[milwaukee-electric] Extra Wires

[Ken and Tracie]

I believe this is South 16th Street, looking northbound towards the viaduct. 
If you study the trackless trolley overhead, you will notice, on the east 
side of the street, two smaller gauge wires, suspended from the span wires, 
between the streetlight pole and the strain insulator. I wonder what they 
are?
The feeder cables are strung from insulators mounted to the poles by hook 
shaped bracket pins and the streetlights are the type feed by underground 
circuits. I remember Milwaukee using above ground streetlighting circuits, 
but those were usually used with wooden pole construction, and almost always 
were accompanied by small transformers at each light.  Besides, I do not see 
the wires feeding the streetlight on the right.

I am wondering if this might be a circuit tied in with the contact wires, to 
trip the traffic signals at National Avenue. I know the 60th & Vliet Street 
loop had some sort of contact on the trackless trolley overhead. Not sure if 
that was for traffic signal control or a dispatching communication device. 
Pittsburgh's 42/38 streetcar line had trolley pole activated traffic signals 
at both the Mount Lebanon loop and the also where the car line left 
Washington Road for private right of way prior to the line being placed into 
a subway under Washington Road.

Any ideas?

K. 


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