Telephone poles

[SD40-2W]

Hi group, 

Selective compression taken into account, what should be the distance between 2 HO poles on a modern mainline ?

Who's making good poles and what colour should it be  ?

 Thanks,

 Michel D.

[larak]

In this part of the country real electric/telephone poles are 150 or 200 feet apart (newer poles are taller and further apart than older poles BTW). In the 1950's Telegraph poles along the old Husdon River West Shore line were closer to 100 feet apart (14" = 101 feet). I use a 20" spacing (145 feet) along my mountain line with 25' (exposed) tall poles.

This was my compromise between saving poles and looking realistic. Any further apart looked like some were missing.

Here's a photo to get a feel for the distance.

 

Unfortunately I don't know the "usual" spacing for poles along a more modern mainline.

You will probably do best to just place a few next to a train and see what they look like.

Karl

[BATMAN]

In the 1950s and 60s about 120'. Three 40' boxcar lengths should do the trick. Later on the distance has increased somewhat.

 

                                                                        Brent

[tstage]

Michel,

There's an good article about line poles in MR's 2006 issue of How To Build Realistic Layouts (pg 30-33).  According to the author,

"On average, railroad poles are spaced 100 to 150 feet apart.  Most poles are placed no closer than 13 feet from the closest rail, and the bottom wires should be at least 27 feet above ground." (pg. 32 - Locating a pole line)

Rix makes some very nice tapered 30' and 40' line poles that are only ~$5 a pack.  Crossarms are included and each pole can hold up to five crossarms each.

Hope that helps...

Tom

[mainetrains]

I use Atlas telephone poles on my layout. If you check out the Kalmbach book on scenery tips (not sure of the exact title right now) you'll find a section on making great looking telephone poles. They turn out fantastic.

Dave

[rogerhensley]

  Normal 0

Bell Telephone Common Practices

 

City poles telephone:

75 ft on street 40 foot poles 6 feet in the ground. Telephone cable 18 feet off of the ground with additional 40 inches minimum clearance to electric lines.

 

Rear yards: 30 foot light duty poles. Usually every other yard.  Cable height varies 12-18 feet above the ground depending on power share requirements.

 

Rural: 75-100 feet. Telephone cable 18 feet off of the ground  40 inch clearance to electric lines.

[tomikawaTT]

Somewhere in the trash collection that I call a memory is the basis for a dimension of 40 poles per mile.  Remember the number, just don't remember the source.

Where the right-of-way was wide and the pole line ran along the edge of it, the wires might be 15 feet above the ground - and below rail height on the adjacent fill.

When the railroad entered a tunnel, the pole line either went over the hill or out and around (seen on NYC Hudson River routes in the '50s.)  That way, a problem in the tunnel wouldn't break the communications link from one side to the other - especially critical when railroad telegraph was the ONLY communications link.

Chuck (Modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - with poles on 75 meter centers)

[markpierce]

How far apart are these two poles?  I'd say something like 140+ feet or so.  But as was said before, space what looks right, but after making observations.

 

Mark

[selector]

The two poles on either side of this river are 25" apart in HO.   It's a bit of a stretch at 181'.  Well, actually a lot of a stretch.  But it works if you are interested more in compression and forced perspective.  I guess an N scale pole on the far side would have exposed the distance for what it really is.

 

[mobilman44]

Hi!

I asked a similar question on this forum a few years back.  As I model the late '40s-'50s, and am basically in a non-city situation, I have the HO scale poles about 16-18 inches apart.  In the real world of that time, it may have been a little too far apart, for the typical poles were closer to 100 real feet apart.

But, I did some experimenting and found that the 16-18 inches looked appropriate for the layout, and so I stuck with that. 

Modern railroads don't always have the "telephone poles", and from what I can tell they are further apart than what they used to be.  Soooo, I come back to what I did - experiment with the placement and do what looks right to you.

Mobilman44 

[SD40-2W]

Thanks guys, that helps alot.

 MD