The Locke MULTIPARTS in British Columbia....on the cover!
Reprinted from "Crown Jewels of the Wire", April 1999, page 3
This photo was taken in the Spring of 1990 west of Rossland, BC. It shows the
original configuration of the number 9 and 10 line as it starts the crossing of
the Santa Rosa Pass area to Grand Forks, BC. This is one of the most rugged and
isolated parts of the West Kootenay Power (WKP) transmission territory. Although
the line was carefully maintained and poles replaced over the years, there is no
reason to doubt that many of the insulators in this picture have been in
continuous service since they were installed in 1906.
The pole in the foreground
shows a nice light tan Victor M-4321 on the left and a darker one on the right.
These are unquestionably the insulators used on the original construction. The
center insulator is a later replacement, most likely a Canadian Porcelain M-3611
or a similar style made by Ohio Brass.
In the background you can see more
M-4321s and Imperial U-934s which are the white insulators on the lower
crossarms in the distance. These Imperials were very likely ones used on the
very first 20kv lines built by WKP from Bonnington Falls to Rossland in 1898.
They were probably salvaged and re-used here when the 1898 line was increased to
60kv in 1906, the same year this line was built.
In the photo we see the line dipping down into a small valley and then
proceeding to climb the steep hill in the distance. This is typical of the
terrain this line passes through on its 60 mile route to Grand Forks. I'm really
glad I took a series of photos of this part of the line; a year later all of
this construction was completely removed and replaced with modern insulators.
Jeff Hogan and I were only able to recover a handful of insulators from this
area. Only two fairly damaged U-934s and a couple of M-4321s survived the removal
of this section.
....Robin Harrison
A wonderful research West Kootenay Power article is being prepared by Robin
Harrison which will run in Crown Jewels of the Wire in the near future.
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