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Modelling catenary in N?
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O.k., my first post here, so hope my questions aren't too stupid... <br /> <br />I'm starting to plan and design an n scale layout, and being a fan of the Milwaukee, Virginian and New Haven, I'd like to include catenary (although not over all the track). There seems to be quite a bit of interest here in modelling overhead, but all the posts I've seen so far have related to HO scale or larger. So, I was wondering if anyone has any experience or advice for modelling catenary in N? <br /> <br />One thing I'm particularly interested in is how close it's possible to get to scale diameters for the messenger and trolley wires - I'm not bothered about drawing power from the wire. There's obviously a compromise between construction/strength and appearance here, but examples I've seen so far (NCat and Sommerfeldt), whilst impressive, seem rather coarse. I've seen articles about HO catenary using 0.015" piano wire for the messenger/trolley, but would it be possible to use finer 0.01" or even 0.008"(!) wire in n scale? Or am I being too optimistic here?!!! Something that's never been clear to me from reading articles on model catenary is how much tension the trolley wire has to be under as this would influence how small the wires and associated support structures can be made. <br /> <br />As you may guess from my favorite prototypes, I'm edging towards an eastern themed proto-freelance layout. However, apart from the superb New Haven layout in the August MR, I haven't seen modelled examples of the eastern AC catenaries (which I think were based on designs by Westinghouse rather than GE?) - are there any other examples out there? <br /> <br />Sorry for the length of the post, but there's lot's to think about with catenary! <br /> <br />Ben.
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