UNPUBLISHED PHOTOS FROM
THE W. KEITH NEAL COLLECTION

The collection of W. Keith Neal of Guernsey, Channel Islands, gathered together over many years time, included some of the most rare and unique insulators in existence. For those of you who may be unfamiliar with this gentleman and his love of insulators, I am going to quote from a tribute I made to him soon after his death, which was published in the July 1990 issue of Crown Jewels of the Wire. It was entitled "The Hobby has lost a hero". 

"On April 11, 1990, the day before Carol McDougald and I were to begin our month long 'research trip' to Europe, a long distance call brought some sad news: W. Keith Neal had passed away a few hours earlier. He was 84. His death came as a shock, even though we knew he had been in poor health for the past several months. We had planned to stop at his home in Guernsey for a short visit and he had looked forward so much to our coming. But it was not to be. We will all miss him - his contributions to the hobby were many. 

Through the kindness of a fellow subscriber, David Hibbert of Rickmansworth, in Herts, England, who sent copies of obituaries taken from his local newspapers, I am able to give you some background information about Mr. Neal. 

A Baptist minister's son, William Keith Neal was born at Boxmoor, Hertfordshire in England on November 11, 1905. The family's home was within sight of the London and North Western Railway and by the time he was 5 years old, Keith was an enthusiastic 'engine spotter '. This eventually fired an interest in steam railways, and in particular the ceramic insulators on the telegraph poles that ran alongside the tracks. He found his first real treasure, a broken Langdon terminal insulator, at age 8, while digging around at the bottom of a pole. He searched for and found all the pieces, glued it back together, and at that moment became an insulator collector. During the next 76 years, up to the day he died, Keith continued to add to his collection until he had what he himself acclaimed to be 'the only really comprehensive collection of almost every known pattern and variety of ceramic insulator used over a long period on British Railways '.

Keith was the author of the books 'SEARCHING FOR RAILWAY TELEGRAPH INSULATORS' (1982) and 'RAILWAY AND OTHER RARE INSULATORS' (1987), which have been well received by collectors in the U.S.A. and Canada, as well as in other parts of the world." 

He had been working on a third volume including photos of insulators he had acquired since 1987, but it was neither finished nor published due to his declining health. I know he would be pleased that these few examples are being shared with Crown Jewels of the Wire readers.

One of Keith's favorites.

The profile of this insulator is almost identical to a U-1673 with its height of 3-1/4", and even though the base diameter is 3/16" less than the 2-7/8" shown. in the WORLDWIDE PORCELAIN INSULATORS book, I suspect it will qualify as a U-1673. Except for the very top of the crown, which remains white, the insulator is glazed in a pretty olive green, both inside and out. The pin hole is just 1/2" in diameter and has tiny threads, intended to screw on to a metal pin. A 1953 Bullers trademark with "MADE IN ENGLAND" is stamped in white ink on one side of the crown. Though it is not particularly old, Keith really liked this little insulator. It was one of the last ones he acquired before his death. 

The insulator you see next has a very unusual profile. It has been classified as U-1553. The flat top is unglazed but the rest of the insulator is covered in a rich chocolate brown glaze, inside and out. Like the U-1673 above, this piece has a 1/2" pin hole with tiny threads for screwing on to a metal pin. A Bullers trademark dated 1953 is stamped in white ink on one side of the crown. Keith tied one of his personalized tags around the neck of the insulator and wrote the following: "Porcelain insulator with one wide groove and two minor grooves - found in Bullers factory in Stoke-on-Trent". To my knowledge it is the only example known and he seemed to think it might have been an experimental piece which was never made in quantity for service on the lines. 

An experimental piece?

The photo below shows two views of a unique one piece oil insulator classified as U-2903. It is 4" in height and has a girth of 4-3/8" at the widest part. Designed and patented by Johnson & Phillips of England, it was first produced by Schomburg & Sohne in Margarethenhutte, Germany some time during the early 1900' s. Notice how the base of the insulator curls up to form the oil cup. The only two examples of this style were found by British collector Dominic Allen several years ago. The insulators were out of service but high up on a building near London and black as coal! He never explained how he got them down! One he kept for himself and the other he gave to his friend Keith, who treasured it just as it was. I have that one in my collection now but I have since cleaned off the soot. Believe me, it took some doing!!

Johnson & Phillips Patent

Two designs of Walker's double cone insulator.

Neither of these two double cone insulators have U-numbers because they are not pin types, but they are truly unique and certainly served the purpose for which they were made. Both styles were patented by Mr. C. V. Walker for use in damp tunnels and date back to the 1870' s. These insulators made it possible to carry bare eight-gauge iron wires through damp tunnels by allowing them only one point of contact right at the center where the two halves of the cone came together. The one shown on the left in the photo is 3-5/8" tall and was known as the "standard" type. The example on the right with the open slot down the side is 1/8" shorter (no significance) and was called a "replacement" insulator because it could easily be slipped over the wire when replacing a broken cone, thus leaving the whole line intact. Keith's first book included a photo of Walker's replacement insulator, and at that time it was the only one he had. He longed to have one of the standard types and finally found one. It was to be shown in his third book but it was too late - he was too ill to carry on with it.

"Wow, a U-1941 with a brown glaze!"

All the U-1941's I've ever seen have had a white glaze, but this particular example of U1-941 is most unusual because the glaze is a dark chocolate brown. Only the base and the 1/2" pin hole are left unglazed. This style was used as a fuse insulator and nicknamed the "pothead". It is 4-5/8" in height and has a base diameter of 2- 7/8". Stamped in white ink on one side of the skirt are the letters G.P.O. for "General Post Office". Below that is the trademark of WADE POTTERIES LTD. located in Portadown, Co. Armagh, in Northern Ireland, where the insulator was produced. This trademark shows an owl and a triangle held in the palm of a hand. Keith acquired this beauty on the Island of Guernsey, Channel Islands, where he made his home soon after retirement. His housekeeper knew of his passion for insulators and got her husband to take this particular one down from the side of an abandoned building so she could present it as a gift to "Mr. Neal", as she politely referred to him. He wasn't entirely impressed because it was rather a common style, brown glaze or not, but he thanked her profusely. A few months later I made a third visit to see Keith and his wife Jane. While there I made shadow profiles of all his latest acquisitions to include in the WORLDWIDE PORCELAIN INSULATORS, 1986 SUPPLEMENT. Just as I was leaving for the airport to fly home, Keith put the brown U-1941 in my hands and said "enjoy it". I was totally blown away because I thought that insulator was so unusual and so beautiful - and I guess he knew it. It was my turn to thank him profusely!

The four insulators you see on the next page were a special part of Keith's collection, but I have no idea when, how or where he found them. They may have been gifts from friends traveling through other countries. All are glazed white with the trademark "Defuisseaux Baudour" stamped in red ink on the skirts. Quoting from an article I wrote in the January 1991 issue of Crown Jewels of the Wire magazine,

"The first factory was established in (the city of) Baudour, Belgium in 1842 by an engineer named Francois Declercq, who had studied porcelain manufacturing in Saxony, Germany. In 1880 the company was awarded to the Fuissueaux family by the French government for having produced 270,000 porcelain insulators! Insulators were marked simply "Defuisseaux Baudour". There were many different owners of the company between 1880 and 1977 when the French government of this area of Belgium invited NGK (of Japan) to join Baudour."

A magnificent lineup.

The present company name is NGK BAUDOUR S.A. and their trademark is an artist's conception of a rocket launching pad representing NGK's efforts to launch new ideas into the world in three areas: ceramic ecology, energy distribution, and special chemical machines to reduce garbage. 

At this time none of the four insulators has been assigned U-numbers, but that will happen. The first one on the left in the photo is similar to a U-1595 but is a bit larger. The next piece to the right won't be assigned a U-number at all because it's merely an insert for a porcelain insulator. The insulator second from the right is similar to a U-1364 but is wider and taller and has no inner skirt. The last one on the far right is similar to a U-1363 but is also without an inner skirt and doesn't quite fit the profile.

With the help of Elton Gish, my goal for 1998 is to update the WORLDWIDE PORCELAIN INSULATORS books, and consolidate all of the material, the old and the new, into one book. If Keith Neal were with us today, he would still be contributing to this effort. The hobby has indeed lost a hero.