Picked up a somewhat dilapidated pantograph-less EP-5 at a train show yesterday! So, figuring that 600 volt traction motors don't really care where the power comes from, I modified a pair of Pittman trolley poles with longer lengths of .032 brass wire, turned the horns sideways to work as holddown hooks and away we went! :D
Other things done included cleaning the brushes and commutators, oiling the bearings, cleaning the horn relay contacts and reconnecting the relay to the pickup rollers! The loco runs fine, beeps merrily and looks sporty with its new trolley poles! :)
-Mitch
That looks spiffy..just a thought..you might want to add double poles as in the "prototype", that is to say freight engines that had a considerable power draw had them to prevent overloads. They might look cool. At any rate, it really cleaned up nicely. The picture below is of a CNS&M "alligator" that I used to see daily, when they had a full consist, both poles would be up..which was really a neat sight. If you look to the rear of the engine, it looks like the trolley tender is about to lift the second pole..
Nothing is more fairly distributed than common sense: no one thinks he needs more of it than he already has.
wallyworld That looks spiffy..just a thought..you might want to add double poles as in the "prototype", that is to say freight engines that had a considerable power draw had them to prevent overloads. At any rate, it really cleaned up nicely.
That looks spiffy..just a thought..you might want to add double poles as in the "prototype", that is to say freight engines that had a considerable power draw had them to prevent overloads. At any rate, it really cleaned up nicely.
Thankee! Yeah, double poles might be a good idea for a loco this heavy! I'll consider that for a future mod. ;)
Mitch
Hmmmm?
The EP5 ran on 11,000 volt 25 cycle AC power. That's a mighty strong Trolley Pole!
(I do like Trolly Poles)
The New Haven was the only railroad to buy the new GE electrics in the 1950s. The New Haven's 5th series of Electric Passenger locomotives gave it the name "EP5". Do to the high pitched noise of the blowers on the Mercury Vapor Rectifiers tubes the crews "nicknamed" them "The Jets".
How can Lionel paint "The Jets" in the colors of other railroads??
Don U. TCA 73-5735
DMUinCT Hmmmm? The EP5 ran on 11,000 volt 25 cycle AC power. That's a mighty strong Trolley Pole! (I do like Trolly Poles) The New Haven was the only railroad to buy the new GE electrics in the 1950s. The New Haven's 5th series of Electric Passenger locomotives gave it the name "EP5". Do to the high pitched noise of the blowers on the Mercury Vapor Rectifiers tubes the crews "nicknamed" them "The Jets". How can Lionel paint "The Jets" in the colors of other railroads??
I think that historical recreations along with ultra realism have existed side by side with fantasy and imagination ever since Lionel did a ( for the time) accurate version of the Hudson. The trend toward great detail as represented in the real world is a comparatively recent trend as compared in general to the postwar period. The "what if" of imagination has always been a part of toy trains as much as realism. I think that's why so many non prototype exist as one might like a loco and would like to see it in their favorite road name as well. I think that historical accuracy always played a minor role in the post war era.
DMUinCT Hmmmm? The EP5 ran on 11,000 volt 25 cycle AC power. That's a mighty strong Trolley Pole! (I do like Trolly Poles)
Me too! I figure since the motors run on 600VDC, it doesn't matter how it gets there... ;)
DMUinCT The New Haven was the only railroad to buy the new GE electrics in the 1950s. The New Haven's 5th series of Electric Passenger locomotives gave it the name "EP5". Do to the high pitched noise of the blowers on the Mercury Vapor Rectifiers tubes the crews "nicknamed" them "The Jets". How can Lionel paint "The Jets" in the colors of other railroads??
'Cos man does not live by NYNH&H alone? ;)
Ectually, I may repaint the thing traction orange or some such. Dunno at this point... :D
The higher the voltage, the lower the current, for the same power. So a fairly slender trolley pole could be practical. The only problem would be keeping it on the wire at high speed.
Bob Nelson
lionelsoni The higher the voltage, the lower the current, for the same power. So a fairly slender trolley pole could be practical. The only problem would be keeping it on the wire at high speed.
(nodnods) If I recall correctly, some high-speed lines actually had little aerodynamic 'spoilers' on the shoes to keep 'em pressed on the wire at high speeds... :)
Some trivia:
The Illinois Terminal tried this by setting two poles side by side and having them bridged to hold a contractor bar but the experiment failed due to the inability of the erstwhile pantograph to hold the wire at speed. Decades later the CTA took up the same idea on the former CNS&M and they added an airfoil at a midway point to press up against the wire and it worked.The issue was the lack of a commercially available pantograph that had the height extension to reach the wire.
The North Shore and Piedmont Northern had their poles arranged in tangent one behind the other on their articulated freight engines. All of these were 600 V DC operations. Most interurbans used pantographs along with poles like the Sacramento Northern, or rarely as I recall they used just pantographs like the South Shore. Pantographs were primarily used on heavier mainline electrification..
Our community is FREE to join. To participate you must either login or register for an account.
Get the Classic Toy Trains newsletter delivered to your inbox twice a month