On Fri, 3 Feb 2012 15:43:01 +0000, Mike Tomlinson
wrote:

In article , Dave Plowman (News)
writes

I've never quite understood why so many US towns seem to have overhead
wiring for mains. It's very unsightly.

The pole transformers aren't pretty either, though produce quite
spectacular pyrotechnics when they fail, which seems to happen more
often than it should.

Pole transformers here seem to be a resource of last resort, usually
in a rural backwater. They have multiple taps on them so the linesman
can do his best to recover as much of the 240 volts as he can, despite
their distance from the nearest substation.

d