I suppose that most telegraph lines follow railroad lines. These lines are a potential source of fine insulators, if the lines can be located and are old.

Recently I found a wonderful hard bound book entitled, Right-of-Way--A Guide to Abandoned Railroads in the U.S. The author states that it was the first book of its kind when printed. He explains the various governmental sources used to compile the information and offers several marvelous stories of his explorations along these lines as well as many nice pictures. Most importantly, there is a full page map of every state in the country showing the course of abandoned lines, each line giving the beginning and the ending points. The author is Waldo Nielsen, copyright 1974, by the Old Bottle Magazine, Box 243, Bend, Oregon 97701. Library catalog #385.097.

The only map I've found showing both state highways and railroad lines is a topographical map. I purchased a U.S. Interior Department Geological Survey map (scale 1:500,000) covering the entire state. I then transposed the abandoned lines from Right-of-Way to this map for quick location. It is very easy and opens a whole new dimension to our search.

In closing, I would like to relate a passage from the book, which I'm sure, will stir the imaginations of many readers as it did mine. The title of the chapter is "A Tale of Two Hikes." The following quote comes from Mr. Nielsen's hike through the Maine woods, "Via a Trail of Insulators."

"The trail was a downed telephone line. The trail markers were the insulators, some on the ground and some on the trees. This was literally a `trail of insulators.' It is very easy to get lost in the Maine Woods; this hike would have been extremely difficult to even attempt without these wonderful trail markers."