sundance-communications.com Forums Telephone Services Outside Plant OSP Construction Lead Conduit Strung Between Utility Poles.

While on my daily walk along a route I haven't taken before, I noticed what looks like lead conduit strung along between utility poles.

If that is what was actually up there (I do have a few pictures that I took and can try to post if so requested), was that a common practice of the Bell System

If I remember correctly outside plant was 620's-650's range in BSP's...gimme a minute...

📻 "Please hold your call in important to us."


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"Thank you for holding. The information you need can be found on the following link" following link

I've never seen aerial conduit of any kind. You sure it wasn't just lead cable?

Aerial conduit isn't strange, you havent noticed it because it's usually black. It is usually for fiber though. It's almost the same product as the orange subduct used in burial for the same application.

I've seen lead cable and lead cable hanging from staples/rings instead of being lashed, but never lead conduit, at least not aerial. I was at a customer house once that had a lead conduit sealed in the wall the drop came out if, but that might have just been the jacket of the ancient drop.

I've seen aerial fiber but not in conduit

I'll either post or link pictures that I took.

Picture #1
Picture #2
Picture #3

Picture #4

The first three links are for pictures of the overhead cable.
The fourth picture.....is the 101B a Western Electric product? Google associates that code with a telephone ringing unit.

Get out your gaffs and lineman boots then climb the utility pole and lick the metal. Does it actually taste like lead?

101B is just a terminal box with two binding posts with a nut and multiple washers. It was used for connecting an incoming drop wire to one or more block wires, or inserting a piece of block wire used as a fusible link between open wire and drop wire.

That's just a lead cable. Your first picture shows a lead cable splice with characteristic dome tapers.