My overhead wire system

[nkalanaga]

After I posted pictures of my MILW motors a week ago, some of you asked for pictures of the overhead.  So, here we go, for what they're worth.  It's 20 +/- years old, and like the prototype, showing its age!  I'll put these in N scale, as I imagine that larger-scale modelers would want better detailed systems.

All of the poles are 1/16 inch brass rod, except for one pair of H-columns, with an I-beam cross span, where I didn't have room for a guy wire on one side.

The first two are of the basic hardware.  Fortunately, I still have a few spare pieces.  The long one is a pulloff, for curves, or to steady the wire on a span wire.  The short, bent-over end is soldered to the contact wire, while the long side is bent over the backbone wire, or soldered to the span wire/pole, as needed.


The double-ended piece is used on parallel wires, to kee pthe pantograph from pushing one up, then hooking the shoe under the other one.  This would be used mainly at turnouts, where two wires run parallel until one can be terminated at a pole.

The short one is for crossarms.  The looped end slides over the brass rod crossarm.





The next four are various pole arrangements, followed by a pair of pulloffs.









To finish, a pair of photos of a train under the wire.




Very simple design, not hard to install, although the soldering could be neater, and usable for live overhead if one wanted to.

[narrowminded]

Excellent!  More pics of the whole layout, please!

[nkalanaga]

Thank you, but that might be a while.  I'll try to post a few now and then.

[Dirk Jan Blikkendaal]

Nice!!!
What wire (kind and size) did you use?
Cleaning necessary every now and then and if so what method?

[nkalanaga]

The contact wire is 0.01 inch, #30, phosphor bronze.
The hardware is 0.01 inch "straight brass", from Detail Associates, if I remember right.
The backbone wires and guy wires are 0.01 inch stainless steel.  Never again, as it won't solder, doesn't like to twist, and tends to break under tension.  If I did it again, I'd use more phosphor bronze.  It's just as hard to twist together, but much easier to solder, and seems stronger. 

As for cleaning, I imagine it would be like track.  With regular use, it should stay clean.  In my case, the wires aren't electrically "live", so it doesn't matter.

[brill27mcb]

Trolley modelers in HO and O often first heat the phosphor bronze wire where they want to twist or bend it. This can be done with a match or lighter. Might be worth experimenting...

Rich K.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

Gorgeous!

I love the insulators. Those look incredible.

[nkalanaga]

The insulators are probably the lowest-tech part of the entire system.  All they are is a piece of the insulation off the copper wires inside old multi-wire computer cables.  I got probably several hundred pounds of the stuff, 40 years ago, when the bank wired its new computer room.  In one to two foot pieces!

It's about #24 wire, good for track feeders in N scale, and the insulation works for insulators.  Any plastic insulation that can be easily slid off the original wire, and will fit on the new wire, will work.