Matt Weldon's photos

A shot of an old City Light and Power, Indiana Michigan Power utility pole in the neighborhood of Northside in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Sections of Northside and small sections of Spy Run are the last two neighborhoods in Fort Wayne to have some of the old CL&P/I&M poles still up in service. Sadly, about six months ago this whole alley has been upgraded to a single phase circuit. This is a wide angle shot of a pole along an alley with a CD 218 Hemingray-660 glass insulator along with five failed wooden pins. Before March 1, 1975 the top two crossarms would of been I&M while the bottom two CL&P. After that date, I&M leased from CL&P for 35 years until on February 28, 2010, I&M would eventually become the exclusive electric service provider for Fort Wayne. Here is a close up shot. www.ipernity.com/doc/314471/28128721 Here is a close up shot of just the lower CL&P crossarms. www.ipernity.com/doc/314471/28128719

A shot of an old City Light and Power, Indiana Michigan Power utility pole in the neighborhood of Northside in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Sections of Northside and small sections of Spy Run are the last two neighborhoods in Fort Wayne to have some of the old CL&P/I&M poles still up in service. Sadly, upgrades to these poles have been going on the last year. This shot shows an old GE transformer along with two CD 230 Hemingray D-512 glass insulators and one box cutout. Before March 1, 1975 the top two crossarms would of been I&M while the bottom two CL&P. After that date, I&M leased from CL&P for 35 years until on February 28, 2010, I&M would eventually become the exclusive electric service provider for Fort Wayne.

Peabody, Indiana A close up shot of a CD 232 Hemingray D-513 glass insulator in service use along a county road leading to Peabody, Indiana. I've only seen D-513's in service use at two locations in Whitley County, Indiana. Here is a wide angle shot of the same pole. www.ipernity.com/doc/314471/27961269

Peabody, Indiana Two CD 232 Hemingray D-513 glass insulators in service use along a county road leading to Peabody, Indiana. I've only seen D-513's in service use at two locations in Whitley County, Indiana. Here is a close up shot of the same pole of the D-513 glass insulator on the right. www.ipernity.com/doc/314471/27961271

A pony style of insulator known as an exchange insulator which were produced for open wire telephone distribution. Telephone exchange insulators which have double grooves were commonly used around residential areas. The upper groove was for the main line and the lower groove for the drop wire to the residence. This insulator was produced by the Hemingray Glass Company in Muncie, Indiana. The CD 113 Hemingray style insulators were produced in the c1890's-1940's. This was the very first insulator that I found for my glass insulator collection. Around 1967-68 my best friend and I were broadening our horizons when we came upon a huge telephone glass insulator dump. All the insulators were the small pony style of insulators and there were hundreds of them, but most were in bad shape. After searching around for a while I noticed some off to the side sticking partially out of the ground, so I decided to check it out. After digging for a while and finding CD 113s in better condition about 8 inches down in the ground this nice lavender Hemingray CD 113 came rolling out of the ground. I immediately grabbed it with a few other insulators and went home to clean them up. This lavender insulator turned out to only have one drip point partially chipped and some rust in the wire groove. Not bad for finding your very first insulators for your collection. Also, this dump was found right along the famous Lincoln Highway, so it's likely this insulator was used along the old Lincoln Highway which gives this insulator some historical value to it. As for sentimental value, this insulator would be at the very top of the list for my entire glass insulator collection. Today, this dump area for the last few decades has been a used car lot. For those interested, I geotagged on the satellite map the exact location. Embossing (F-Skirt) HEMINGRAY/HE No 12/[Upside down 'No' blotted out] {Note extra 'HE'} (R-Skirt) PATENT/MAY 2 1893 Index # 110

E Riley St., Bluffton, Indiana Just a shot of a single CD 230 Hemingray 512 glass insulator along with an older looking GE transformer. Within the last two years a wire along with a CD 230 Hemingray 512 glass insulator on the left side of the crossarm were taken down from service. This has been the case with a lot of poles in Bluffton with a wire removed from service the last few years.

W Elm St. just west of S Marion St., Bluffton, Indiana Shot of two CD 252 Hemingray-62 glass insulators with drip points on each end of the crossarm supposedly used for the street light circuits. Looks to be a double circuit line on the pole. Within the last two years the old mercury vapor street light was changed out along with the isolation transformer taken down.

10123 U.S. Route 20, Williams County, Ohio Two CD 302 Hemingray glass insulators in service use along highway 20 in Ohio. Looks like the Red-winged Blackbird on the top wire enjoys the view of the glass insulator.

Wabash, Indiana Six CD 1104 glass spool insulators on an abandoned mounting bracket on a building in Wabash, Indiana. Twice I've asked the owner of the building if I could get this bracket but was refused because of liability reasons.

252 Walmer Ave., Bluffton, Indiana This pole on the top crossarm shows two CD 230 Hemingray 512 glass insulators with the left one a D-512. The porcelain insulator on the far right is a U 399B loop insulator. The two lower glass insulators are more than likely CD 239 Kimble-830s but could also be Hemingray-830s. This pole just to the east of this pole. www.ipernity.com/doc/314471/27161083

Bluffton, Indiana In Bluffton, Indiana there are about 5 or 6 of these series lighting circuit regulator poles. The glass insulators are CD 230 Hemingray 512s. This pole just to the west of this pole. www.ipernity.com/doc/314471/27241593

1634 W Washington St., Bluffton, Indiana One of the few poles in Bluffton, Indiana that uses glass insulators on the old guy-wire A-frame bracket on the street light pole. The glass insulators on the primary are the typical CD 230 Hemingray 512 insulators. The insulator on the A-frame bracket closest to the pole is a CD 162 Hemingray the other a CD 164 Star insulator.

804 W Spring St., Bluffton, Indiana The late evening light brings on a slight golden glow to the transmission pole that runs along Spring St. in Bluffton, Indiana. The glass insulator on the primary is a CD 230 Hemingray 512.

829 W Cherry St., Bluffton, Indiana Last week I made a trip back down to Bluffton, Indiana and shot about 40 more poles with glass insulators. Sadly, some of the street lighting circuits got changed over on some of the poles. This shot shows two CD 230 Hemingray 512 glass insulators in service use along with a couple of older looking transformers one being a Line Material can and an old mercury vapor street light.

A shot of an old City Light and Power, Indiana Michigan Power utility pole in the neighborhood of Northside in Fort Wayne, Indiana. Sections of Northside and small sections of Spy Run are the last two neighborhoods in Fort Wayne to have some of the old CL&P/I&M poles still up in service. In this shot the glass insulator is a CD 168 Hemingray D-510 along with what looks like an older GE transfomer. Sadly, a couple days ago when I drove past these last of the old City Light and Power poles they where being upgraded completely. I'm glad I was able to photograph about 50 of the last old poles. I will say in about a year not a single old City Light and Power pole will remain in Fort Wayne. Before March 1, 1975 the top two crossarms would of been I&M while the bottom two CL&P. After that date, I&M leased from CL&P for 35 years until on February 28, 2010, I&M would eventually become the exclusive electric service provider for Fort Wayne.

This is a display cabinet of my glass pintype power insulators. These insulators were used for high voltage distribution and are the largest and heaviest glass pintype insulators produced in North America. Take insulator CD 331 which is 15" wide and 11" high and weighs in at 38 lbs, which makes it the largest and heaviest glass pintype insulator produced in North America. This Pyrex insulator was produced by the Corning Glass Works in Corning, New York in the 1930's and supported voltages of 70,000 volts. One of the more unique insulators which is really not a power insulator is the CD 317 Chambers Lightning Rod Insulator. This insulator was produced by the Hemingray Glass Company in Covington, Kentucky from c1877-1880's which were used on lightning rod systems.

Whitley County, Indiana A close up shot of a CD 232 Hemingray D-513 in service use supporting a single phase circuit. I've only seen Hemingray D-513s in service use at two locations in Whitley County, Indiana. Here is a wide angle shot of the same pole. www.ipernity.com/doc/314471/23519961

Whitley County, Indiana A wide angle shot of a CD 232 Hemingray D-513 in service use supporting a single phase circuit. I've only seen Hemingray D-513s in service use at two locations in Whitley County, Indiana. Here is a close up shot of the same pole. www.ipernity.com/doc/314471/23519963