Poles, as opposed to pantographs, were by far the most popular means of current collection for interurban lines in North America. The pick-up is held against the live overhead wire with about 28 points of pressure applied through a spring-load3d trolley base mounted on the roof. (This is why they are called "trolley cars" -- much to the amusement of the Brits 🛒). 2-rail DCC in HO scale may or may not have a live overhead, but getting the pole on the wire is one of the most fiddly bits of model railroading ever...
"Poling" is something else entirely, where freight cars are shunted ...with a pole! One end of the thick pole is seated in a cast iron "poling pocket" on what the Brits might call the buffer beam of the locomotive and used to push against the same poling pocket hardware located on any corner of every freight car. Tight radius, incompatible couplers, adjacent tracks -- all problems that poling solved. Obviously not OSHA compliant, but it was railroading!
Andy Gautrey has done a bangup job of modeling North American traction -- Yakima Valley Transportation Company's General Electric interurban steeplecab freight motor and other very typical equipment and operations that were archetypal of electric lines, especially those that engaged in a large amount of interchange freight business.
More vids on Andy's channel -- seems he's moved on so look for oldest vids…
