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Whatever Happened to The MTH Catenary Sytem?

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Posted by wallyworld on Wednesday, April 21, 2010 10:54 AM

 Thanks..from what I read it looked pretty idiot proof as I had tried all that scratch building a system and quickly realized that  I don't have the patience nor the talent to build one on my own.I will see if it comes back into stock..I have a short inner loop that I wanted to run the K Line interurbans as sort of a contrast to the mainline...pantograph versus trolley operation seems easier to run and maintain.

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Posted by jefelectric on Tuesday, April 20, 2010 6:22 PM

I have the system installed on better than half of my layout and have the material to finish it when I get around to it.  I like it, don't remember what it cost.  It seems to me that thy make a run of this item & then wait a couple of years to run it again.  You might check the locator on the MTH site.  A local dealer got mine for me when I bought it.  The catenary itself is not wire but is stamped from sheet metal so it can be curved, not 100% realistic but much less work installing than the real thing.  Poles are very sturdy.

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Posted by phillyreading on Tuesday, April 13, 2010 4:28 PM

Don't know what is going on with MTH's catenary system but I remember it came in either four or eight foot sections and you could add-on to the sections. The cost was over $100.00 for the eight foot section. The other thing about catenary is that most systems you need to have weights underneath the layout to keep tension on the wires.

Lee F.

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Posted by dwiemer on Monday, April 12, 2010 1:01 PM

I have noticed a few folks who have some catenary made by smaller outfits, not sure if they advertise in CTT or OGR, but most I see are made by the layout builder themselves.  Some neat ideas like using HO rails for the over head and building a support around that.  Just make sure you insulate the rail well with good support.  I think some of the TM videos have a few such layouts in their shows. 

Dennis

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Posted by sir james I on Monday, April 12, 2010 12:11 PM

Only guessing here, it was a good system but very pricey. And then only a limited amount of people would use it. Electrices are not for everyone as you know. I'm thinking, not enough demand.

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Whatever Happened to The MTH Catenary Sytem?
Posted by wallyworld on Monday, April 12, 2010 12:06 PM

 I went to purchase it and the dealers standard reply was that it was temporarily out of production. It seemed like a good system as I use the track that would make it easy to install. Was it a dud technically or otherwise? I can find overpriced bits and pieces on E-Bay, but nobody stocks this stuff. Any insights or words of discouragement?

Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.

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