Object Record
Images
Metadata
Object Name |
Insulator, Porcelain |
Subject |
Furnishings and Accessories Rail |
Category |
10: Unclassifiable Artifacts |
Sub-category |
Need to Classify |
Accession Number |
1979.039.030 |
Donor |
Cecil Swan |
Description |
Insulator - CPR - white porcelain - green letters 7.2 cm diameter X 9.8 cm. |
Provenance |
This artefact is a Canadian Pacific Railway porcelain telegraph insulator. The job of the insulator is to sit on a wooden pin on a pole in order keep the transmission wire suspended in air. This keeps the contact dry to ensure signal transmission. This particular insulator has internal threads to connect it more securely to the telegraph pole. The internal threads meant that there was less of a likelihood of the insulator being knocked down, therefore reducing instances of track maintenance. The Canadian Pacific Railway was founded in 1881 to link the populated East with the relatively unpopulated West. Efficient communication became necessary as the railway spread across Canada. In 1882 Mission built its first railway station and by 1891 the Fraser River Railway Bridge was built to accommodate a connection across the river to Abbotsford. Mission attracted land investors due to its accessibility to the rail as well as its proximity to the United States. |
Accession number |
1979.039 |