[GreenKeys] Lightning risk for old time telegraphers and TTYoperators

[TELEGRAPHER at att.net]

 Open wire and regular "drop wire" going to houses in cities and towns is a different animal.  To Speak of outside or rural places where they were fed with Open wire we used a different type of "protector" mounted on the side of the building.  In town it was a phenolic or bakelite type material that had 3 terminals.  The two outside ones were for the Tip and Ring while the lower center one was where the ground rod  was attached.  In the country we used a larger type unit and i don't recall the nomenclature of it but it had a pair of fuses that were about 4 inches long in it.  Often when a sever storm might come along with real bad lightening we would have to go out and at least replace the fuses.  Sometimes we would have to replace the line from the pole to the house, the protector box and everything within it because the lead in wire was fried and the box was blown off the house.  No damage in the house or to the phones.
And another oddity of it was that may have been the only house on the circuit that had any damage.  

I've seen houses in residential areas that took a good strike of lightening and it blew the bakelite or whatever material it was blown in two.  In those cases the drop wire from the pole to the house may have been damaged or it may not.  We would normally replace it as a precaution.  Once down out of the air you could run your hands across the length of it and tell by the feel whether or not  it had taken a shot.  Most occurances though were in the rural areas but it was not a real common occurance, at least out in western Kansas where the wind blows constantly!  From the south and then from the north, alternating days and directions,  Ya gotta love it!

Larry
W0OGH


  -------------- Original message from "amourdutigre" <amourdutigre at kc.rr.com>: --------------


Here is a question that I have often wondered about. In the days of open wire circuits, it seems to me that (especially in the plains and the open deserts) that lightning would be a real factor in the operation of landline TTY and Telegraph circuits. 
 
I realize that even though lightning is a DC potential (huge DC potential) that it has some LC characteristics in that it 'pulses' for lack of a better term, and its safe grounding to earth can be effected by all sorts of things.
 
How did the old time telegraphers deal with this danger, especially when it might be clear and sunny where they were operating, yet a lightning bolt hit the wires a hundred miles away where it was storming?
 
Just curious...I realize this might be an old question, but I am not sure how to use the archives. 
 
Best and 73
 
Joe KB0TXC
 
P.S. I have found some open wire circuits that follows the major rail line that goes east out of Kansas City along highway 210 (I think) through North Kansas City, which lays north of the Missouri River. The lines seem to be well maintained, and they are genuine open wire lines with glass insulators, and every so many miles, it seems that there is some sort of drop from the lines with woven wires of some sort, that terminate in a large silver box near the rail right of way. I am assuming (oh dear) that these are either train signaling circuits or automatic turnout control circuits, but could be very mistaken. If anyone is interested, I will take some photos and post them. BTW, the wires seem to be strung very tight...I would think that in cold weather, that they might snap. There is almost no sag whatsoever in them.
 
j 
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