Using my router to make the roadbed subgrade. I can do this without a straight guide because the sub-ballast will spill over the subgrade boundaries.
Used my router to cut a shallow recess for the entire burl butte to fit into. The butte has been glued in place with fast drying wood glue and red sandstone from Cape Blomidon, Nova Scotia distributed around the base of the butte.
You could use piano wire. I ran some piano wire through a couple of my transmission towers, dropped an LED on one of my power poles, and connected the other end to a 9 volt battery. Took all of 5 minutes.
Alton Junction
Neither of the electronics shops had black 30 AWG solid in stock. An order was placed with Jonard Tools for 200' silver plated (ASTM-B 298) high conductivity copper (ASTM-B 170) with Kynar 460 insulation and 0.11 ohms/ft DC resistance. The shop said it should arrive next week. Display case layout under way.
Now that I have an olivewood base of 27.5 inches in length, I can add a third brass straight which will be exterior to the glass case. Now I can have two independent landscapes separated by the tunnel of time. More surface finishing to do on the olivewood from Italy. Picked up a beautiful piece of exotic thuya burl from Morrocco yesterday at the specialty hardwood store. The outside section of the display will be Alberta badlands with this butte base and a high end grain car.
My geothermal plant manuscript will be sent to both Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman after Christmas. Prior publication is not allowed.
Richhotrain,
Your post was one of the most well written, meaningful, and appropriate offerings I have ever seen in my 14 years on this Forum.
I especially enjoyed your golf retirement quip. I too sat across the table with vice presidents of two major oil companies for a number of years. Whoopee!
But I'm retired now, and that is all ancient history and totally meaningless to the joys of MODEL RAILROADING.
Great job!
ENJOY !
Mobilman44
Living in southeast Texas, formerly modeling the "postwar" Santa Fe and Illinois Central
My power transmission line parts and materials:
30 AWG hookup wire, heat shrink tubing, IC socket pins, solder, and hairspray.
Hairspray is the answer. Morning pic shows the purple transmission lead has lost it's memory! Power pole project COMPLETE. Transmission line project COMPLETE.
OldSchoolScratchbuilder I have been reading several articles by Malcom Furlow and find I have very little in common with him. This also applies to Van Gogh (the original post before the Furlow edit). In fact, I have a great deal in common with Sheldon - my wife calls me this often. You will find lots of unusual personalities in the field of physics, myself included. That's what made me a very successful scientist and frequently sought out guest speaker within Canada, all over the US, in France and the UK.
I have been reading several articles by Malcom Furlow and find I have very little in common with him. This also applies to Van Gogh (the original post before the Furlow edit). In fact, I have a great deal in common with Sheldon - my wife calls me this often. You will find lots of unusual personalities in the field of physics, myself included. That's what made me a very successful scientist and frequently sought out guest speaker within Canada, all over the US, in France and the UK.
It is more about content and presentation. First and foremost, this is a model railroad forum, so the threads that involve the most interaction are those in which model railroading is the primary subject of the thread, not stained/fusing glass projects.
Your threads fall within the forum rules, but your content has little to do with model railroading except for the fact that a locomotive or hopper appears in an occasional post. But, that's OK because the forum rules are broadly written to permit a wide variety of topics.
What I see as the issue with your threads is a lack of participation by other forum members because it seems clear that you do not wish to answer questions or comments that appear to be critical or challenging, at least in your mind. You seem to prefer to present your work as a sort of webinar, watch and learn, hold your questions and comments until the end.
Again, that is OK, there is nothing in the forum rules that say that an OP has to encourage dialog. But, the "best" threads on the forum are those that involve give and take, welcoming interaction between the OP and the participating forum members.
Criticism is a healthy part of the forum as long as it is civil. Take a look at my threads. I recently started a thread on which brand of rattle spray can of paint was the best for painting a locomotive, and the replies ran the gamut from......forget rattle cans, just buy an airbrush ..... to .........you should set up a spray booth in your garage and weather your structures. That's all part of being a forum member. You post on a public forum, you need to expect civil critique.
One other comment that I think is worth mentioning is the fact that your projects are often left uncompleted and that is frustrating for those of us who follow your threads. Several of your threads have proceeded on the basis of a promise to show us some form of advanced technology but these threads often fail to deliver. They just end.
So, I don't think that personality is the issue. In my opinion, it is a matter of content and presentation and closure.
As far as your career before you retired, that is all well and good. In my case, I personally provided financial counseling services to CEOs of Fortune 100 companies. But, I am reminded of my first post-retirement winter in Florida. The first day down there, I was introduced to the head of the seniors’ golf group. He told me that no one cared what I did before retirement, even if I had been the Emperor of some third world country. The other members of the group just wanted to know my current handicap.
Rich
I was just about to hit the sack when a solution (literally) came to mind. Change the stiffness of the transmission line with hair spray from my fusing glass equipment. Hairspray is used to hold small pieces of glass together before they are fired in the kiln. Look at the lower purple wire. Looks great for a one quick application. I'll see if it holds in the morning. Might need extra strong hairspray since this one is regular hold.
Another view of the pole with more ambient lighting.
Here is a close up of the power pole end. Note that the transmission lines clip on and off by hand.
Here is a close up of the driving end of the lines.
Two 30 AWG test transmission lines created with IC socket pins at either end under heat shrink. I don't have any black wire in my lab at this time - on my electronics store shopping list for tomorrow. Note that the LED works on the left when driven from the other ends of the lines on the right. Also note that the lines do not form a natural catenary due to their weight and stiffness under the force influences of gravity and tension. This will be a challenging physics problem to solve.
OldSchoolScratchbuilderFor example, why are the cows out at night?
.
Here in Florida, I don't think the cows ever go inside.
-Kevin
Living the dream.
The transmission cables will be about 30 AWG and black. Two IC socket pins will attach to the t-joints on each pole. Heat shrink will be used over the socket pins and solder joints. Will try using a flexible polymer or elastomer to coat the transmission line so it hangs in a caterary between poles.
List of parts and materials for my custom power pole:
wooden doweling, wooden crossarm, stiff metal HO grab rail, crimping beads, LED with leads, wooden lamp housing, resistor, heat shrink tubing, hookup wire, IC socket, safety pin, solder, paint, and glue.
Works like a charm! Transmission cables next.
Pole is now finished with snap-on connectors in place. If I want to add wiring to the other two phase lines in future, I simply disconnect the transmission lines (not yet made) and pull the pole from the display.
T-joint soldered to the resistor lead was easy with the heat sink in place.
The snap-on connector for the neutral line is ready to install. A t-joint has been soldered and two IC sockets pushed on by hand, but to protect this joint from melting when I solder it to the resistor lead on the pole, I use stainless steel tweezers as a heat sink.
mobilman44 Goodness, I'm impressed!
Goodness, I'm impressed!
I know you are - you keep reading all of my posts helping to boost my views into the thousands!
My first structure on backdrop fused glass turned out well. So I can easily do city and industrial scapes.
Installed glass-top benches in the greenhouse. Tomorrow I will install real plants, a door, and miniature LED. The glass roof will be removeable.
Had to solder with the skills I had in the 1970s to put these snap-on connectors in place. A little more work with heat shrink, paint etc and this will allow me to remove or replace all wires and poles from the display by simply disconnecting these miniature connectors. Power will flow on the 3-phase lines!
tstage Thanks for those links, Rich. He scores the outside of his light poles with the same method that I do to represent an aged pole. Haven't looked at the 2nd link yet. Tom
Thanks for those links, Rich. He scores the outside of his light poles with the same method that I do to represent an aged pole. Haven't looked at the 2nd link yet.
Tom
https://tstage9.wixsite.com/nyc-modeling
Time...It marches on...without ever turning around to see if anyone is even keeping in step.
Interesting stuff, Scratch.
Here are a couple of related videos on New School construction of power poles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bmQgQg_JEck&t=144s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6-FfPREhRsU
A lot less complicated than yours for those of us with lesser skills.