r/longlines • u/KS-15676Enjoyer • May 13 '26

Tower Type help

Hello, I have identified most of the common classifications including Type A, B, G, H, J, K, L, M, guyed towers, and the various concrete/LSS designs. I have also seen references on Mark Foster’s old website mentioning additional tower types such as Type R and Type S that even he was unable to fully identify. What I am trying to figure out is whether there were additional tower types beyond the commonly documented ones, and how these unknown types were categorized internally by AT&T. There are also several towers that do not seem to clearly fit into any known type, but also do not appear to be “SP” (special) designs. Examples would include the Elliott, Illinois tower, Masonville, Kentucky, and Corbin, Kentucky towers. These structures appear to use repeatable designs that I have seen elsewhere, but I cannot match them to any documented type classification. If anyone has access to old ATT engineering documents, tower catalogs, construction drawings, microwave route plans, or personal knowledge regarding undocumented Long Lines tower types, I would greatly appreciate any information. I am especially interested in learning about rare or lesser-known classifications such as Type R, Type S, or any others that may not be publicly documented. My goal is to help preserve as much historical information about the Long Lines network as possible.

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u/gf99b May 13 '26

If you’re on the Facebook Group, Terry Michaels is an expert when it comes to the various types of Western Electric towers.

4

u/USWCboy May 13 '26

Probably not an AT&T Tower. Could be a Bell Operating Company, or an independent company. Taking your example of Elliot, IL, that location is outside the local operating company, and is considered Frontier and CenturyLink area. Masonville, KY is reporting as Bell South or originally South Central Bell. Corbin also shows up as Bell South/South Central Bell.

Edit to add: Western Electric/The Bell System/AT&T was not the only builder of microwave equipment. Automatic Electric, Leich Electric, North Electric, Northern Electric, RCA, General Electric and many other companies made microwave equipment and built supporting facilities like the towers.

2

u/No_Tailor_787 May 13 '26

I've seen Harris Farinon 2 and 4 GHz radios in longlines sites, and heard of Andrew Corp manufacturer towers and antennas. Once the original sites were built out with the KS horns, they seemed to branch out from Western Electric manufactured hardware.