Noel,
One of the earliest uses of the Stobie Pole was to suspend the overhead on the Glenelg line in Adelaide.
I suspect that where wood was plentiful for poles, the effort of importing or manufacturing stobies was not considered economic.
Plus they are considered ugly.
Plus their strength means that in automobile crashes, fatalities and injuries are a problem. Their edges are so pointed, that even walking into them can be dangerous. Won't someone think of the mobile phones?
I believe they still flourish in the Northern Territory.

Mark Skinner

Sent from Samsung tramlet

-------- Original message --------
From: "'Noel Reed'noelreed10@... [TramsDownUnder]" TramsDownUnder@...>
Date: 15/01/2018 22:21 (GMT+09:30)
To:TramsDownUnder@...
Subject: RE: [TramsDownUnder] Polar abuse. Adelaide

My experience with tubular steel poles which are used for railway upper quadrant signals is that if the finial is dislodged, water can enter the pole resulting in the base rusting from the inside. From the outside, the pole can often be repainted and it appears satisfactory. The result in many cases is that the pole will lean or may break entirely leading in some cases to the pole collapsing onto the railway. South Australia has a long history with ‘Stobie Poles’. Have Stobie poles been considered to support tramway overhead construction especially above ‘special work’ such as the Adelaide ‘Grand Union’ ?  Stobie poles appear to resist breaking at the base under extreme abuse-- They can also be decorated –So why are they not used beyond South Australia ?Noel Reed. Who recalls the premature demise of the Northbridge tramway caused by unseen rust on the Suspension Bridge cables.  From:TramsDownUnder@... [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Monday, 15 January 2018 11:33 AM
To:TramsDownUnder@...
Subject: Re: [TramsDownUnder] Polar abuse. Adelaide   On 14/01/2018 6:27 PM, Rubberman92rubberman92@... [TramsDownUnder] wrote:  Further to the previous pole deflection pic, this one is being used as a temporary tie off for the intersection works. I hope they did their calculations. The overhead is half complete. So, should be ready for tomorrow's opening of the road.  That pole certainly looks to have a bit of a bend already!

For comparison, here's a pic I made in Lyogon St on Saturday.
The pole at left is an original Melbourne Brunswick & Coburg Tramways pole dating from 1916.  The MB&CTT poles are more slender than other steel poles in Melbourne of that era and many of them have a bit of a lean.

The new pole beside it is the current standard pole size.

Mal Rowe - whose very minor expertise is recognising the distinctive finials of the various early Melbourne tramway trusts.  Virus-free. www.avg.com