Wiring trolley poles, cantenary etc. How Do I ....?

[Anonymous]

It's been a long while since posting.

I'm getting back into the swing of things by building La Belle Woodworking kits

www.labellemodels.com

and am about to build their HO-sized Buffalo, Lockport and Pittsburg Interurban coach, complete with company-recommended self-powered truck and dummy truck.

How do I properly and neatly wire the finished model so that it runs on overhead electric?

I plan to use straight DC with code 83 nickle-silver track. What should I do for the trolley poles, wiring, soldering, electic poles and brackets. I've never done this before, and thought it would be neat.

 Please help. 

Ignatius. 

[tgindy]

How do I properly and neatly wire the finished model so that it runs on overhead electric?

Begin by going to the Trolleyville Schoolhouse...

http://www.trolleyville.com/school.shtml

P.S.:  Don't forget to keep going back to see what you missed when you thought you already read the articles.

Here are three nice traction websites:

Central California Traction...

http://www.trainweb.org/tractionco

East Penn Traction...

http://www.eastpenn.org

Japan Rail Modelers of Washington DC...

http://www.japanrailmodelers.org

[CSXFan]

In the February 2000 issue of MR, there is an article called "Boston MTA Part 5: Stringing the overhead" by Harvey J. Simon. The article shows how to build a centenary system for a trolley. Even though I'm not much of a traction fan, that article made the Boston MTA look pretty cool!

[MisterBeasley]

Do you really have a reason for running power off the catenary, other than "it's cool?"

Yeah, it's cool.  I'll agree.  But, it's also far less reliable than running off track power and using a dummy catenary.

[Anonymous]

MisterBeasley:

 Yes, the overhead electric is really cool. That's the first reason. The second, is it's a challenge for my wiring and technical skills.

If it doesn't work, I can always go back to standard in-track electric. But I still have to string wire and poles for affect, why not make it work? If it does work well, I'll also get the added benefit of the "spark" or realism as the cantenary hits the wires.

Thanks to the rest of you guys for the web-sites. I will report back with the results.

 

Ignatius 

[MisterBeasley]

Great answer!  Go for it.  You're right, sometimes the best reason to do something is for the experience.

[marknewton]

If you don't mind joining Yahoo groups, these three may be of interest:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/hotractionmodeling/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Interurbans/

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/model-tram/

Also, this traction forum is fairly useful:

http://2guyzandsumtrains.com/Forums/viewforum/f=8.html

I think it's great that you want to challenge yourself by having working overhead, but I agree with Mr B, working overhead can be a bloody nuisance at times. I'd be interested in your opinions of the LaBelle kit, perhaps you could briefly write up your experiences once its finished?


All the best with your project.,

Mark.

[Anonymous]

Mark:

 

Will do on the write-up. I recently finished one of their old-time coaches and had some success. I'll let you know about the traction trolley.

 

Ignatius