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Code Lines, Union Pacific Railroad, Harvard, CA, 2010. (fedia.io)

submitted 3 days ago by mattblaze@federate.social to c/photography@fedia.io

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Code Lines, Union Pacific Railroad, Harvard, CA, 2010.

All the pixels, none of the tumbleweeds, at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/4612902834

#photography

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[–] mattblaze@federate.social 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Captured with a DSLR and 24mm shifting lens (vertically shifted just a bit) on a hot day in the Mojave desert.

This is a simple composition, characteristic of the early 20th century Precisionist school. There's little in the frame that isn't essential. The pylons, wires, and tracks all converge at a vanishing point at the edge of the frame, suggesting, but not showing, a more expansive network of wires, tracks, and, for better or worse, human dominance over nature.

[–] mattblaze@federate.social 2 points 3 days ago (3 children)

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.

[–] njvack@ruby.social 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

@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?

[–] mattblaze@federate.social 2 points 3 days ago (1 children)

@njvack@ruby.social I think short spans. You don't want wind causing the wires to sway in the way of the trains.

[–] ELS@sfba.social 2 points 3 days ago

@mattblaze@federate.social You also don't want the wires to touch each other, right?

[–] ColesStreetPothole@weatherishappening.network 1 points 2 days ago

@mattblaze@federate.social Just went by a ton of these in Utah—amazing that such large configurations like these were done in wood!

[–] DannyBoy@sh.itjust.works 1 points 2 days ago

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.