# Found a wade threadless insulator/help.



## Chris777 (Apr 13, 2011)

Hey guys I know this is a bottle forum but I found half a threadless wade cd 723 insulator today on the tracks and was wondering if anyone had a value on it, even though its broke I would still like to know for future reference.


----------



## hunter2000 (Apr 13, 2011)

how about a pic.


----------



## BillinMo (Apr 13, 2011)

What a great find!  I'd love to see a pic, too.  

 It's really tough to put a value on an insulator with extensive damage, especially if it can't be displayed.  For a discovery like that, I think the thrill of finding it and the sentimental value are much more important.


----------



## Chris777 (Apr 13, 2011)

Hey guys I know my broken one wouldnt be nearly worth anything for a whole one but im curious how much would a whole one be worth, and about the pics ill have up tomorrow thanks.


----------



## tftfan (Apr 13, 2011)

Cool !...pic...pics...pics...   and Thank You


----------



## cowseatmaize (Apr 13, 2011)

Don't know value, don't know insulators. I saw threadless and my interest peaked. I'd say pics too.


----------



## Chris777 (Apr 13, 2011)

Heres a picture from another website.
 Mines just busted in half.


----------



## webby (Apr 14, 2011)

an aqua cd 723 in near mint condition books for 400 to 500


----------



## Chris777 (Apr 14, 2011)

Hey webby where are you getting your information from?


----------



## CALDIGR2 (Apr 14, 2011)

WAY back in the early '60s we were digging bottles under an old building in Sacramento and these darned "busted beer glasses" kept getting in the way. It turns out that they were all Wades and we ig'nant diggers tossed 'em away. We had no idea what the heck they were. Insulator? What the heck is that? Someone just a bit wiser went back and picked out 30 or 40 of the best ones and saved them. As it turned out we were digging in the building that housed the State Telegraph Co, a pioneer in the business that opened in 1863 and lasted 5 yrs. Western Union telegraph succeeded them in 1868 and stayed until 1915 in the same building. Needless to say, we never threw away another Wade, or any other early telegraph insulator.


----------



## towhead (Apr 14, 2011)

Here's one that was on EBy, but I can't get there from here to see what it says or if it sold.... -Julie

http://cgi.ebay.com/CD723-Wade-threadless-glass-insulator-/180627558164


----------



## Chris777 (Apr 14, 2011)

Cool story caldigr, yeah even though its broke im still gonna cherish it haha.
 Im gonna head back again today to do some hunting, let you guys know if I find anything.


----------



## cyberdigger (Apr 14, 2011)

Funny looking things.. I wouldn't know it was an insulator if I found one..!

 Julie, it sold for $167 and it was chipped..


----------



## BillinMo (Apr 14, 2011)

> ORIGINAL: CALDIGR2
> 
> WAY back in the early '60s we were digging bottles under an old building in Sacramento and these darned "busted beer glasses" kept getting in the way. It turns out that they were all Wades and we ig'nant diggers tossed 'em away. We had no idea what the heck they were. Insulator? What the heck is that? Someone just a bit wiser went back and picked out 30 or 40 of the best ones and saved them. As it turned out we were digging in the building that housed the State Telegraph Co, a pioneer in the business that opened in 1863 and lasted 5 yrs. Western Union telegraph succeeded them in 1868 and stayed until 1915 in the same building. Needless to say, we never threw away another Wade, or any other early telegraph insulator.


 
 Wow!! What a great story.  I'm wondering what else might have turned up under that building!!  

 A number of folks have misidentified Wades over the years, which really isn't too surprising since the glass insert is really only a part of the insulator.  A complete unit with its wood cover is quite a discovery and those in good condition would sell for quite a bit -- probably well into the thousands with the right bidders. 

 Here's a nice-looking example: 

http://www.insulators.info/pictures/?id=302220545


----------



## webby (Apr 14, 2011)

mcdougles 2008 insulator price guide.
  also check out icon.net,for tons of insulator info.


----------



## BillinMo (Apr 14, 2011)

Dave, I think you mean www.insulators.info    Definitely the best source of insulator info on the web.  

 For those who aren't familiar with the site, here's a hint -- go to the Picture Poster gallery and perform a Search the Gallery.  For this item, perhaps try "CD 723 Wade."


----------



## Chris777 (Apr 14, 2011)

No luck today.
 Thanks for the info fellas.


----------



## JOETHECROW (Apr 14, 2011)

> ORIGINAL: Chris777
> 
> Heres a picture from another website.
> Mines just busted in half.


 
 Cool looking insulator...are the "points" to help keep it secured in it's wooden shell? Has a neat look to it, in sorta the same way a battery jar does...


----------



## webby (Apr 15, 2011)

Hi BilllinMo yes,icon is the forum site
 .Tthe web master,Bill Meire, runs both sites
 A a great guy and a computer wizard,


----------



## SergioWilkins (Apr 15, 2011)

Great job on the wade find! Some lines down your way used quite a lot of those styles, and a friend of mine and I actually managed to turn up a few shards from them while down in Ohio a couple years back. They are always a nice find as they are quite different than the normal styles you encounter!
 The pristine condition examples are the ones that tend to sell for the most (obviously), but I find that damaged specimens don't seem to sell for as much as damaged specimens of other styles. I'm not sure why this is, but your insulator is probably worth a few bucks even as a specimen condition piece. 
 Wade styles don't attract as many collectors, probably due to their unusual shape that doesn't necessarily resemble other insulator styles on first glance. Those collectors probably have never found a piece of one themselves. Finding one yourself in the wild seems to always make just about anything a little more interesting, so congrats on a good find!
 Up here in Ontario/Quebec, there are Canadian-made Wade styles as well. However, they're small by comparison, and extremely elusive. I had the good fortune of digging one along an 1850s vintage line a few years ago. It is, to date, the only intact specimen I've ever found. I'm attaching a photo of myself with the find immediately after it emerged from the ground after 100+ years of burial. I was absolutely ecstatic about that find! 
 Here's a photo of the piece cleaned up. It even has some of its original tar from the wooden cover that would have encased the glass. 

http://www.insulators.info/pictures/?id=294060214

 Take care,


----------



## Chris777 (Apr 15, 2011)

Yeah I live in central michigan a few blocks from a railroad so ive been searching it quite often recently. I was real excited to find this shard even though its not full and intact.
 Seems to be a good mix of insulators around here, most people hunting this area prolly thought this shard was just some glass maybe thats why it was left there.
 Great picture though haha, it would be a thrill to dig one of these bad boys.


----------



## CazDigger (Apr 15, 2011)

Hey Chris, where there is one, there are probably more. I don't dig insulators, but the guys that do, once they find where the poles were dropped, the rest of the poles were about 40 steps away along the RR tracks. Maybe some guys that are insulator diggers can chime in???


----------



## Chris777 (Apr 15, 2011)

The tracks ive walked around here to poles were sliced off so all I are the stumps and ive figured about every 60 feet. Its kinda a bummer ive walked about three different areas these past few days and im not seeing much, other hunters have gotten to um, I was pretty luck to find a few whole ones and that shard of the wade. do you think maybe if I dug around the pole id find some??


----------



## Dansalata (Apr 15, 2011)

I FOUND A CD 700 IN CRANBERRY PURPLE ABOUT 7 YEARS AGO SOLD FOR $3150 AT THE SAN JOSE INSULATOR SHOW!!!


----------



## Dansalata (Apr 15, 2011)

BOUGHT ME A NEW SHOVEL AFTER THAT!!![]


----------



## Chris777 (Apr 16, 2011)

Where did you find it dansalata??


----------



## CALDIGR2 (Apr 16, 2011)

I worked in the HV power industry for three decades and never collected insulators. Go figure. I have dug my share of good ones over the years, including colored threadless eggs, hats, E C & Ms in bodacious colors, and Cal Elecs in both aqua and blue. Made money and got hosed at the same time by selling to Pat Patocka. He was a crafty old dude, but we all liked him a bunch.[]


----------



## Chris777 (Apr 16, 2011)

Were you digging around the old lines and finding them or digging them in old dumps caldigr?


----------



## SergioWilkins (Apr 16, 2011)

Hey, Chris!

 Digging is definitely the way to go. Although there are some good finds to be made still on poles and laying on top of the ground, there are good finds to make _everywhere_ that are still buried. Very few collectors have ever had the gusto required to go out and dig around, as insulators are a little more sparsely spaced out than bottle dumps. If you can find shards of a threadless in a given day, or even figure out where a pole was once located then you are doing well. Most days I go out (and I'm not alone on this one), I come home with absolutely nothing. That being said, I've been digging threadless for about 7 years now, and I've come home with several dozen complete or intact specimens to date. They ARE still out there, but you need to work hard to find them!
 My first word of advice to you is that the pole stumps you are seeing on top of the ground are probably NOT from threadless-era poles. Since threadless insulators were out of production by the mid-1870s for the most part, the poles that they were originally installed on were long rotted away by probably the 1950s. Although some insulators may have been recycled on later poles, most of the threadless glass is going to be located near where the original pole sites from the 19th century were located. This is the difficult part!
 The original pole sites that you're looking for are likely completely rotted away, and the insulators are most likely buried anywhere from a few inches to several feet down. Here's what a threadless era pole stump may look like these days:

http://www.insulators.info/pictures/?id=35544655

 You've got a few problems to contend with here in terms of pole spacing/location:

 1.) The pole spacings have likely changed to a shorter distance since the threadless-era lines were constructed (due to an increase in circuits as the telegraph era began to blossom around the late 19th century), meaning that the threadless era poles probably don't line up with the modern pole stumps that you are seeing on top of the ground - they are probably spaced much further apart.

 2.) the pole locations are likely not the same distance from the rail bed as the modern poles you are seeing on top of the ground. Generally the original poles are nearer to the rail bed than the original, but this really depends on the line you are working on. 

 3.) the original threadless-era pole stumps may not even be on the same side of the tracks! This is a pretty common one around here. Many of the lines have threadless era poles on both sides of the tracks, as well. 

 and lastly, one that you guys have it especially bad with down there in the states:

 4.) The last 100+ years of railroad infrastructure development has probably messed with the location that you will find your insulator glass. Often times, railbeds were built up over time to accommodate increased weight of the trains running along them, and to smooth out grades. As well, the railbed was often widened in order to add sidings, and to accommodate the larger trains that came well after the original railbed construction. 
 Here's a good example of this one from a couple diggers in Ohio:

http://www.insulators.info/pictures/?id=35543745

 In that case, the insulators were original directly beside the rail bed, and it had been built up over the years, covering the insulators up in the process.
 With that in mind, it is tough to find those old threadless buggers (hence them being so valuable and rare!), although I assure you that there are still LOTS of them laying in the muck along whatever rail line you're walking. Like CazDigger says, where there is one thee are nearly always many more. Those Wades were probably installed by the tens of thousands, but the vast majority of now buried under coal, dirt, etc. 
 Your best bet is to start with the library - go look up photos of the rail line you are working with, preferably going back to the 19th century. If you can find those, then you are off to a good start! They will tell you just by visual judgement where exactly the poles were relative to the railbed itself, and then you can go out and assess how much work you will have to engage in to find anything. You will probably need a good shovel, and preferable the permission of whoever's land you are digging along. For this reason, I recommend looking along abandoned rail lines, not active ones! A good, slow-paced surface walk along the entire length of the stretch (along both sides if they both had poles!) is probably the best way to start. DO NOT look only where the modern poles are located, as there could be a threadless piece laying on top of the ground right in between those newer pole stumps! Back near the fence-line is often a good place to check, as less railroad garbage was dumped there to potentially cover up the glass. Sometimes they are buried only a few inches deep farther away from the tracks. 
 I could go on forever about this, but honestly the best way to figure the stuff out is by just going out there and figuring it out yourself. The problem is that rail lines are different everywhere, and everyone has their own way of searching them. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask. Like I said, there are lots of threadless to be found out there, it's just a matter of putting in the work!


----------



## Chris777 (Apr 16, 2011)

Wow thanks for all the great info sergio.
 Im farily  new to hunting insulators in the wild, the way ive been looking for them is about every 60 feet ill find a stump and head in and search around, if my memory serves me well this wade shard was inbetween the stumps and it was on the surface closer to the fence row I most likely wouldnt have seen it if it wasnt for the sun shinning. I couldnt believe a threadles was on the surface and not buried down in the muck I guess fellow hunters didnt see it or just didnt want it.
 And the railways im walking are fairly active if that matters.
 Ill do a little more research and see if there are any abandon railways around here.
 Ive only found a few common ones since ive been hunting but its still exciting even if I see a few shards of what could of been.


----------



## Chris777 (Apr 17, 2011)

Here's a picture of the wade shard fellas.


----------



## SergioWilkins (Apr 17, 2011)

Hey, Chris!

 No problem. I always enjoy seeing even shards of that old telegraph glass coming out of the ground. There seem to be so few people actively looking for the stuff these days that I'm always trying to encourage people to give it a shot - it can sure be rewarding.
 Indeed, the threadless could be located right in between those modern pole sites, as they were probably never used on the poles that stood where you are finding the stumps today. If I were you, I would go back to where you found that shard, and dig around a bit! You'd be amazed at what you can find! Or, just keep looking for signs of another site. If you keep hiking around in the brush, you'll eventually come up with some sign of where the older pole sites used to be. Check swampy areas where the older stumps may be preserved (rare, but it does happen), and try using a two or three-tined pitch fork - poke it into the ground over and over again near where you think a pole site may have been, and you'd be amazed at how quickly you can start to differentiate between glass and rocks, etc. If there are a lot of rocks in your area, though, this method probably won't work. I'm attaching a photo of a piece dug last year by that method - a nice blue CD-742 M.T.Co.!
 As for the activity of the rail lines you hunt along, that is up to you! I personally prefer inactive lines, just because you're less likely to get into trouble. I recommend trying to find some abandoned lines that go back to the 19th century, and get permission from the farmers that own them to walk along the old right of way looking for glass.
 Take care,


----------



## Chris777 (Apr 18, 2011)

Great picture Sergio, it would be so exciting finding a preserved 742 in the ground!
 And yes I'm definitely going back to that site and digging around a bit, even though the rails are active its out in the country a bit and no one really bothers anyone around here.
 I havent been digging around so I will certainly have to try and scratch around a bit and see what I can find using the technique, its not so rocky unless your right up on the tracks, Its fairly woody a few feet away from the tracks.
 Ill update you guys if I have anymore luck, thanks for the picture and info.


----------



## CALDIGR2 (Apr 18, 2011)

Old pole locations are next to impossible to locate in forested or overgrown areas. We used to find insulators in the mountains and deserts by finding the old iron wire and pulling it up until pole remnants and/or glass was located. E.C.M. and Cal. Elec. poles often had a single pole top pin with an iron ring around it below the pin. Some of those were actually standing and all we had to do was push 'em over and collect the glass. In mountainous terrain these insulators were often mounted on slow growing cedars and the wire would be protruding from the bark. A ladder and a chainsaw took care of that problem.

 Many nice insulators come from privy pits, too. Last year, a teal E.C.& M. came from a local pit. 2 cobalts were plucked from a nearby Gold Rush town, as well as the ultra common aquas. They are, like bottles, where you find them.


----------



## SergioWilkins (Apr 18, 2011)

Hey, Chris - I'll look forward to seeing what you come up with. Just remember - they are buried all over the place along that line, you just have to stick to it and get a little dirty/scratched up enough times to find one!
  Caldigr, you'd be surprised how easily finding those buried pole sites can be once you've found a few of them. Once you find one, it's just a matter of figuring out the spacing between two and you can pace them off until the cows come home! I wish we could find evidence poking out of the ground around here, or for that matter growing into the side of a cedar tree.


----------

