PRR Catenary

[towl1996]

Don't recall if this was mentioned, it's a shapeways product. And the guy has some cool looking Philly row house building fronts. Interesting.

http://www.shapeways.com/product/W9GQB4FPW/catenary-prr-4-track-n-scale?li=search-results-1&optionId=58703259

[sizemore]

Almost all the N scale building fronts could easily pass for Baltimore. The porch front homes remind me of Hampden and the stair front homes remind me of Patterson Park. Good find.

The S.

[Dave V]

Ooo...  pricey.  Very pricey.  I'm assuming the cost is for one.

[chicken45]

Wow. Yeah. $15 a pop?

[peteski]

Like Lemosteam mentioned in another thread, 3D printed item of this shape will be very fragile.  You accidentally snag on it and it will snap.  And it is not like these will be planted in some part of a layout where you don't often have to reach.    Metal woudl be a much better material for catenary poles.

[Ed Kapuscinski]

That guy's designs are awesome though.

Now to figure out how many row houses I need...

[Lemosteam]

Yep, but maybe not in kit form...  My big hang up is the posts. Min wall thickness on SW for FUD and FXD is 0.3mm for a or 2.6" thick flange in N scale.  As I understand it those were made from 12" square H channel which would have about a 1/2 inch thick web and flange.  Can you say grossly oversize?

Yikes. 

[Cajonpassfan]

Ooo...  pricey.  Very pricey.  I'm assuming the cost is for one.

Oh, the O and HO is, the N scale is very reasonable I think, thanks to our small volume. Unfortunately Shapeways does a terrible job of not highlighting scales, sometimes you have to open an item just to find out what scale it is. And in MHO, the guy knows his architecture, something sometimes lost on amateur kit designers. And the designs are very clever, too, one only needs to pay for the frontage, and add whatever depth is required with basic materials. I wish I could find an excuse to build some for my layout, but the only area remotely resembling these brick structures was old LA Chinatown and most of it was razed to build LAUPT. Oh well...
Otto K.

[Dave V]

Oh, the O and HO is, the N scale is very reasonable I think, thanks to our small volume. Unfortunately Shapeways does a terrible job of not highlighting scales, sometimes you have to open an item just to find out what scale it is. And in MHO, the guy knows his architecture, something sometimes lost on amateur kit designers. And the designs are very clever, too, one only needs to pay for the frontage, and add whatever depth is required with basic materials. I wish I could find an excuse to build some for my layout, but the only area remotely resembling these brick structures was old LA Chinatown and most of it was razed to build LAUPT. Oh well...
Otto K.

I'm referring to the cost per catenary pole.  The structure prices are reasonable I think.  But at $15 per cat pole I'm not wiring my mainline anytime soon.  Especially if they can be expected to be brittle.

[peteski]

Yep, but maybe not in kit form...  My big hang up is the posts. Min wall thickness on SW for FUD and FXD is 0.3mm for a or 2.6" thick flange in N scale.  As I understand it those were made from 12" square H channel which would have about a 1/2 inch thick web and flange.  Can you say grossly oversize?

Yikes.

I think this is a perfect example where a slightly out of scale model (thickness-wise) would be acceptable, as long as it has the right "flavor".  Especially after it is painted, I think such a slighty out of scale item would look fine on the layout.

[ljudice]

More expensive than Sommerfeldt SBB 2-track pre-assembled stainless steel catenary supports.

[nkalanaga]

If I was modeling the NEC I think I'd solder my supports from brass shapes.  A little more work, but almost certainly cheaper, and they'd be a lot more durable. 

And I'm with Peteski on the flange thickness.  I'd love to have some true-scale shapes for flatcar loads, but they'd be far too fragile for working structures.  Never mid elbows, a simple derailment would be enough of an impact to bend them.  I suspect that they'd bend if there was enough tension on the wires to keep them level with model pantograph springs.

[Ngineer]

And in MHO, the guy knows his architecture, (...) but the only area remotely resembling these brick structures was old LA Chinatown and most of it was razed to build LAUPT.

Otto,

can you please pinpoint the Philly area where these houses are? A street name?

   Javier

[Lemosteam]

If I was modeling the NEC I think I'd solder my supports from brass shapes.  A little more work, but almost certainly cheaper, and they'd be a lot more durable. 

And I'm with Peteski on the flange thickness.  I'd love to have some true-scale shapes for flatcar loads, but they'd be far too fragile for working structures.  Never mid elbows, a simple derailment would be enough of an impact to bend them.  I suspect that they'd bend if there was enough tension on the wires to keep them level with model pantograph springs.

Now this is where my second issue with catenary comes in.  I need PRR cat poles for my fictitious layout. The trolley wire is the real issue.  On mainline straights drawings show the poles at 300' apart, roughly 22" in N Scale. To model the trolley wire and support cables, you may as well train a spider to spin that shape.  Trying to solder .008" wire for that length to look prototypical, well, at that point, I'm OK imagining it instead of dealing with it getting mangled. My layout features an electrified siding interchange with a local service using steam and diesel switching power. The other thing I want, because I am so fumbly, is to have removeable or knockdown poles, because part of my layout is a lift out section for photo staging and I want to be able sto stage electrified and non electrified photos.

[peteski]

John,
Just use EZ-Line (or whatever it is called) and be done with it. The thin spandex filament which is available in multiple thicknesses and colors.  No soldering and it is very stretchy, so if you snag on it, it will just stretch and then bounce back.