# Really Short Power Poles? **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [July 20, 2015, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-short-power-poles/725665 "2015-07-20T04:49:31Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 4:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-short-power-poles/725665/1 "2015-07-20T04:49:31Z")
I was driving through Idaho and noticed some incredibly short either power or telephone poles next to the railroad tracks. They were literally less than 6 feet tall, and some looked to be no more that 3 feet off the ground. They had 3 wires/cables running between the poles. Sorry no pics since I was driving 80 mph on the interstate and couldn’t pull over. Why would they have such short poles? Someone please fight my ignorance. ---
**Author:** ![Leaffan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leaffan/32/299_2.png) [@Leaffan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leaffan)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 5:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-short-power-poles/725665/2 "2015-07-20T05:14:46Z")
That’s common everywhere, even in Canada. I think the lines are for signalling, and not power. Therefore they needn’t be strung at heights where people can’t touch them. They’re just low-voltage communication lines. ---
**Author:** ![Senegoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/senegoid/32/6606_2.png) [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)\ **Post date:** [July 20, 2015, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-short-power-poles/725665/3 "2015-07-20T09:30:26Z")
I’ve seen those occasionally in California too. I think they must have once been full-grown telephone poles that got kneecapped. :dubious: ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 2:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-short-power-poles/725665/4 "2015-07-21T02:09:45Z")
> [@Leaffan](#): > > That’s common everywhere, even in Canada. I think the lines are for signalling, and not power. Therefore they needn’t be strung at heights where people can’t touch them. They’re just low-voltage communication lines. If they are for signalling I sure wouldn’t want them to be at a level where someone could snip a wire and cause a crash… ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-short-power-poles/725665/5 "2015-07-21T04:06:02Z")
Railroad signals are designed to be failsafe. If the circuits are broken then things stop. Railroad rights-of-way in populated areas are often protected by fences so the risk of sabotage (or drunken shenanigans) is slight. But it is not zero. ---
**Author:** ![Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/46a35a/32.png) [@Tim\_T-Bonham.net](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tim_T-Bonham.net)\ **Post date:** [July 21, 2015, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/really-short-power-poles/725665/6 "2015-07-21T04:18:38Z")
> [@dolphinboy](#): > > If they are for signalling I sure wouldn’t want them to be at a level where someone could snip a wire and cause a crash… Not likely. RR signal systems are fail-safe designs; loss of connectivity will cause signals to default to yellow caution or red stop signals.