OTL Pole
Relic Overland Telegraph Line (OTL) pole
Between 1870 and 1872 the Overland Telegraph Line (OTL) was constructed
across the Australian continent. The original route was based on
the discoveries of explorer John McDouall Stuart (1858-62) and the
poles were made from termite resistant Cyprus Pine.
Soon after construction was completed many of the original wooden
OTL poles were replaced with galvanised steel Oppenheimer Poles
and then, with the completion of the Ghan Railway as far as Oodnadatta
in 1891, the entire original OTL was realigned along the railway.
Very little evidence remains of the original OTL. This photo shows
a single lone stump near Lake Phibbs.
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