Hello: Is there a "rule-of-thumb" when it comes to the distance between telephone/utility poles on the layout? (O guage) As always, many thanks.
traindaddy1...Is there a "rule-of-thumb" when it comes to the distance between telephone/utility poles on the layout?...
If there is, I've probably broken it, but I place the poles at a distance which "looks right" to me. I'm modelling in HO, and the usual distance between my telegraph poles varies from 60' to 80' HO, with the smaller distance more prevalent. I don't have a great number of utility poles in place yet, but again went with what looked reasonable to me...that seems to be around 100', which, coincidentally, seems to be about the same as what's our street here.
(Photos will enlarge if clicked upon.)
Here's some telegraph poles....
...and a few utility poles...
I chose to not add wires, as many areas would be difficult to reach for such installations, and I didn't want the maintenance chores which would eventually be needed. My eyes "see" the wires which aren't there, but I'm sure that some viewers might question their absence.
Quite a few years ago, when we were living in rented quarters, I did make a diorama for taking train photos, but it never was finished. However, the telegraph poles had wire, as did the utility poles...
Translate the HO distances between the poles into O scale, and see if it "looks right" to your eyes, and if not, play around with it until it does.
Wayne
24"-28" inches (96'-112' foot length).
Amtrak America, 1971-Present.
In my neighborhood, the residential utility poles are spaced every 160 feet. That is about 24 inches in HO scale.
24 inches does not look right on the layout, so when I put them down, I space them every 12 inches, which looks better to me.
I would suggest you build some mock-ups and see what looks right to you.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
Yes, it all comes down to what looks "right" to you. Mine ended up at approx. 24 inches on the HO layout. I experimented with distances (as I best recall) from 20 to 30 inches, but the 24 just seemed to look best - to me of course.
By the way, I had three packages of the Atlas telephone poles that I had on hand for years. As out of the box, they are a bit toy like, but I decided to see what I could do with them.
I had three bottles of paint to draw from - flat brown and black and thinner. So going from bottle to bottle I smeared the mix on the poles and cross bars. When dry, I took some gloss green and did the insulators, and some dark red and did the occasional telephone boxes that were attached to the poles.
The end result was pretty nice (IMO of course), and I planted them with adhesive and put ground cover down to camoflauge the bases. If I had to do it over, I would do the poles the same way.
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
Walthers has a nice handout that is included with their HO utility pole set. You can adjust for O scale:
Utility Pole by Edmund, on Flickr
Utility Pole_0001 by Edmund, on Flickr
Utility Pole_0002 by Edmund, on Flickr
Utility Pole_0004 by Edmund, on Flickr
Lots more discussion available HERE.
Hope that helps, Ed
Note the reference at the end of the Walthers instructions Ed provided, to the July 1975 Myers article in MR.
doctorwayne, angelob6660, SeeYou190, mobilman44, gmpullman, overmod:
Can't thank you enough for the pictures, suggestions and printed information.
Again, as always, thanks so much.
What loooks right f or spacing has always worked for me.
I used Lime Green nail polish for the insulators, there are also clear and brown porclain ones.
Have fun,
Richard
mobilman44Yes, it all comes down to what looks "right" to you. Mine ended up at approx. 24 inches on the HO layout. I experimented with distances (as I best recall) from 20 to 30 inches, but the 24 just seemed to look best - to me of course.
Something to note... I build my layouts with photography and scene creation in mind. Photography and model railroading are overlapping hobbies for me.
Placing my utility poles closer together allows me to almost always get one in the image, and not just have wires hanging in thin air.
My needs for pole placement might be much different than other people.
Is the distance between telephone poles different for states or near railroads? I don't know if there's a national standard or recommended practice. Another option is not having any poles and claim the lines are underground.
[quote user="kasskaboose"]Is the distance between telephone poles different for states or near railroads?[/quote
I don't have the exact information in front of me at the moment but one thing I recall about the early development of the railroads was the close association of the Western Union Telegraph Co. and the operating departments of the railroad company.
As I understand it, the railroads would lease rights-of-way for the telegraph company to string their lines along the track. Part of the agreement would include the railroad's use of the lines for communication and later, signalling. Train orders were typically transmitted by telegraph.
The railroad's station agent was often the Western Union agent as well. If you bought a railroad ticket or sent a telegram the same fellow would handle both. I presume a record of hours spent in the service of WUT would be billed to them.
Agreements similar to this went on for years even to the running of fiber optic lines along RR rights-of-way. I seem to recall the SPrint communications company was once owned by Southern Pacific* Railroad.
*Southern Pacific Railroad Internal Networking Telephony.
CN, Hyde Park, Ontario, 1978 by Center for Railroad Photography & Art, on Flickr
Steam engine hits telephone pole 0-6-0 1583(?) or 1585(?) by Boston Public Library, on Flickr
Additional lines were strung on the poles as signal systems became more sophisticated. Power lines were added to supply battery charging (signal and crossing lights) and utility power for remote locations.
Away from urban areas the cross arms were usually very low to aid in maintenance and reduce cost of the poles and hardware.
Regards, Ed
Ed: Thanks.
The locomotive is 1583 on the cab but it has different number on the headlight 1--7
I had spaced my poles about a foot apart because it looked right to me but now I see I could have doubled it. Since I haven't strung the wires yet except in the background, it's going to be easy to remove every other pole. In the background, I used E-Z-line fine wire and from the aisle I can barely see it. At first glance I thought the wire must have snapped but on closer look, I saw it was still in place.
I've been waiting on Woodland Scenics "coming soon" utility pole system for the last sizeable town on my layout. I'll give them a couple more months and then I'll just go with more Rix poles and string the wire myself. Evidently they have a different idea of what "coming soon" means than I do.
angelob6660The locomotive is 1583 on the cab but it has different number on the headlight 1--7
The GPS said "Turn left — NOW"
NYC_crossarm by Edmund, on Flickr
Cheers, Ed
kasskaboose Is the distance between telephone poles different for states or near railroads? I don't know if there's a national standard or recommended practice. Another option is not having any poles and claim the lines are underground.
wjstixIIRC New York Central poles were generally fairly short compared to other railroads or to nearby power or phone poles.
Another "convenience" to having the lines closer to the ground was the ability to use a pole that could be hooked over the bare wires so that track crews or anyone out on the line could connect to the nearest tower or station.
I've seen photos of these poles in use. M-of-W foremen could get updates on train movements or report tracks out of service, etc.