Hello how tall should light poles be ? They are going in my yard and in front of the car shop and around the turntable. Most will have just lights and some just powers lines and some both. I was thinking about 30 feet tall with the light mounted at 28 feet. They will be wood poles. Thanks for the help Frank
If you’re talking metal standards hung on creosoted poles, the taller ones could be that high. There’s not a lot of need for over 10’ clearance for a light, so I suspect more were closer to 22’ to 24’ mounting height.
You note near the roundhouse. True, lamps were mounted high so that crewmen had light to work even on top of the engine, but they were rarely mounted over a track, instead have a bit of standoff to the side and a little higher. Lamps tended to be puny or really bright arc lights. Arc lights needed clearance, but the rest needed to be close-in to be effective.
The most common wood pole was a 35’ Pole, they would typically have 7’ in the ground which leaves 28’ above ground the the light would usually be mounted about 3’ down from the top which means the light will be about 25-26’ above ground as the pole arms usually slanted up.
The most common bulbs were mercury vapor in the 750 and 1000 watt category. There were also Incandescents in those same wattages but their useful life was a lot lower. Which is why we had to relamp football fields every year.
Rick J
In my home town during that time frame, what few street lights existed were bare incandescent bulbs mounted under a metal reflector. The bulbs were very dim and probably no more than 250-300 watts, usually placed only at intersections except down the main business district, where they were approximately every 200 feet or so…
Hello thanks guys this helps a lot. I was setting them at 28’,30’,40’,45’ just to see how they looked and 28’ looked the best. The lights will be a basic wood pole with shade and incandescent bulb When I get the lights on I will post a pic. Thanks for the help Frank