Simulated Telegraph Wire in "HO"

[Virginian]

shamus,
what, you've never seen the 'disapearing nail''trick'?

Well, you take a large bottle of CocaCola, open it, drop in an ungalvanized 16 penny nail(standard constuction framing size over here). In a week or two, as I recall..no nail.

I haven't done that for about 35 years, so I'm not sure of the time it would take with the current 'Coke' formulation.. Try it with some "Coke Classic". It is also a pretty good rust remover if you want to spend the time.

Ya know, I think I'll quit drinkin' the stuff!!!!!
VGN

[This message has been edited by Virginian (edited 03-12-2001).]

 

[Virginian]

Yep, phosphoric acid will do amazing things to metal of all sorts; I remember the 'disappearing nail' trick we did when I was a kid. Some great ideas for future reference. Thanks guys...they're now in my files

VGN

[This message has been edited by Virginian (edited 03-12-2001).]

 

[shamus]

Virginian, If it can do that to a nail, what does it do to people who drink the stuff, had my last can.

 

[George]

Shamus,

Try taking the Pepsi Challenge one step further. Take nails like Virginian says and put one in a glass of Pepsi, a glass of Coke, RC or whatever independent you have in your local area, ESPECIALLY the store brand, and see which completely eats the nail first!

Above when I mentioned specific widespread uses for Coke and Pepsi in Quebec, I wasn't joking!

Back to scale telegraph wires...Here's a perverse thought that came to mind. Ever spend time on a farm? I wonder if anyone has strung exposed wire on telephone poles and run a low current through them? See where this is heading? A low current just enough to deter the cat from going any further. The cat probably would eventually jump over, but I can't help but wonder if this has ever been tried out of desperation? It could even prevent unauthorized probing fingers from venturing too far?

You can tell I just love Tom & Jerry! Try this, sit back and have a Coke and a smile!

Sooner or later, we'll "nail down" the right way to do this!

George.

 

[shamus]

Hi George,
I did at one time have strung exposed wire on telephone poles,and a 12volt supply running through wires which powered up some buildings this way. The only reason I did it was the fact that I couldn't get to the buildings from underneath (OLD layout years ago) so that's how I came to use overhead live wires.

 

[George]

Shamus,

I think, as usual, that you are really on to something.

I like the idea of not having to get underneath ANYTHING, working upside down or on my back. Eight years ago I had an incident where "The CAT" went underneath the layout and vengefully ripped out a large portion of a major wiring job.

Another lost battle in the dry food war!

Result, I purchased plastic conduit for the next layout.

Still, getting underneath the layout to do anything is an unavoidable problem.

"Live wires" would certainly be a peculiarity and add an unique sense of realism to any layout. I am presuming that this wire was insulated? How many bulbs could you light without burning the house down? Did you hide a mult in a building by an intersection?

Considering the various ideas bantered around here using various gauges of wire and different types of thread, wire required for structure lighting would have to be somewhat larger than what goes about the insulators. Did you mask the wire as telephone cable, which is significantly thicker than electrical wires? Prototypically the telephone cable goes several feet below the electrical wires atop the crossarms. That clearance would make any work on either set of wires/cable easier than running the hot leads through the insulators.

Whaddayathink?

George.