Code Lines, Union Pacific Railroad, Harvard, CA, 2010.
All the pixels, none of the tumbleweeds, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/4612902834
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this post was submitted on 13 May 2025
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Telegraph poles like these, with multiple "code lines", were once a common feature along American railroads. They are distinguishable from ordinary power or telephone lines by their multitude of cables, often occupying several crossarms. They typically carried a power bus plus individual lines for the signals along the route, with more efficient encodings used as technology improved.
They've been mostly supplanted by more modern SCADA systems that don't require so many individual wires.
@mattblaze@federate.social The thing I find most striking about these railroad poles is that the lines themselves are so nearly straight -- there's almost no catenary curve to them
Always wondered why that was. Short spans? Stiff wires? Extra high tension? All three?
@njvack@ruby.social I think short spans. You don't want wind causing the wires to sway in the way of the trains.
@mattblaze@federate.social You also don't want the wires to touch each other, right?
@mattblaze@federate.social Just went by a ton of these in Utah—amazing that such large configurations like these were done in wood!
There's signal lines running the length of the train track I live on here in Canada. They're unused now and being taken down slowly by falling trees.