NEW TREASURES FROM FRANCE

The last six or so insulator research trips to France by this writer have resulted in a number of new insulator finds being made. After studying detailed photos, technical information, etc., Mr. N. R. Woodward has assigned the following CD numbers to some of the more significant finds. This writer is pleased to be able to share them with the hobby.

1. CD 348.5 Folembray / No 465. 
Dimensions - 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 x 7-3/8. 
Color - green.

A two-piece, cemented power insulator in an interesting mushroom shape. Nine of these insulators were purchased from the owner of a very old power plant that closed decades ago. The owner used an acetylene torch to cut the heavy metal pins off the building but, fortunately, none of the insulators shattered from the intense heat.

2. CD 378.3 Folembray /No 469. 
Dimensions - 12 x 8-5/8 x 10-1/4 x 12-1/4.
Color - dark green.

This unique, twenty-nine pound insulator was torched off the same old power plant mentioned above. The rounded dome and rounded upper skirt of this insulator and the CD 348.5's listed above are an unusual shape for Folembray insulators.

The photo above shows the CD 378.3 on the right and a 26 pound Folembray / No 4345 on the left, also a new find but not a new CD as very close to the CD 370 unembossed Armourlight. A beautiful pair of these more typically shaped Folembray power pieces were torched off the same old power plant as above two items.

3. CD 571.1 Folembray / / No 216. 
Dimensions - 2-3/4 x 3-3/4.
Color- green.

This insulator on left is a much larger CD 578.2 Folembray / / No 218. Two CD 571.1 units known, I both removed from an inside wall of the old Folembray glass factory which closed in 1956.

Note: When the Folembray glass company closed in 1956, the French government took control of the entire complex and used it as a military installation until 1999, when military use ended and the complex was given to the city of Folembray. The city retained part of the complex and uses it as their public works department depot. The rest of the old factory complex was sold and a new business established there. Some of the old buildings were leveled and others gutted and rebuilt to establish this new business.

Thanks to the friendship and cooperation of the foreman of the public works department and the owner of the new business, many old and rare Folembray insulators were recovered from the inside and outside walls of the Folembray complex for this writer in lieu of being smashed and deposited in the local landfill. Five of the new CD's listed in this report were salvaged from the old Folembray complex and have never been found or seen at any other location in France by this writer.

4. CD 613 Folembray / / No 224. 
Dimensions - 5-1/2 by 4-1/4.
Color - yellow green.

CD 613 is a four pound cable top insulator, the largest of four cable top insulators made by Folembray and numbered 221, 222, 223, and 224. Only the No 222, second from left, a CD 601.2 is listed in current materials with the No 221 and the No 223 being too close to existing CD's to warrant new numbers.

5. CD 649.5 Isorex/ / 334.
Dimensions - 6 inches width iron top, 3-1/2 inch base by 5 inches tall.
Color - dark green.

A unique, iron top insulator, this item has an interesting history. A section of a canal built by Napoleon in northern France became so polluted by the gas and diesel fumes of heavy barge traffic in the early 20th century that the government built a suspended trolley type electric line out over the canal and required all barges to cut off their engines, hook up to the electric line, and cruise silently and pollution free through this heavily polluted area. This electrification system was abandoned decades ago and all signs of it removed save for two ancient brackets this writer found in a remote area that were suspended from a steep bank high above the canal. Photo 5a shows the bracket with the CD 649.5 and a porcelain counterpart to the left, exactly as they were discovered. A second bracket with two more of the porcelain iron tops was discovered nearby.

6. CD 1060.1 Folembray / No 11.
Dimensions - 5-5/16 inches diameter, 3-7/8 inches wide.
Color - dark green.

Twelve of these four pound pulleys were removed from the rafters of the largest building in the Folembray complex but most were heavily damaged. Photo 6a shows three sizes of the Folembray pulleys used at the factory complex. The No 9 on left in photo was reported previously and is CD 1063.5. The large No 11 is in the middle and the smaller, newly discovered No.7, listed later in this report, is on the right.

7. CD 1099 Folembray/No 814. 
Dimensions - 3-3/8 inches diameter by 2-3/8 inches wide.
Color - dark green.

Two of these handsome, unusual pulleys with raised centers were removed from a bracket high in a corner of the same building the large No 11 pulleys listed above were found.

8. CD 1101 Folembray /No 7. 
Dimensions - 2-1/2 inches diameter by 1-1/8 inches wide. 
Color - green. 

This is the smallest of the three pulleys shown in photo 6a, all used at the Folembray complex. The No 7 and the No 9 pulleys both have raised centers for additional strength while the heavy No 11 pulley does not have a raised center.

9. CD 1150 Folembray / / No 104. 
Dimensions - 4-3/4 by 4-1/8.
Color - yellow green.

A pair of these very unusual, iron top insulators were cut off an inside wall at the old Folembray factory, complete with a pair of insulators wired to each one and a few decades of accumulated bird droppings. One CD 1150 had a pair of CD 640 "boys" wired to two bolts in it's base while the - - other CD 1150 had a pair of CD 578.2's wired to it. The last photo shows both CD 1150's with other insulators attached.

An additional report listing other new treasures from France will be forthcoming.