Georgia Railroad Insulator Hunt for 1870's telegraph insulators

[@rodshelley1170]

Man, this brings back some good memories! Lots of fun days exploring some of the old lines here in Missouri. There are still a lot of standing poles along tracks east and north of Independence, where I live. Lots of good old Hemi-42s, a good number of Brookies, and beehives still out there. I had to thin out my collection a few years ago, but I still have a pretty decent collection of glass. Looks like a fun hunt, good sir!

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

@@rodshelley1170 Thanks Rod! All of the old poles have been cut down around here but there’s still good stuff laying around and buried. I’ll be excited to get out and look again when it gets cold and the snakes and ticks aren’t out. Thanks for watching!

[@spanishFriedEggsOnYoutube]

This is pure gold! I wish I could find this stuff near me.

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

Thanks for watching! Where do you live?

[@spanishFriedEggsOnYoutube]

@@HighVoltageAdventures I live in MI, we don’t have this old of stuff here

[@paulhare662]

I remember when "insulator hunting" was four friends with .22 bolt actions walking old train tracks with a brick of .22s.

[@EJBuddy]

Cool that you have such old stuff out there, here in MN most of our railroads were built in the 1890s and H. G. Co. Beehives are about the oldest things i find.

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

There was lots of great old glass used here. All of the old pole lines are gone so that’s sad but I can still find the old timers if I look hard enough. I do miss all of the old lines though. Thanks for watching! 😁👍

[@KSMiller-rv3yn]

Enjoyed this video, Mike. Thank you! Looks like a blast !

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

Thanks for watching! I’ll make more insulator hunting videos in the future. I just got a new IPhone so I’m excited to make new videos with it 👍😁

[@shortliner68]

Thanks for sharing your collection. I have a green Brookfield beehive insulator like the one you have. Actually, I have two that were found along the B&O RR outside Baltimore. One was the type used by Western Union and has a shop number on top. The other is smooth on top like yours.

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

Thanks for watching the video! I’ll do more in the future. I actually found some B&O marked telegraph insulators along the Santa Fe RR in Texas. It was puzzling as to why they would be out there until a friend figured out that the B&O had a telegraph division and their lines stretched all the way out west. Check it out! The B&O Telegraph Company 👍😁

[@shortliner68]

@@HighVoltageAdventures Now, that's a pretty neat bit of history! I never had heard about the B&O Telegraph Company before even though I was born and raised in Baltimore, and very much into local RR history. Thank you for that information. Hope you come across some more cool insulator finds in your hunts.

[@michaelsadventures4261]

Interesting adventure.

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

Thanks for watching! As always! 😁👍

[@brianschultz9237]

Great video! Thanks for taking us along and showing what you found! 🤘

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

I just wish I had more time to hunt! I will make more videos in the future. Thanks for watching and for the great comments! 😁👍

[@larryrichards6099]

Great video Michael!

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

Thanks Larry! Thanks for watching! 👍😁

[@LionelTrains50]

I have a clear hard plastic 1940 railroad insulator that is an Illinois central railroad spike that goes in the tracks to insulate the tracks

[@SlabbinNCabbin]

My best find was 12 hemingray blue signals buried in a cache. I’m still looking for broken pieces of amber stacker sleeves.... you’re giving me that itch to go hunt.

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

Very nice! That would be fun to look for the amber stacker sleeves. They are pretty rare. Go for it and let me know how it goes! Thanks for watching! 😁👍

[@erikagreen5685]

Great video 🎉 cool finds

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

Thanks Shuggie! 😘

[@jerrycunningham3411]

Hey I’m new to your channel and really enjoy watching the hunt. I have a few insulators that I have no idea about. I found one along the tracks “”bullet” style and only has a “B” on side and “9” on top.

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

@@jerrycunningham3411 The B “Beehives” we collectors call them were made by the Brookfield glass company during the early 1900’s. They can be found in lots of colors from aqua, green, blue and purple all over the US. Thanks for watching! I’ll be making more insulator hunting videos as soon as it cools off some. Right now there’s too many snakes, bugs and poison ivy out here. Let me know if you have anymore questions about insulators 👍😁

[@bouncerslabrealnature9143]

I clean my insulaters with warm water and Barkeeper's Friend.... Nothing works faster or better from my 45+ years of experience. (Barkeeper's Friend is cheap at DG. )

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

That’s what I always use also along with Brillo pads. It’s the best! Thanks for watching! Happy Collecting! 👍😁

[@swoodard75]

Nice hunting out in the wild. Love the old church and angel too.

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

Thanks sister! The church is definitely different with all of the old trees gone now

[@Kyle_R01]

Awesome videos! Keep up the good work. I also collect insulators. Hopefully I’ll get out to the tracks this spring and look around for some glass/porcelain.

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

Good Luck! I hope you find something good! I could have found more I just ran out of daylight. I need more time to insulator hunt! Thanks for watching!!! 😁👍

[@melvingrimes7886]

I have around 500 to a 1000 insulators behind my shed and no idea what kind they are. I didn't even know that people collected them.

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

Lots of people collect them. Do you have any colorful ones like purple, green, blue etc? We have insulator collector groups on Facebook. Take some pictures and we can tell you all about them

[@melvingrimes7886]

@@HighVoltageAdventures What is your group name. I will get some pictures and post them.

[@farmerjbird]

Fantastic! Lived in Brunswick, GA for a year, last year in high school, found 151 creb and skeb 151 Brookfields along Seaboard Air Line RR south of Everett, GA. Line abandoned a year after that. I wonder if there is still stuff around? Most poles are gone, there was lines on both sides of the track. Love the old churches too

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

I’m sure there’s probably some insulators along the line somewhere. I went down to Jesup a few years ago and there were some poles still up along the line. They might be gone now? The CD-151 Brookfields were pretty popular here in Georgia. I’ve found them on different lines across the state. Thanks for watching! 😁

[@GlassGuru-mu4hn]

I thought I saw a glimmer of something that looks blue and shiny under the station at 5:49 near the center of the screen, might be an insulator? I would definitely crawl under that place to look for old bottles and insulators if I were you! Also this video just made me realize that CD 151s exist with crown embossing😂 Thank you, loved the video!

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

Thanks I’ll have to look closer! There was a lot of old trash under the depot. I like the crown embossed CD-151’s. They were used on a few different lines here in Georgia 😁👍

[@GlassGuru-mu4hn]

@@HighVoltageAdventures Yeah I really like them to! I essentially only find the crown embossed CD 133s, but once in a while I find some other oldy. Love watching your insulator videos, keep em rolling!

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

@@GlassGuru-mu4hn I will! It’s going to be warming up here soon so hopefully I can get back out before the snakes and bugs are out again. Keep watching for more fun travels in the future! 😁

[@Gregory47342]

👍Where is my time machine?

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

If you find it let me know also! 😁 🚘

[@Gregory47342]

@@HighVoltageAdventures Would you go all the way back to the manufacturing days or just the lines coming down times?

[@SherylShields]

Do you keep the chipped or broken ones? Erika could use them in her crafts!

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

I do keep some of the broken ones. Some people put the broken chunks of glass in a rock tumbler and make jewelry out of them. Good idea!

[@Ridg76]

I live in New Hill, NC. Any suggestions as to where I can do some insulator hunting? So far it has been one big swing and a miss.

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

@@Ridg76 Figure out where the oldest railroad lines are and look for old pictures showing which sides of the track the poles were on. You can get with Doug Williams also. He lives in NC and I’m sure he would love to go hunting with you

[@Pitko_Paint]

I’ve found shards of older brookfields but nothing whole. What is a good method to find where to dig? Probe around? Just dig around poles? Use a metal detector? Thanks

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

I’ve tried lots of different techniques. I have found some nice pieces just searching around the base of poles. Some places I found where the poles were pulled up and the insulators were thrown in the pole holes and buried. I’ve been meaning to try my metal detector. I was told by a knowledgeable collector to use a metal detector up on higher areas where the poles were than where the RR grade is so you won’t hit so much railroad trash like spikes etc. I’ve been lucky and found dump areas where the lineman tossed the insulators also. Keep searching! What state do you live in?

[@Pitko_Paint]

@@HighVoltageAdventures Thanks for the information, I will hopefully find something whole. I am currently living in Ohio. Most of the lines I've explored have newer glass, but I have found shards for cd126's and 133's including one piece with the 1865 patent date. Finding anything older is my current goal (and not getting smoked by poison ivy).

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

@@Pitko_Paint you need to contact Ray Klingensmith. He’s one of the biggest collectors in the hobby and has been collecting since the 70’s. He lives there and could tell you all kinds of places to go hunting in Ohio

[@Pitko_Paint]

@@HighVoltageAdventures Do you have any contact info for him? I’ll definitely reach out. I really appreciate it!

[@Pitko_Paint]

@@HighVoltageAdventures Do you have any contact info for him? I might reach out and see what he says. Thanks!

[@SherylShields]

Is there a difference in their value with the different colors?

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

All of them have different values. Unusual colors make them more valuable and even the different markings on them can make them more valuable. Large bubbles, swirls and pieces of metal in the glass make them more valuable also. Thanks for watching! I hope you guys enjoyed it! 😁

[@industrialintensity2101]

That green 152 is kinda uncommon.

[@HighVoltageAdventures]

It’s full of milky junky stuff. It’s hard to see in the video. Thanks for watching!