Item: 1 Description: CD 130 Cal. Elec. Works Pair Mounted on Original “End of Line” Bracket. Purpose: I’ve seen “end of line” brackets like this in two other usages. One was in the attic of an 1860 era railroad station in California where telegraph wires tied off to a pair of wood block ramshorns. The second was in the attic of a store in Greensburg, Indiana where telephone wires tied off to a pair of CD 112 O.V.G.’s. This bracket was used at a mine in Nevada. It was acquired by an insulator collector from a museum in Virginia City, Nevada. Structural Detail: A spring-steel clamp is affixed to soft lead padding that is wrapped around the wire groove of the insulator to prevent damage. There are two copper cleats in the receiving portion of the brackets where the wires attached. The pins are painted red which was standard for EC&M and Cal. Elec. construction. The two pins are held in place within the wood block by square nails (visible in View 2). One bracket can be taken apart but the other is rusted closed and has never been removed from its insulator. Condition of Insulators: The one on the left in View 1, and also shown in View 7, is Grade A with insignificant nibbles on over poured glass around the base and with several shallow, natural, annealing lines. The one on the right in View 1, which has never had its bracket removed, is Grade B-Plus for a small flake off its dome. It has a large bubble above “CAL”, a large graphite curtain in its reverse skirt; and some faint amber swirls in the dome. Scarcity: Only one other Cal. Elec. Works bracket like this is known. We are told it resides in the museum of the George Ladd Chapter #47 of the Telephone Pioneers of America in San Francisco. George Ladd, by the way, was President of California Electric Works when the company was founded in 1877. Recent History: This item last sold in a 1999 Open Wire auction where it brought $1,595.00. That buyer, who is the current owner, no longer has space to display the piece and is making it available for other collectors to enjoy. The purpose of View 6 is to show off the bold embossing. Both insulators are the (010) Mold Line Over Dome EIN and are valued in the Price Guide at $600 - $700 EACH. It has been 26 years since this item last sold. You may never get another chance to buy this piece of history. Make sure to see all seven views.
Estimate: $1,250 - $1,500 Open: $500
Price realized: $3,050
|
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}
){kind=link}