Hand made Catenary (I must be insane)

G

grumbeast

Member
Jan 13, 2003
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Dartmouth, N.S. Canada
www.accesswave.ca
Hi everyone,

while work progresses on my main layout, I've had a hankering
for years to try my hand at scratchbuilding some N-Scale catenary
for the two electric loco's I've got. I was thinking of starting
very simply with a piece of test track (just a straight) for display
purposes. So the question is, does anyone know of any resources that might be useful?. I'm looking for material suggestions, plans, and any tips / advice you may have. I should also mention that I'm looking at main line european style overheads rather than the single wire trolley lines

Cheers

Graham (obviously feeling somewhat soft in the head!)
 
Catenary

Graham:
I only got as far as hanging trolley wire in HO. I had a set of N catenary, but sold it many years ago.
There was a sub-set of N-Trak called N-Cat using overhead wire. I'll see if I have any info left on that. (Late 70s, early 80s).
Your best bet might be Continental Modeller, but I can't guarentee it.
 
Graham,

Nice shot - how about posting it to my TGV thread in the new international section?

I had seen the Sommerfeld stuff before. It looks nice but you have to be sitting down when you start adding the prices up :eek:

I'm having thoughts about casting my own masts. I think Hydrocal would make an acceptable mold material but I don't know what material I should cast them in - I don't really have the facilities to melt metals indoors and it's a bit chilly outdoors at the moment. I could probably melt Aluminum. Lead would be easier but I really don't want a house full of lead fumes...

Are you planning on making the catenery functional? I'm not.
 
Hi terry,

Thanks for the comments, I'll post the pic shortly.

I was planning on making the catenary functional. I have
two locomotives that are capable of getting power from the
pantograph (a Roco SNCF 71000 and a Minitrix Ce6/8").

I'm not sure Hydrocal would be strong enough for the masts
as they are quite slender. I was planning on using either
brass or aluminium H section's (expensive I know but very
sturdy. Another thing I'm considering (that I discovered in
my hobby store last week) were tiny wooden H sections
(really! :)) they were only .40c CDN for around a 2' length


The Sommerfeldt stuff is ludicrously expensive (hence the
scratchbuilding) but the site offers dimensions and clear
pictures of the construction of each mast. I intend to build
a prototype pretty soon, so I'll try and come up with a diagram
with scale dimensions in the next few days for a generic
european looking mast

Cheers

Graham
 
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