New Collectors
Two new collectors have contacted me lately and both have kindly sent me some images
Luke Birch
3 Shackles
Terminators!
One of Luke's most recent addition is this very tidy Pothead with the tall black lid.
The Pothead itself is stamped Bullers, 1974.
Luke acquired this from Ebay at a very reasonable price
3 Shackles and a Warning!
An Irish Insulator?
One of Luke's latest additions is this lovely pure white porcelain standard line insulator with a chocolate brown glaze. If it's the same as my examples, then it is probably unmarked or may have and impressed M and 86 W on the top. The M, I understand, is the mark of the Merklin factory, Czechoslovakia, previously known as Merkelsgrun
These are a relatively plentiful insulator in the Republic of Ireland but quite scarce in this country.
This line up of small Terminators illustrates several of the patterns available within the UK. Left to Right: 2 later style, probably Bullers, with shorter inner sheds. Black Telenduron, extended inner shed. Early Bullers with logo stamp on body side and shallow top section, GPO stamped similar style as previous. Last two, later than the last two but still with extended inner sheds, probably late 1930s and a Bullers stamp on the top surface.
The white, Double Groove Potheads are probably Wade and the Black Teleduron Single Groove example is probably unmarked, however the lid may hold some manufacturer information e.g. LEA 1950 GPO.
This large, light Blue, strain insulator is relatively modern and looks unused.
I have found many strain insulators in the past but have been frustrated by the removal of the strainer wire. This wire is high Tensile and cannot be easily cut with a hacksaw or pliers and unless your prepared to lug home 20 yards of thick, stiff wire then they tend to remain on site.
An ideal removal tool would probably be a cordless angle grinder with cutting disc
You can see more of Luke's growing collection on his own website, http://www.freewebs.com/british-insulators/
Richard Serridge
How's about this for a 1st insulator, what a beauty! It was found on a pole lying down in an antiques yard in Cheshire, sadly its partner was smashed. I understand it is marked Bullers and has an ID of P7503. I'm green with envy!
These high voltage pair are part of a line isolation mechanism. A conductor arm pivots from the top bracket of the left hand insulator and is received by the spring contacts on the top of the right hand insulator. An insulated drop link passes down from this arm to a lever mechanism and handle further down the pole to allow operation by a linesman. A similar setup can be found here
I collected the same style of mechanism late in 2006 and after some disassembly and digging with a screw driver the insulators were separated from the bracketry and their spindles. My particular examples where made by Doulton and had a printed ID of 874
These next 3 images are the start of Richard's collection and with time those shelves should be bulging or rather bending!
Good luck Richard, keep those images coming
