MARKER INSULATORS ABROAD

What are marker insulators? They are insulators that are used to identify special lines that run from pole to pole along a railway, a highway, or across country. For example, when there are several insulators on a cross arm that are all the same size and shape, one or two of them might be glazed yellow while the others are left white. The colored ones indicate that they are on a special line. Special lines would include high voltage power supply lines for block signals and telecommunication lines between distant points such as Berlin to Paris, or toll lines operating at different frequencies. Every country has a different way of identifying these special lines. 

(Cover Photo)

Several other colors of glaze can be used for this purpose, as well as colored bands or stripes around the skirt of the insulator. N.R. Woodward says that several years ago there were even a couple of patents issued for Hemingray 162's in amber and cobalt blue, which were to be used as marker insulators for fire alarm circuits in America, but he didn't seem to think that many of them were ever used for that purpose. Let's take a look at some of the marker insulators used in different parts of the world. These photos are in black and white so you may have to take several peeks at the front cover as you read.

U-1549 in bright red

To me this U-1549 in bright red is the most distinctive of all the marker insulators I have ever seen. It measures nearly 5" in height and was made by Bullers Ltd. of London in 1958. This was one of two identical insulators mounted on a U-shaped metal bracket underneath the cross arm and was used in England on a high voltage power supply line for railway signals. One of the two wire grooves was for dead ending and the other was for the drop line. This style is a bit wider and heavier than the slimmer red U-1452 with only one groove, which would have been on the top side of the cross arm but connected to the same line. The U-1549 needed to be very sturdy because the physical strain of the drop line was all in one direction.

U-1156 in dark olive green

U-1156's are widely used in Australia on telecommunication lines along the railway. There are literally hundreds (thousands?) of these insulators in Australia but most of them are glazed white or off white. They were manufactured locally for a while but it was soon discovered that it was cheaper to import them from other countries. This particular insulator was part of a shipment ordered from NGK of Japan. Ink stamped on the skirt is the company trademark along with the words "Made in Japan". The insulator is 5-1/4" tall. Because so many white examples of this style were used on toll lines throughout the country, it is more likely that the olive green color may have been used to signify that a certain section of the line was owned by a local telephone or telegraph company. I wouldn't say the U-1156 in this color is rare but neither is it common.

U-1502 in powder blue

This U-1502 in light powder blue is a beautiful piece, but not many have been found in this color, though this particular style is very common in Australia. While a few examples in brown have been imported from England and some in white from Germany, most of these large bell shapes were made locally with a white or an off white glaze for use on power lines. This particular example is 5-1/4" tall but bears no markings to identify the company that produced it. While it is definitely a marker insulator, we don't know the significance of the blue color.

U-1745 in butter yellow

U-1745 in yellow is also a beauty. It is 5-5/8" in height and was produced by the company known as Suisse Langenthal, located in the city of Langenthal, Switzerland. There is an incused trademark of the factory on the skirt. My husband Bill and I brought it home with us after a trip to Europe in 1993 and have treasured it ever since. After riding mile after mile on a train through Switzerland, there is no doubt in my mind that this insulator was used as a marker. There was only one of these yellow insulators on each cross arm among several white ones of the same size and shape. As long as the poles were following the railway, the yellow insulators were marking the long distance toll line, but just as that line branched off into a small town, they got smaller in order to handle short distance telecommunication.

U-1491 in pea soup green

U-1491 is another common insulator style used widely in Australia for either telecommunication or low voltage power lines. It is 3-1/2" in height and usually found in white, off white, putty, or dark brown. Until recently, only four examples were known to exist in this pea green color and were considered to be very scarce. Then not too long ago, an Australian collector found about a dozen of these on a line in Victoria but no more. He kept one for himself, then traded the rest with local collector friends. The insulators are still scarce. I would be curious to know just what they were "marking". They may have signified that the line on which they were used was owned by a certain telephone. or telegraph company but we can't know that for sure. Maybe someone in Australia will be reading this and can give us some information. If so, please holler back from Down Under!!

The coveted gray lavender 
toll from Chile

There's a good possibility that this unmarked porcelain toll in gray lavender found in Chile last winter by Robin Harrison was used to mark a certain line there, but with no facts to go on, we'll have to wait until he goes back again to find out (you are going, aren't you Robin?). The fact that there were also dark brown and light blue ones of essentially the same style (sim. U-1181 in Worldwide Porcelain Insulators book) at the bottom of the pole makes me think they were probably marker insulators, too. If you didn't read Robin's excellent article in the April '98 issue of Crown Jewels, you may want to pull it out again. Gray lavender is such an unusual color for a porcelain insulator! Can you imagine a Canadian beehive or a Mickey Mouse in this color? Think about it.

U-1707 with cobalt blue crown

This unmarked U-1707 is 4" tall and was found in Mexico by Jim Bates of Austin, Texas. The insulator is white except for a cobalt blue crown. He also had another white Mexican insulator just like it, but the crown of this one was orange. Both examples were the same style and size. Both of these pieces were used as marker insulators on either a power supply or a telecommunication line. There is no attributable marking on either one so we don't know if they were made in Mexico or imported from another country. They look very attractive on the shelf but neither one is easy to find.

U-1604 in white with  fuchsia colored band	U-1690 in white with  dark green band

The colored bands on these last two marker insulators were there to identify special lines in each of their respective countries. In both cases there would be other insulators of the same size and style on the cross arm but these would not have the colored bands. U-1604 is 4-1/2" tall and came off a power supply line in Italy. U-1690 is 4" in height and was used on a telecommunication line in Germany. Neither insulator bears a company trademark but chances are that they were manufactured in the countries where they were used.

It is really fun to collect these marker insulators with their pretty colors and interesting stripes. They can be a refreshing change from the plain brown and white ones.