Folks, A nagging question that I've never really asked, but that hopefully someone with more B&B knowledge than I can answer. I've noticed photos over the years, both Frisco and other roads, of telegraph poles, utility poles, etc. with a band of white paint anywhere from 2-3 feet from the ground up. Case in point: this photo of Blytheville AR. Blytheville, Ark Station Crocker, MO, with a very faded layer of paint/ Crocker, MO These always seem to be painted in or near depots or yards. Hence, I've always assumed that it was for visibility purposes so that someone does not walk face-first into a pole on a dark night. However, maybe there are other reason? I'm also wondering if there were any B&B standards that stipulated when and where poles would be painted, and generally the height or how far up from ground level? Thanks in advance. Best Regards,
The UP painted the poles around the Parsons, Kansas yard about four years ago white. so it is still done. It was explained to me that it was for visibility and was a safety issue. Not sure about a standard height above ground level, maybe how tall the guy painting is? John Chambers
It was done on trees and I guess poles in the 1940s supposedly for insect control. I heard it was lime or whitewash. See: http://www.ehow.com/how_7651253_make-trees-keep-bugs-off.html Tom G.
Y'know, now that you mention it Tom, I can remember seeing the trees in front of my Dad's high school in Delta, MO with what I guess was whitewash on the trunks. Delta was a junction point for the SL-SF Hoxie Sub, the SSW, and the MoP's Iron Mountain Line. Seems to make perfect sense, now. Perhaps better visibility was a fringe benefit of keeping the critters out of the wood. Best Regards,
I grew up in Springfield, MO and my folks painted the Elm trees to keep the worms off. Most of the poles I seen painted on the Frisco was Sunshine Yellow for safety. To keep trucks from backing into them. Bill Jackson
An early-1900s photograph of the KCC&S yard area in Clinton, MO appears to show a white band around each telegraph pole, somewhere around six to eight feet off the ground. It's a blown-up section from a distant panoramic shot, and it's hard to pick out any more detail than that. I seem to recall seeing tree trunks painted white in the vicinity of prisons, also. I presumed that this was to make it people, escaped inmates, easier to see.
I was just looking at a 1914 Frisco blueprint for Mile Marker signs. "Fasten to telegraph pole nearest mile end. Marker should project towards and be at right angles to the center line of track and should be fastened to pole 13' above ground where possible. Telegraph Pole to be white washed from ground line to bottom of mile marker board." As for instructions for telegraph pole numbers, "The surface of the telegraph pole for the distance indicated by the dimension "A" to be painted white. The figures to be painted black 5 1/4 inches high with the 1 inch dividing line in black. The white surface above the dividing line will be a variable dimension (1' 3" high for 1 and 2 figures to 2' 4 1/2" for 4 figures). Figures to be painted on every 5th telegraph pole where there are 40 or less per mile and on every tenth pole where there are over 40 poles per mile."
