Wellsburg, VA, 1911, Electric Utility Pole, Transformer

By Joe Maurath, Jr.; posted March 19, 2011
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Adorned with glass insulators (which were pretty much the standard for low voltage electric distribution before 1900) this old pole also sports an early transformer which can be seen from its backside between the lower two crossarms. These pioneer transformers were really heavy, made with a cast iron casing. Often, like in scenes like this one, they transformed primary voltages of around 1,100V or 2,200V to 110V for customer service.

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