Southbound BNSF passes by a relic of the Frisco which once carried signal code and communication lines. Many of the River Sub poles in southern Missouri were removed in the mid 2000s, but a few still stand. This was inspired by a favorite of mine taken by Craig Williams on the BNSF Mendota Sub, and stands as an ode to how I came to be interested in trains in the first place... picking up insulators along the tracks as a youngster.
Photos showing the railroad pole lines. The pole line used four basic electrical circuits - telegraph, telephone, signaling, and power. Modern technologies of fiber optics, microwave, radio, satellite, and computers have been replacing the pole lines.