Jeff Helmuth's Catskill Aqueduct RoW finds

By Nathan Smack; posted June 24, 2013

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Please relpy to Jeff directly with any info. His contact info is in his profile below...

http://insulators.info/icon/detail/?id=f9476b

I'm Deputy Chief Engineer for New York City Bureau of Water Supply. We all know old Railroad grades are great hunting grounds, however, in my case I hunt along the Catskill Aqueduct when I'm working in the field. The Catskill Aqueduct runs along the surface of the earth as a concrete inverted 17'-6" tall X 17' wide horseshoe and carries water by gravity as open channel flow (air space on top) - think of it as a covered canal. It was built from 1907 -1917. It has a 200 ft. Right-of-Way. I noticed the original record drawings show a telegraph pole line running along the aqueduct on about a 50 ft. Off-set, and it would switch sides from place to place. Also, when the aqueduct runs through a mountain or ridge as a tunnel, they hung the wires on the underside of the crown on brackets with insulators with the water running about 16" underneath them! I have found five (5) different brands. [Photo attached] and I'm wondering if they are rare: from left to right in photo.

1) Double groove, light green, triangle logo with "W", Whitall Tatum Co. No. 3, size 47, Made In U.S.A., smooth skirt, threaded.

2) Double groove, aqua, Hemingray, Made In U.S.A., No. 10, drip points on skirt, threaded

3) Single groove / dome, dark green, Brookfield, mirror image "16" on crown, threaded, smooth skirt.

4) Single groove/dome, green, Brookfield, New York, mirror image "4" on crown, smooth skirt, threaded.

5) Single groove/dome, W Brookfield, New York, "D" on crown, threaded, smooth skirt.

6) See no. 3 above.

Thank you, Jeff Helmuth, Saugerties, NY

376657822