Some of my insulators have some pretty cool stories reflecting how I got them. Some others have no stories at all despite their rarity and beauty. For example eBay finds described as "an estate sale find, that's all I know". I like to know something about the history associated with the things I collect. To me, that gives them more intrinsic value. I often ask sellers the "Five W's"... Who, What, When, Where and Why's about a piece. Sometimes I get the 411, other times not.

Anyway, here is a nice looking New Eng. Tel. & Tel. Co. CD 112 keg in aqua with its mold line over the dome {MLOD}. I spotted this peculiar-looking gem (I had never seen a CD 112 in service beforehand!) on a mile-long stretch of ancient but in-use, iron-wire, two-pin fire alarm circuit in the fall of 1968. This was a great line to hunt because it ran along a horse-riding trail in a state park, secluded from the road at least 30 feet with lots of trees in between. So, there was no view from the many cars and anyone else passing by.

After a few Saturdays I found some really cool stuff that I swapped out. For instance a CD 138.2 National and a Standard Glass Insulator signal. No two insulators along this line were the same. Each one was different and offered much excitement, fun and variety to each expedition!

The last pole along this stretch had a long slender pony insulator on it. Its outline surely looked different to me since older aqua ponies of any kind were hardly found around here. Like all of the other poles, this one had pole steps. So up I went! Upon close view I was really in awe seeing a New Eng. Tel. & Tel. Co. keg before my eyes since nothing like that was reported in the hobby. And I never found a CD 112 up to that point, either.

After exchanging the insulator, I was ready to undo my safety belt when I heard the clickety-clack of a horse coming up the trail. I thought it was a couple girls horseback riding since I saw them not long before in the area. I looked down at who it was and I simply froze. It was a uniformed State Police officer on his horse who stopped right at the base of the pole I was upon. My bike was left on the ground by the pole's base. The officer knew this was quite odd and was looking around back and forth (still seated on his horse) to see who might be connected to the "abandoned" bike. Seconds seemed like hours as I hugged close to the pole while he was investigating. A few moments later he slowly proceeded forward, looking left and right in the afternoon daylight for any clues. By the time he approached a bend in the trail (about 150 feet ahead) I got down that pole in seconds and hopped on my bike. There were some hills along the road and I recall my eyes watering from the high rate of speed I had reached while going down one of them.

With the NET&T keg tightly secured in my pocket, I safely arrived home (about an hour away) and could not wait to get a close look at my new find!

If I had been caught on that pole I am sure I would have been brought into PD headquarters with a call to my parents to arrive there to get me (maybe out of jail). That would have been rather harrowing, to say the least. But I was successful with my pursuit and have enjoyed telling many others about this cute little insulator and its background for the past 50 years :-)