Just wondering what kind of experiences any of you have had hunting old cross-country phone lines.
I came across some old maps showing one in west-end Ottawa that turned up NOTHING. It was in a rocky area and there weren't even piles to be found at potential pole sites!
Thinking it was a fluke, I decided to try another one, this time it was the old Montreal-Toronto long distance line that ran along some roads, then took cross-country shortcuts. I found poles from the old line along one road last fall and confirmed it was part of this route. In many spots there were double poles with crossarms and empty pins. I could tell looking at them up-close that there were 4 crossarms on these poles. The evidence lies not in the notches on the pole, but the diagonal marks where the braces were attached. I was hoping thse double poles once held tramps, but there was not a shard to be found ANYWHERE!! On sections of the line where the poles were removed there was no evidence it had ever existed.
Was this just Bell's policy everywhere? Talk about frustrating!
After this dismal hunt I went to a nearby flea market and found a pile of aqua ponies and left them there... I had managed to pull a couple of electric fence insulators while walking the phone line, but I felt like I had a crummy hunt. Determined to get some glass, I stopped by an active line and made a dash for the nearest double pole before it started p*ssing rain. One the ground there must have been 20 Dominions and a few CanPac shards... a few feet away I stuck my pitchfork in the ground and hit more glass... this time 4 CanPac 143's and a Hemi Blue SDP 145. Nothin spectacular, but I hope I'm getting due for a purple CanPac considering the hundreds of common ones I've found over the past 3 years!!!