I was taught to climb without using the safety strap around the pole.
Safety strap was hooked with both snaps on the left ring on the belt, and you climbed up to where you could work on the arm before passing the belt around the pole and snapping it into the right hand ring..
If the pole was "raked" (as due to guying at corners and such) and not absolutely vertical, you of course climbed on the "upper" side.
Emphasis was placed on getting the gaffs solidly punched in on the way up to avoid them slipping out. And to keep your legs straight and your butt out away from the pole.
The idea was that if you "skinned" or "burned" the pole, you'd fall clear and not drag your chin all the way down the thing.
I never did really like to climb any pole over 40 feet, like the poles at points where the line crossed the tracks....I suppose if I'd stayed with it longer I'd have gotten over this, I dunno.
As to your question about the mid-span break or burndown...
One way was to climb one of the poles adjacent to the break, put your blocks on the wire there and cut it, pull the blocks all the way out and then climb down and see if you could bring the ends of the original break together out in the span on the ground (if the slack hadn't run back too far)and put in a mid-span splice, then go back up the pole and haul the ends together with the blocks, pull it up and splice it.
Otherwise you'd have to add nearly half a span of wire on one of the downed sides and then go up one pole, pull it together and splice it again near the crossarm. You'd end up cutting in about a half span of new wire. Either way you had to do two splices.
Usually took less (temporarily) added wire (if any) the first way.
But it took more climbing....The particular situation at hand would pretty much dictate how best to handle it....and whether or not you had a grunt and lots of extra wire with you.
Those old Western Union splices in the iron wires that were done by them that knew how were sure some pretty pieces of work, Eh?
Those methods and the tools were long gone in the practice by the time I got there.
I guess they used two of those multi-groove splicing clamps to do the twists and wind the buttons on the ends. Must have been a bitch with the No.6 wire.....
Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/30/2009 11:56PM by Etrump.
