changed as well; they look just like the new WME Co. name tags, only without the "W."
      12. Many years ago, the "W.M.E. Co." tag was bigger in size, with bigger lettering. This is evident after finding such tags on three very old poles (two in Turners, as well as one each in Greenfield, Deerfield, and Northfield).
      13. In some cases, the "W.M.E. Co." tag can be higher than necessary over the ID number. My guess is that so there would be enough room for the sequence number above the ID number. It may also have to do with the tags being made bigger years ago.
        name tag up higher than necessary
    2. Appearance
      1. The electric company numbers and letters in Orange, Athol, Granby, and parts of Erving are in that twice-as-big size as well. These towns, as well as most likely Wendell, probably also have ME Co. as their local electric company.
      2. At least some parts of Vermont, as well as South Hadley, have electric company numbers between the WME and ME sizes; they are about one and a half times as big as the WME numbers.
      3. At least some parts of Connecticut mostly uses sans serif numbers, which are usually placed in vertical formation, but could also be placed diagonally in certain cases. There are also certain cases in which medium-sized serif numbers had been used.
      4. Granby's newer numbers even look different from Bell Atlantic's. Granby's phone company numbers are orange and black like the Bell Atlantic ones, only they go vertical instead.
      5. In later years of the local telephone company using the sans serif silvery colored numbers (mid-1980's until by 1995), they were mixed with the serif ones used by the electric company.
      6. The looks of the telephone company metal numbers made subtle changes over the years. The most noticeable change is that of the number "3"; in earlier years, the top of the number was flat and more angular looking, while the bottom part appeared a little bigger and rounder. Perhaps the next-to-most noticeable change is that of the number "8"; the spaces in the "8" were more rounded, with the top of the number even smaller and the bottom even bigger. (The letter "B" seems to have evolved in a very similar way as the "8.") The third most noticeable is probably the "5"; in its very early years, the bottom part of the number was noticeably more rounded and up a little higher in relation to the rest of it, with the top part of the number a little shorter with the nail hole seemingly a bit more to the right. Meanwhile, during those many years, the looks of the electric company metal numbers pretty much remained the same.
      7. My guess as to when the sans serif "3" (used by the telephone company) was redesigned in such a way that it was no longer flat at the top is about 1932 or 1933, and likewise with the "8" and its design, as well as some of the other numbers, such as the "5," although a 1936 pole with a flat-topped "3" nailed on it seems to suggest otherwise.
      8. The nails used on these numbers also seem to have been different in these very early years; the heads were bigger but flatter.
      9. The metal numbers that Shutesbury's electric company used years ago look much like those that NET&T Co. used many years ago, such as the flat top "3" and the wide mouth "8."
      10. The metal numbers that Public Service of New Hampshire used for many years are also sans serif.
      11. It is apparent that little tags with the telephone company numbers stamped on them were used many years ago, as indicated by a few very old poles.
      12. There are some rather different-looking ID numbers in and near the Hampton Beach (New Hampshire) area: they are rectangular and about three inches tall; the numbers are black with a yellow background. (The Hampton Beach poles also have these four- or five-digit serif numbers in a vertical arrangement; these numbers are the very same type that WME Co. uses.)
    3. Sequences
      1. In addition to a chronological order of numbers, there is/are also the same number(s) that appear(s) above them. The electric company usually has only one such number, while the telephone company can have as many as three of these.
      2. This/these same number(s) above usually appear(s) on pole number 1 in an order, then appear on those poles whose number is divisible by 5.
      3. Now and then, a number can get skipped in a sequence. For instance, among a line of telephone company poles just north of the center of Lake Pleasant, the number 13 is one of the numbers skipped. Could be superstition, but I say coincidence.
      4. The same sequence number can actually appear on more than one street or road, although not within the same town. For example, I actually know of as many as three sequence 19s.
      5. At least in the case of telephone company sequence numbers, they can appear in a different format for each town. For example, the telephone company number sequence seems to be 22 then a second number in my village area.
      6. I found out something very interesting and fascinating about the electric company sequence numbers while putting various pictures in photo albums. From the town of Montague, I noticed that Maple Street (in Turners Falls) has sequence 124, while Marshall Street (also in Turners Falls) has sequence 126. This got me thinking that the sequence numbers they were given may be based on street alphabetical order, which happens to be the order that I am putting the pictures in. I looked through all the sections of Turners Falls pictures, and definitely noticed the pattern: the later a street name is alphabetically, the higher the sequence number. I decided to check the Greenfield pictures to see if the pattern applies there as well; it does. So far, however, I haven't seen such a pattern with the telephone company sequence numbers.
      7. The sequences of the electric company numbers seem to correspond with the streets that they are on, and don't continue onto another street. (That is, the way the streets were named at the time that the sequence numbers were assigned.) In addition, the sequences can actually continue even if there are no poles on that particular street at some point.
      8. The telephone company numbers, however, seem to be otherwise. They can continue to the next available street, and possibly seldom continue when there are no more poles at some point.
      9. I notice that Massachusetts Electric Company (which provides service to such towns as Shutesbury and Northampton) doesn't seem to put sequence numbers on poles, like Western Massachusetts Electric Company does.
      10. There are apparently "sequence numbers" used by other electric companies besides WME Co. Such is the case of the electric company that serves the Hampton Beach area and neighboring towns. Not only that, but the correspondence of streets (including alphabetical pattern) applies here as well. The Hampton Beach area has single-letter-named streets. Walking by them in backwards alphabetical order, the sequence numbers get smaller. As I figured, A Street is assigned the number 1; it is displayed in two-digit format (01).
    4. Letters
      1. I've seen certain metal letters appear on utility poles:
        1. "M" (Is found on utility poles that are between whole numbers. The electric company seems to use this instead of "½," like the telephone company does. Letter used by electric company only.)
        2. "S" [which stands for "stub"] (Is found on those utility poles across the street of the main utility pole. The serif form can also be found on the side of a pole on occasion [but not stand for "stub" in this case].)
        3. "T" (Sometimes can be found on those utility poles that have wires that come from or go to another street. Letter used by electric company only.)
          1. I have an idea as to what the "T" may represent. I notice that, in Turners, an older pole has a tag on it that says "25 AMPS," while a newer one standing next to it has some metal numbers and letters that say "25 T."
            "T" equals "AMPS"?
        4. "PB" [which stands for "push brace"] (Found on those utility poles that lean against another utility pole.)
          1. At one time, my guess as to what "PB" stands for was "pole bracer." My guess came fairly close, especially regarding the "B" part.
        5. "B" (Found as part of a sequence identification number. Much more common with electric company.)
        6. Some less common letters:
          1. "A" (Similar to the "B," only that it is telephone company only.)
          2. "F" (Similar to "A," "B," and "G"; used by telephone company.)
          3. "K" (Found on poles in Athol, Orange, and Erving areas. At least electric company.)
          4. "G" (Same as "A.")
          5. "V" (On a few old poles I've seen in Turners, appearing below the numbers. From telephone company.)
          6. "X" (Usually following a number. At least used by the telephone company, who usually had used two "1"'s to create the "X.")
          7. "H" (Appears in front of number. Usually appears on heavier duty poles. Used by electric company.)
          8. "E" (Appears in front of number. These "E" numbers seem to preceed the regular order of numbers that begin with "1." Used by electric company only.)
          9. "N" (Appears in front of a number. Used by telephone company -- particularly in earlier years.)
          10. "EC" (On side of pole; at least appears with a two-digit number. Used by electric company.)
          11. "J" (found on a pole among a line of poles that go across a road and through land; letter is huge size)
    5. Other Tags
      1. Old AMPS tags from WME Co. are bigger in size, much like how the old WME Co. tags are. However, I have seen an AMPS tag on an older pole in the Hampton Beach (New Hampshire) area; it is considerably smaller in size, more like the size of the name tags that WME Co. has been using for years, as well as those name tags of NET&T Co. that stopped being used about 1995 when the company became NYNEX (eventually becoming Bell Atlantic about 1997).
      2. Other such type of tags that I've seen say:
        1. "SOLID"
        2. "ST. LT."
    6. Material
      1. In much earlier years, the metal numbers, letters, and company name tags seem to have been made out of more corrosive metal. Certain ones seem to have turned green and/or more brittle over the years.
      2. There are also certain metal numbers that appear to be unusually shiny.
      3. I have also seen certain metal numbers that appear brown in color as if they have rusted, which they probably have over the years.
      4. I am guessing that the ID numbers and tags that appear rusted or corroded may have been made during World War II, thus possibly made out of different material than what was ordinarily used. This mostly seems to apply to the telephone company numbers and tags.
    7. Miscellaneous
      1. Now and then, a utility company decides to hammer up new numbers in place of any that are in bad condition or missing. This is more likely to occur when some upgrading with crossarms, wiring, etc. takes place.
  1. Insulators
    1. Many years ago (probably before the mid-1940's), several slots (called gains) were made in the poles so to fit several crossarms onto them. This practice has been discontinued for years. The current practice includes making four holes at the top -- two on one side, and two more 90 degrees of those holes. All of these holes go through their respective opposite sides.
      1. At one time, I used to think that these gains were from crossarms that used to be there and settled into the wood of the pole.
    2. In earlier years (probably before the 1950's, but especially before the mid-1940's), the metal parts of the crossarms were fastened on the outside of the crossarm. For years now, however, they have been fastened on the inside.
      1. An exception, however, is a pole as new as 1962, located in Greenfield; this one has the braces fastened on the outside of the crossarm. (More recently I had begun to guess that the crossarm might have been transferred from the pole that it replaced years ago. Speaking of replacing, this pole itself is in process of going out of service. The electric company has transferred wires to a new pole and cut off the top of the aforementioned 1962 pole.)
      2. Another exception: in Montague Center, a 1964 pole that is serviced by the telephone company only.
    3. Regarding the crossarms and braces, my guess is that, many years ago, the utility companies fastened the crossarms on the poles first before applying the braces on the crossarms, which may be the reason why the braces were fastened as such. My guess as to how the utility companies do it now, is to apply the braces on the crossarms before fastening the crossarms on the poles — making it easier to apply the braces this way, as well as not having to bend them accordingly.
    4. There is also a possibility that the crossarm braces originally had a different look. One old pole on the Big E fairgrounds in Springfield has thicker-looking (wireless) crossarm braces that are fastened to the bottom of the crossarm, and having slight ends that are parallel to the crossarms. An old pole in Turners Falls has such a crossarm brace on it as well.
    5. Years ago, crossarms made had wooden insulator pins that simply push into premade holes. Nowadays, the insulator pins appear to be metal rods that screw into the holes of a crossarm.
    6. There have also been certain wooden pins of the past that actually have screw-like threads on them.
    7. Over the years, sometimes a wooden pin can fall through a premade hole a bit more, sticking out at the bottom of the crossarm. This is probably as a result of the wood changing over the years.
    8. Insulators were smaller and dark brown or black years ago. Nowadays, they are gray and bigger.
    9. Insulators that date even further back were more transparent looking, usually colored blue or white.
    10. The material used to make insulators has changed over the years. Years ago, they were made of glass, then were made out of ceramic material; today, they are made of plastic.
    11. There are several different ways that crossarms are fastened on. The standard way is when it is fastened on in the middle.
    12. It can also be fastened on one side. The brace of it is longer, and has a small angle shape in the middle of it with a tiny loop.
    13. When crossarms are fastened on one side, more often there are two (one on each side of the pole at the top) rather than just one fastened.
    14. Crossarms can also be different sizes. I know of at least four of them, the next to biggest as the seemingly standard size.
    15. Crossarms are also used once in a while to brace a pole if it has a bad crack in it.
    16. Once in a while, the braces for standardly fastened crossarms can also be used to keep an old pole (that is being replaced by a new one) in place, especially if the new pole is placed directly next to the old one. These braces are hammered or screwed on to both poles, in criss-cross form.
    17. More recently, there have been newer designs of crossarm braces; these are made out of wooden material, but with metal pieces screwed on the ends. The newly designed braces for those crossarms that are fastened in the middle are bigger in length. For those crossarms fastened on the side, however, the length of the newly designed braces is still basically the same.
  1. Wires
    1. Electric Wires
      1. The top wires are electric. Those are the ones that are thin and are usually the ones held up by a crossarm and secured in insulators. There can be one, two, or three of these such wires.
      2. The wire with another wire or so spiraled around it is also electric. Usually, there is only one of these, but can also be none in some cases. Sometimes this wire doesn't even have another one spiraling around it.
      3. The electric wires were formerly thinner in diameter, and have been made slightly thicker for some time now.
    1. Telephone Wires
      1. The bottom wires are telephone. These are usually much thicker in diameter. The number of these can vary similar to how the thin electric wires vary.
      2. In less populated areas, the telephone wires can be several very thin ones that can even be thinner than some electric wires.
    2. Cable Wires
      1. The next-to-bottom are cable TV wires. They are similar looking to the telephone wires, except that they are usually gray in color, but sometimes can be black. Also, the thicker part of the cable wire dips down just about where the pole is located. This dipped-down part is where a cable wire that goes to a house is attached.
      2. More recently, some cable wires began having a teardrop shaped piece on them. Perhaps it has something to do with upgrading.
  1. Street Lights
    1. Street lights used to be non-fluorescent with a transparent bulb that shines off in a yellowish color.
    2. Some of these old street lights had a cup-like designed reflector; some others had a ruffle designed reflector that covered the bulb less.
    3. From looking at a few really old town pictures in an album at a library, it seems apparent in some way that the cup-like reflector ones once had a round glass shape covering the bulb.
    4. Purple fluorescent lights were common at some point since after they were installed. However, In the late 1980's, the brighter orange fluorescent lights became much more common as they began to replace both the purple fluorescent lights and the old-fashioned non-fluorescent ones.
    5. Many fluorescent street lights also have stickers with numbers on them.
      1. They are yellow most of the time, but can also be white.
      2. Numbers that I have seen on these stickers: 5; 7 (most common); 10; 15; 25; 40. One street light that I have seen has a less common X1 on its sticker.
      3. Older street lights, including fluorescent ones, don't seem to have these number stickers.
    6. In many cases, when an old-fashioned non-fluorescent street light is replaced with a fluorescent one, so is its holder if it is one of those shorter, fancier-looking ones with the S-curve design. The replacement holder is usually one that is more streamlined and lengthier.
    7. The designs of a fluorescent street light have changed in subtle ways over the years. My guess is that the longer-looking ones are the earlier ones, perhaps dating at least as far back as the late 1960's.
  1. Climbing Hooks
    1. Most of the poles that have metal hooks on the sides of them are ones that date at least as far back as the 1950's.
    2. Exceptions: I've seen a couple of poles dated as recent as 1974 that have them.
    3. Some more exceptions: two telephone company poles in Turners Falls -- one only as far back as 1968, the other from 1971 -- also have climbing hooks.
    4. I remember years ago that a 1969 pole in my area had climbing hooks at one time. Climbing hook holes that remain in the pole proves that my memory serves me correctly.
    5. More exceptions to the rule: There are actually some old poles that I've seen that don't have hooks.
    6. These hooks are "L" shaped, with the end of them pointing upward.
    7. I have also seen some climbing hooks that appear to have a rounded head, making them look more like a giant nail.
    8. I saw unusual climbing hooks on one pole in Deerfield. They looked like the "L" ones, only the otherwise shorter part was much longer than usual. An older pole in Amherst has a climbing hook with this unusual appearance as well. I believe I may have also seen such hooks on a few poles in Bernardston or Greenfield.
  1. Inspection Tags
    1. Many old poles dating at least as far back as the early 1940's have round tags near the bottom of them that say "Osmoplastic" and date from 1956 to 1960.
    2. Many of these old tags that I have seen are dated 1959. The years 1957 and 1960 I have only occasionally seen. I have seen one dated 1958, but on a former pole.
    3. I recently found out about another pole with an Osmoplastic tag dated 1958. It is located at the High/Maple intersection of Greenfield, and begins the "97A" telephone company sequence.
    4. I found three more poles with a 1958 Osmoplastic tag. All of these are also in Greenfield -- two located on East Cleveland Street, and one that used to be located at the Deerfield Street end of Cheapside Street.
    5. I have found still more poles with a 1958 inspection tag. All of these are located in Greenfield.
    6. I saw several old poles in Amherst bearing the date 1958 on their Osmoplastic inspection tags as well.
    7. Millers Falls has several poles with a 1957 inspection tag.
    8. One day, I discovered that a surviving old pole in Leverett has a 1956 Osmoplastic tag. A couple of days later, I decided to check another surviving old pole nearby, as well as several cut short replaced poles near the Amherst/Leverett town line on the same road. I was not surprised to find out that all of these have a 1956 Osmoplastic tag on them as well (though there was one that I did not check because of its location). I am guessing that during this particular year, Osmoplastic must have done extensive inspection of older poles on this road that goes through Leverett and Amherst.
    9. Regarding the dates of these inspection tags, I have noticed a pattern: the ones inspecting the poles probably cover certain areas in a given year.
    10. An interesting thing to point out about the dates of these older Osmoplastic tags: 1957, 1958, 1959, and 1960 are also the years of birth of each older sibling of mine. However, 1956 isn't one of those years, but is the year that my parents got married.
    11. When I first noticed these old tags on the poles over twenty years ago, I thought they represented the dates that the poles were manufactured -- until I began to pay attention to the engrave marks more.
    12. In 1979, new tags that say "Osmose" were placed on poles that were at least ten to fifteen years old. In addition to 1979, other dates that I know of that are on these "Osmose" ones: 1981, 1984, 1985, and 1987.
    13. I have seen a few train track poles with an "Osmose" tag dated 1973.
    14. I saw a few Osmose tags that are oval-shaped instead of the usual round shape.
    15. It was about 1979 that I saw exactly what the "Osmose" taggers do. They dig the ground up around the pole and wrap what looks like black plastic around the poles at ground level.
      1. [email protected]: Another preservation method (besides the plastic-wrap method mentioned on your site) is to drill a couple holes around the bottom of the pole, going deep into the pole, then pumping creosote or some other perservative into the holes. The utility workers will then screw black plastic plugs into the holes (probably to keep the preservative in, and bugs out).
    16. Other names I saw on tags and their dates: "Asplundh" (usually dated about 1989) and "Woodfume" (oval-shaped tag usually dated from around 1987, as well as undated quarter-circle shaped ones that are usually with another one of the tags mentioned here).
    17. One pole that I saw in Winchester, New Hampshire, has an inspection tag bearing the name "Osmoband" and the date 1977.
    18. I also saw old poles from many years ago with little brown tags having two-digit numbers. Most of these poles I have seen with such tags are in Shutesbury, many of which have the number "29" on them. I am guessing that this represents the year 1929, as either the year of manufacturing of these poles or a year that these poles were inspected. If it is the latter, then these poles probably date as far back as the very early part of the century. Even though the surface of these poles are not that rough, I was not able to find engrave marks on them, although the gable roof on them and the gains (which I had called crossarm slots) give clues to their age.
    19. At least two or three of the aformentioned poles located on and near Route 2 in Erving have date nails. I am guessing now that these date nails must represent the year of erection. For the first time, I noticed such poles with both engrave marks and date nails. One pole is dated 1937 on its engrave marks, with two date nails ("35" and "37"); another pole is likely dated 1935 on its engrave marks (since one that follows it going east is dated 1935) and has a date nail with "35."
    20. I have also seen a couple of date tags that may be variations of the date nails, only they have a name of a company on them: one of these such tags is in Turners Falls; the other from a pole in Greenfield that is now gone.
    21. Poles holding up only telephone wires seem to get inspected less often.
    22. There are a couple of things that I've seen on some old and middle-aged poles. One is a round-sided piece of wood that appears as if it had been put in diagonally; the other is a nail sticking out near the bottom of a pole. I see the former more often. I am guessing that these may have something to do with the inspection of a pole.
  1. Push Brace Poles
    1. Since their purpose has been mentioned in responses that I received, I notice now that poles on a convex curve often have a push brace pole.
    2. Some of the much older push brace poles have been cut at the top a certain way so to fit directly on the side of the pole that they are leaning on, as opposed to special hinges that are fastened on. They otherwise seem to have a flat roof instead of a gable roof, but with a less hinge-like way of fastening the two poles together.
    3. For a number of years, I thought that the push brace poles were used because of the ground conditions, such as softer grounds.
    4. I also saw another instance in which a push brace pole is used: a pole which has wires that go off to another street that is on the same side as said pole. Wires to Another Street
    5. NEW I know of at least a couple of rare instances of two push brace poles being used on the same pole. One instance is located in an eastern New York state area; both push brace poles (one tall and one short), are on the same side of the pole. The other instance is located right within my area, except that the two push brace poles are about the same size and are each on a different side of the pole.
  1. Train Track Poles
    1. Older train track poles seem to appear more bent and crooked.
    2. There are often many more separate wires on the crossarms of the train track poles, as compared to poles that follow the roads.
    3. Train track poles also seem to have more than one crossarm on them more often than the road ones do.
    4. Train track poles also tend to be shorter.
    5. Train track poles hardly ever seem to have the type of crossarm that is fastened on one side; they always seem to be fastened in the middle.
    6. Train track poles and their wires seem to be taken down in more recent years. My guess is that, from looking at warning signs near some train tracks, it may have something to do with fiber optic cable buried into the ground.
  1. Downtown
    1. Downtown Greenfield once had wooden utility poles. It is evident from old pictures that I have looked at.
    2. This probably applies to many other downtown areas of various towns and cities as well.

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