r/reddeadmysteries

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I was using a free camera on the telegraph pole that has the W ttttt mark I get the impression that the symbol is very similar to the one on the Fort Wallas roof.

Maybe wires are what we should be looking for near Fort Wallas, just saying, Kiflom!

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The cable comes from the back; it's part of the pole itself
You can see it at any time of day
There are no cobwebs on that pole; it is the pole with the "w ttttt" symbol. I am attaching the location and reference.

I have been collecting a bunch of useless facts from my observations that may not be so useless so here ya go.

I mapped out almost all of the electrical/telegraph poles. I'm still working on New Austin. I discovered that there are several different types of poles. I watched a video about the grid system and I've read through everything I can find about it. A lot of the unexplained things are not mistakes. They're quite intentional. Even the number of wires connecting the poles have meaning.

The mutant house is generating its own power. It's not connected to the main grid, yet it has an electric light and wiring. There is also a battery operated machine of some sort from Lanik Electric. I think the "weathervane" might be harvesting energy from lightning. It all lines up with Marko Dragic's experiments and connection to Lanik Electric.

The Van Horn Mansion was once connected to the power grid, but the line was cut. The poles are still there and the wires are hanging. There are electric lights inside that do not function.

Butcher's Creek was also once connected to the grid and has been cut off. The poles have been damaged and reconfigured in bizarre ways. I just read a post that said one of the poles there is labeled as "magic pole" in the game files (Sorry I wish I saved the username to give credit, but if you see this please feel free to let everyone know it was you). They're also using the leftover cable wiring to hang up the animals and hold their shacks together. There are no main grid poles nearby to determine exactly where the cutoff happened. Butcher's Creek may have been a competitive power source at one point or the evidence of their connection to the grid was destroyed.

There is a functioning electric light behind the General Store in Strawberry, but the town is not connected to the main grid. I think it is being powerd by the water wheel. Or possibly from the owner's moonshine operation (if he has a steam rig of sorts in his basement). There is another possibility that wiring is running somewhere underground from Beryl's Dream. Two theories that could explain why the Old Greenbank Mill was destroyed and why one train tunnel has electric lights with no obvious connection to the main grid.

Edit: If you go into the deeper portion of Beryl's Dream, it looks like wires are running through it, but it could be rope. It's just kinda placed oddly enough for me to wonder if it's a possible explanation. The texture of the wires vs. ropes sometimes looks very similar.

I have too many examples of anomalous grid info to list.

There are about 5 main types of poles and slight variations of each. The spider webs only appear on what I've documented as "Type A - connected" poles, which are L-shaped and can be traced back to either a power or communication source.

It is interesting that the spider webs are only grouped by two colors because they do not appear on the same consecutive string of poles. The longest consecutive run of Type A poles goes from Valentine to Bayou Nwa and this string is where the majority of the webs are located. There is 1 on its own string in Saint Denis and 2 on another string near Rhodes.

Those 3 strings are interrupted by 2 other pole types at various points. Honestly, it looks a lot like an electrical circuit. It seems like there might be certain poles that "boost" power or signal to the rest of the chain.

Edit 2: Duh it's a circuit. Brain misfired. I meant more specifically like an open or parallel circuit. The pathing is broken and/or certain branches may be supplying their own power. The entire grid is likely not supported by Lanik and/or the telegraph office in Saint Denis.

I've decided to call the poles with a downward-facing-broken-arm, "Type E". There are only 2 strings of them in New Hanover. They run through Flatneck Station and Van Horn. From what I have started mapping in New Austin, there are 3-4 strings of Type E poles surrounding Blackwater.

I have a theory that Type E poles were sabotaged and have been "hacked" to provide power or communication again. If you follow the wires at Flatneck Station you will see that they connect to the windmill. It is possible they're using wind generated power. Blackwater is stumping me a bit, but Quaker's Cove and Thieves Landing might provide context. Still investigating there.

Thieves Landing has a single electric light, but NO power and no nearby poles. Quaker's Cove has 2 electric lights WITH power and no nearby poles.

I've been playing around with trying to manipulate the grid. I think that shooting a lamp in the mission at Fort Wallace might be a hint. It is interesting that the reticle only turns red when you aim at oil lamps, but you can shoot out electric lamps too. It might be possible to kill the power to the strings with webs without leaving the despawn zone, but that's wild speculation I haven't tested yet.

Also, there are 3 or 4 interesting lights near the Saint Denis industrial district. If you follow the train tracks from Rhodes, going East, into the Southern portion of Saint Denis, you will see them. I don't know anything about trains IRL, but they look like they might be track switch indicators. They're tall white poles with red, blue, and white lights. They have small red arms that cover certain colors. I don't know if they're actually functional. I haven't observed them long enough yet. At the very least, it's helpful to know how certain tracks may be used or how they became abandoned.