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Project 0721, Bee Tree Power Crossarm
Gathering Materials-
Well at a park near the river the UP has a track that runs along the river for sometime. The poles I hunted as a kid for a few years. They are the old MoPac style construction of Power on the top arms and the signal lines on the lower. The poles ran 575 volts to a transformer that reduced it to 110v for the signals and such. The poles were dead a few years ago and it wasnt till a few weeks ago I found that the UP is knocking them on the hill side and leaving them. I have always wanted to know how they wired the poles so when I install mine I know how. I have had a idea for a few years now but this was my chance to get up close and see. Once getting up the hill I found someone beat me to the arresters and cut the lines, I matched which wires went where by the cuts. After writting down where the wires and everything was I took off the transformer and carried it to the trail, then I thought heck why leave the crossarm just take the whole thing. I cut the main wires and unbolted the crossarm and carried the crossarm and transformer up the massive hill and down the trail to my car.
Plan-
To get the arm on display and back to working order.
Operation-
This is the basic idea of how it goes, the 575 line comes into 2 cutouts, one placed on both ends of the arm. Then one wire comes out of the cutout and each runs to one of the arresters. Another wire comes from each cutout and connects to the 575 end of the transformer. Then from the 110 side of the transformer runs down to a insulator that can send it to the signal cabinet or hangs down and connects to the lower wires.
Final-
The arm was restored and everything is how the railroad would have done it!
The crossarm before I removed it from the pole.
Close up of where the arrester unit would be.
Heres a shot of the transformer and the cutout when it was on the pole. Note all the wires cut from the transformer.
Heres the arm after I walked it up a MASSIVE hill and down a trail. Got heavy quick!
The arm is up on the self and I have started to wire everything the way the railroad would.
A close up of how the arresters would have been wired up.
The close up of the wires and them connected to the transformer, I bet it still works!
The finished project and mounted to the wall!