Ian,
Only thing I can say about the pictures of them pylons is, I'm glad I don't do linework in Siberia.
Sure the pylon in the 4th picture may be solid timber, but, how on earth do you get anywhere near the outer conductors/insulators?.
Also, with the 5th picture, I don't seem to recall seeing any fuses at all on that structure.
I realise that the wires leading down from the right side of the pole towards the building could in fact be telephone wires.
Is it me or are them wires on the top cross-arm coming in from the right, actually all twisted together mid-span, or is it just a parallax effect?.
It's also rather interesting to compare the difference in the amount of guarding around a structure like this.
Over here, if you built something like that to carry Lines on, it would be teeming with kids, thinking it was some sort of a wooden Jungle-Gym. [Linked Image]