Canadian Pacific Railway Pin Insulator- Ontario, Canada
Glass insulators were part of the electric transmission system powering telegraphs and railway signals throughout the 19th century.
In Canada, railroad lines were not equipped with telegraphic lines until the Grand Trunk Railway (1860). Several years later, the Canadian government began making plans to connect local railways across the country, but the project had been riddled with bribes and bad contracts.
This insulator is marked “Canadian Pacific RY CO” (Canadian Pacific Railway Company), the company that eventually took over the contracts. Construction officially began in 1875 and lasted until 1885. However, the insulator is from a time before the railways.
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Pintypes like the one are grooved at the base and threadless underneath. The threadless models had trouble staying in place on utility poles and were later replaced with threaded models for more stability. The insulator may have been produced several years earlier while the name was still owned by Hugh Allen, the original petitioner for the national railway contract.
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Sources:
McDougald , J. & C. McDougald. "Insulators: a history and guide to north american glass pin type insulators" Online, 1990.
