N Scale PRR catenary

[wm3798]

The fact that the posts are H columns would seem to present the biggest obstacles for etching.  Wouldn't it be easier to start with say, extruded aluminum, or brass shapes?  The "T" and bridge components are also made from angle irons, which would also seem to call for extrusions. 

Lee

[TrainCat2]

I never said etching (or assembly) was involved with whatever might be coming next.

[ljudice]

I never said etching (or assembly) was involved with whatever might be coming next.

Hmmmm....   This is making me nervous....

[Bob Bufkin]

Bob you are such an  and I mean that in a kind way - I think!

[pnolan48]

I wasn't thinking of PE for the supports, just the carrier wire assemblies.

[jmlaboda]

Ginga Model in Japan has the best looking catenary wire I have seen for N-scale but the problem is that the company doesn't car to look beyond Japan to offer their products and most of what they produce sells out so quickly it is really hard to get a hold of it.  Only the smallest sections are currently available.

I wonder if there is a market for such.  If there is then maybe those interested (myself included) should start talking to manufacturers about making it...

As far as the superstructures for the catenary there was an article a number of years ago in Model Railroader that dealt with building the supports for Chicago North Shore & Milwaukee out of clear plastic, which had various webbing and angles painted onto it.  More elaborate than I would necessarily be interested in but it was an interesting article never the less.  The one down side was the plastic's shininess but a good coat of some sort of matte medium or dull coat should take car of such.

What sort I might yet use is hard to say... I am still waiting to see just what I might be able to do as far as locomotives go, though I am hoping that New Haven boxcabs and streamline motors can be what my line ends up using... its just one of those things I will have to wait on to see how it goes but at least I have some hope, thanks to what I have already seen on RW.

[CVSNE]

One problem would be the need to make 1, 2, 3, or 4 (perhaps more??) set ups -

I think expecting modelers to install these one at a time and then wire then may discourage people from taking the plunge.  Perhaps one possibility would be to sell these caternary poles as pre-wired sets - similar to the Rapido HO scale "pre wired" telephone poles. This would take care of a lot of the issues installing and wiring these things.

If I was still in the manufacturing end of the hobby I'd hesitate to do this since the risk is great and upside - a fairly unique lineside detail for one railroad (okay, you can include Amtrak in there as well) - just isn't there.

But doesn't mean it wouldn't be a worthwhile or neat product.


Marty

[Hiroe]

Oh alright. Considering how long this topic has been on-off-on here, I guess I'm not that late to the party.

All of the PRR corridor poles I've installed on the module set have been scratchbuilt. K&S/Special Shapes make decently sized brass H column and round rod for N scale. Miniatronics offers a nice etched-brass latticework light pole for HO, which is perfect for N scale corridor poles. For Arm and Beam-span type poles, HO code 100 rail works beautifully for the primary beam, with code 70 for the angled struts. For wire-span type poles, just use .010 or .015 steel music wire.

As I'm going to be building several new sets of poles for the 58th Street module pair (and eventually for the Holly/Hook flyover along I495 in DE), I might be willing to produce a few more while I'm at it. How many do you need, and of what flavors? Round, H, lattice? Beam, Wire, or Arm? Over how many tracks each? If certain versions are popular, I might make up some jigs for building them repeatably.

For the wire itself, I build it in set lengths typical of PRR pole spacing, and simply solder the ends with a slight lap at each pole. Pantographs are quite forgiving, and I've made it work with little issue.

--Drew