My family has spent many days on Norris Lake and have watched Independence Day fireworks from the top of the dam. Shorpy's pictures remind me how great the TVA engineering works are. 80 years and still in service.

This would be stunning colorized, if I could I would. Any takers ?

I could stand to be corrected, but I always heard you can gauge the voltage by counting the ridges on the insulators, 1 ridge per 10,000 volts. So it looks like 70-90KV on the top of that transformer. Plus, all that yummy transformer oil, with PCBs. I remember when I worked in broadcasting having to put 'contains PCBs' signage on all the old transmitters containing oil filled capacitors.

Those intimate with our energy infrastructure would probably tell me differently - "Gee! Ed remember when WQ3-Z86's looked like that? - and even I'm aware of subtle industrial changes - like the shift from riveting to bolting or welding (tho it looks like it had already happened here) - but this picture provides me with a certain peaceful feeling of timelessness. Even the 'Danger' sign looks unchanging.

With all of the postings about the TVA, this one definitely popped up a memory!
In the early 1950s we lived maybe 15 miles from there, in Oak Ridge.

To keep the mortally curious off limits it should send out a huge Jacob's Ladder effect.