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Posted by Franz [4.156.234.153] on Tuesday, June 14, 2011 at 01:49:32 :
In Reply to: Re: Dan Hultgen's Bell Telephone Truck posted by Dan H [198.228.208.61] on Monday, June 13, 2011 at 16:12:43 :
Dan, if you post up a couple pics of the ladder itself I may be able to identify the manufacturer.
The design concept was brilliant, to the man sitting behind the drawing board, and the labor saving was more than brilliant to bean counters. Unfortunately neither bean counters or truck designers ever had the joy of hogringing a 1200 pair lead cable.
There were 2 of these rigs assigned to the toll circuits between Rochester and Batavia till about 65. Both had a lot of damage to the right side due to line crews proving the idea was stupid.
About the only chance I can think of finding pics of those working would be if you could get hands on a Bell System Outside Plant Manual. It runs about 8 volumes each being about 3" thick with 8½ x 11 pages.
The block you refer to may have been for the second section of ladder to extend. Most second sections were removed very soon after the truck went into operation.
Now if you'd like to own the 10,000# King Hydraulic reel trailer that truck towed, I can probably make you a real sweet deal. Bell did actually buy some equipment, usually right about the time lawyers showed up offering to sue for patent infringement.