Hopefully most of the mistakes I make in PIN are infrequent and insignificant. This time my mistake was not minor but gratefully reported by only one person, Howard Banks. Most of the readers of PIN either did not catch the error, noticed but didn't bother to write, or were so confused you didn't know what I was talking about. Howard became interested in Fred Locke insulators after reading PIN in November 1997 CJ. He pointed out my error in that article which confused the issue so badly that I probably should rewrite it. Please take the time now to get your November 1997 issue and turn to page 10. Change all of the mentions of M-2250 on page 10 to M-2430. Both styles are Fred Locke insulators and extremely rare at that so most readers may not have caught the difference. I started out on page 9 reporting the M-2250 Jeff Hogan obtained at the 1996 London show which was correct (one M-2250 with #7-1 marking and two unmarked M-2250's). M-2250 is the 2-part cemented version of U-964. The insulators in the photo on page 10 are actually M-2430's. The whole M-2430 in the picture has two #7-1 markings and it is the only known marked specimen.

M-2430 (left) and M-2250 (right).

Howard recently found pieces of M-2430 in Oregon which have the #6-2 and #7-1 Fred Locke marking, pieces of M-2795's with #4-1 marking, pieces of M-2842 with #6-2 marking, and one piece of M-2842 with the #4-5 marking. All of the pieces of Fred Locke insulators he found which show the manufacturing date bear various dates from May to September 1901. When Howard first walked these old lines more than 30 years ago, he didn't find any whole multipart porcelain insulators, and he didn't bother to pick up the broken ones because he was looking for glass. We will no doubt hear more about Howard's insulator hunts in the future.

Louis Fort "E" type insulator and metal bracket.

Louis Fort "E" type clamp insulator showing both halves 
and section of conductor with insulated covering. Note how 
grooves formed in the inner channel of the insulator left
impressions in conductor insulation when the insulator
halves were clamped together.

Also in November 1997 CJ on page 13, PIN reported the Louis Fort clamp insulator patented in 1917. Since then I acquired a nice example of the Louis Fort clamp insulator complete with metal bracket and a piece of the insulated conductor. Note that the "E" is in a different place on the insulator (front and back) than the one reported in November, and the patent date appears on only one side. The "E" is also on both sides of the metal bracket and bears the 1917 patent date. The embossed (raised) marking on the dry process porcelain insulator is as follows:

Front: PATENTED "E" 9/18/17
Back: PATENTED "E"

The embossed marking on the metal bracket is:

Front: L F MFG CO / JERSEY CITY / N.J.
Back: PAT 9-18-17 / AND / PATS PENDING

Note that the grooves formed along the inner channel of the insulator have pressed into the conductor insulation, which allows the insulator to firmly grip the conductor. The inner channel is not round but more of an elongated oval or rectangle with round corners: 1/2" x 3/4".

Louis Fort "D" type clamp insulator.

Jeff Hogan has a Louis Fort "E" insulator like the one we reported in November 1997 CJ and it even has a similar pretty glaze. Jeff also reported having a "D" insulator complete with metal bracket marked with the letter "D" (see photo) on both sides. Jeff notes that each half of the insulator has a different glaze color, which may indicate the two halves, were not originally together. However, it would not surprise me that the porcelain halves were shipped separate from the metal brackets (for large orders) and assembled in the field. That would explain different glaze colors and why both halves have the patent date. Note below that the quote marks around each "D" are different. The embossed marking on the dry process porcelain insulator is:

Front: "D" / PAT. SEPT. 18 1917 
Back: 'D' (note single' mark) / PAT. SEPT. 18 1917

The embossed marking on the metal bracket is:

Front: L F MFG CO / JERSEY CITY / N.J.
Back: PAT 9-18-17 / AND PATS / PENDING

Note the slightly different marking on the back side of the bracket and that both halves of the insulator have the same marking except for the quote marks. The inner channel on the "D" insulator is slightly larger: 3/4" x 1". The "E" insulator (2-3/4" diameter by 3-3/4" tall) is slightly smaller than the "D" (3" diameter by 3-7/8" tall).

Jeff Tracy and Wayne Erwin have searched many miles of railroad right-of-way in the Missouri area looking for the MP marked U-152's. They have found quite a few brown and white U-152' s with the incuse MP marking and their collection exhibits the great variety of glaze and marking locations that can be found in this particular insulator. They quickly noticed that, while many of the brown U-152's were marked on either the skirt or the dome, all of the white ones were marked on the dome. Then one day they found a white one marked on the skirt and some time later they found a second skirt-marked one. Now each of them has a skirt-marked white U-152. Jeff says the holder for the MP letters appears to be different that that used to mark the other MP's. Both letters are placed together with a more or less rectangular depression showing on one side. Of the couple of hundred MP's they have seen, they have not seen any with the rectangular impression showing on the dome-marked ones. I've been trying to collect all the various marking locations and asked Jeff if they ever found another one...... The skirt-marked ones were so rare that I did not seriously think they would have much chance of finding another one.

This past March Jeff and Wayne decided to do more searching after work one afternoon and pick up a few of the original crossarms for a display for their MP insulators. In the same vicinity where they found the other two skirt-marked white U-152's, they found a third one about a half mile north!! The insulator had popped off the crossarm and was hidden in thick undergrowth undetected in their earlier searches. Jeff and Wayne are pretty excited about this latest find and about making a new discovery their first year searching for porcelain insulators. They are "having a ball hunting for them". You should contact Jeff Tracy (ICON member) if you would like to get an MP marked U-152. THANK YOU Jeff and Wayne for your gift of the third skirt-marked white U-152 MP!!