The Springfield National show was great for porcelain insulators. Two very rare multipart porcelain insulator styles made their appearance for the first time. One display brought attention from everyone at the show including the glass collectors. And it captured seven awards! First, let's present the unusual style, M-4710.

The first M-4710 was an unmarked specimen shown at the 1988 Allentown National. Jeff McCurty got the insulator about 20 years earlier somewhere in upper New York. Chris Hedges bought the insulator for his collection. It was obviously made by the Lima Insulator Co. (1904-1908). They were apparently used on a steel-tower line that ran from Amsterdam to Balston Spa, NY. This one has a metal thimble cemented in the pinhole that has 3/4" machine threads. It is a huge 4-part insulator (17 - 11.5 - 16.5 - 7 x 16) with a recessed inner skirt. 

In late 1901, Ken Willick purchased a M-4710 with the incuse marking, LIMA. N.Y. Bob Pierce found it at a yard sale in upper New York. The pinhole was not threaded but did have grooves for cementing a metal thimble. It appeared to have been unused.

This. confirms M-4710 was made by Lima no later than 1908 before the factory was completely destroyed by fire. A couple of people have a good idea which line they were used on but no trace of them have been discovered in the field. It is amazing that two huge insulators have survived intact for almost 100 years.

Ron Yuhas found another M-4710 in Montana! It was being used as a garden ornament with several inches of the bottom skirt buried in the soil. When I saw this insulator at the Springfield National, it was obviously not a Lima product, but instead an early production of the R. Thomas & Sons Co. From the glaze color, I would guess it was made around 1908-1912. This Thomas M-4710 still had the heavy steel pin cemented in the pinhole. The attachment device on the pin indicates the insulator may have been used on a steel tower or in a substation or powerhouse. Carver Mead and Barbara Smith are now the proud owners of this very unusual insulator. 

The Thomas M-4710 is nearly identical in size to the Lima version with the diameters of each of the four skirts within 0.3" or less. Note the profile of the large bell-shaped bottom skirt is different. The skirt on the Thomas has a gentle curvature lily-shell profile whereas the Lima skirt has a definite break in the profile flaring straight out to the bottom edge.

M-4710 N-N Thomas showing steel pin cemented in the pinhole.

M-4710 N-N Thomas (left) and M-4710 Lima (right).

Carver Mead and Barbara Smith set up the most incredible display I have ever seen. In addition, they transported the huge insulators and museum quality display all the way from southern California! More of their incredible story and photographs can be viewed on my web site, www.rinfinity. com. The display was also set up for the enjoyment of visitors to the NIA Western Regional Show in San Jose, CA in August of this year. 

Previously, only one specimen of a Thomas M-4800 was known. It was shown at the 1988 Allentown National and purchased by Mike Guthrie. Bill Rohde currently owns that insulator. It is well documented in the trade journals that M-4800 was used in southern California on the 60,000-volt power line that ran 117 miles from the Kern River No.1 Powerhouse to Los Angeles. The line was put into service in 1907. The trade journals talk about a gray insulator made by Locke. Mike Spadafora searched the line extensively and only found a few fragment of the gray Victor as well as pieces of M-4800 made by Thomas and New Lexington.

Carver Mead and Barbara Smith became very interested in the Kern-1 line last year. Carver's father worked on the line so it holds special meaning for him. They took on the challenge of finding a whole specimen and researched the line and route in great detail. They found one section of the line where the concrete footing of the towers had been bulldozed out of the ground. The concrete had pieces of M-4800 sticking out of them. The line had been upgraded in 1916 to suspension insulators. The M-4800's were removed and thrown in holes drilled in the ground for concrete footings to better support the existing towers. 

They guessed that it would be useless to search sections of line that used concrete footings and the best location to search would be rugged, inaccessible sections where concrete footings were not used. There was a five-mile section through Piru canyon that appeared the best place to search. The almost impenetrable sea of 8-foot tall brush proved extremely difficult to search with its thorns ripping up their clothes. Usually the brush is kept under control by occasional fires every 20-40 years; however, one section had not been burned by fire in about 85 years. All of the towers had been removed in 1973 so it was difficult to find a tower site in the heavy brush. Sure enough, the tower sites showed no sign of concrete footings.

Gray M-4800 with Victor marking.

Carver and Barbara found three damaged insulators. One was a gray Victor, one an unmarked Thomas, and one an unmarked New Lexington. They were able to piece together broken parts for the Victor and Thomas. The New Lexington specimen required the assembly of broken parts from more than one insulator. Some pieces had to be expertly cut to fit. The final result is very nice complete with a section of conductor and the crown clamp assembly. The glazes on each of the three insulators are typical of production in 1907-1908. Sometimes kitsulator specimens are the only way we can see what the original insulator looked like.

The three specimens are indeed spectacular!!

Thomas M-4800

New Lexington M-4800