I've finished painting up some utility poles for my layout and am wondering how far apart should they be placed. Secondly, what height should they be when crossing the track as there will be a couple places where this will occur to accomodate the scenery.
If you want to do some quick and dirty research, go to Microsoft Live Maps and look at some location you know that has power poles using "Birds Eye" view. You should be able to get a good idea from there. But then again, I am addicted to those aerial photo sites Jamie
Depends on what you mean by"utility", and what era you're modeling. For instance, the telegraph poles that ran along Class 1 Rights Of Way until the early '60s were set exactly 100 to the mile, or 52.8 feet apart. This allowed the rear end flagmen to know how far to go back from the caboose before setting fusees and torpedos to protect a train stopped on the main. On the other hand, power poles were, and still are set as far apart as possible depending on pole strength and height, wire strength, and how much wire sag is possible for the location, because poles cost lots of money.....!
The last issue of N scale magazine has a nice article on telephone poles by Dave Salamon and he recommends a scale 85' between poles.
Yes, 85 to a 100 for phone and power poles is a good number, I'd very your spacing some to make it look more pleasing to the eye. rich
I like Spyder's comment here. I am not a purist so take what I say with a grain of salt. If I know that poles are supposed to be 50 feet apart and a boxcar is 40 feet then I will know at a glance if things are correct. Model railroading is filled with examples of selective compression. There is an enormous amount of eye / brain reconciliation. I personally call it "grocking". Grocking is the act of wrapping our minds, around something (comprehending), and accepting it for what it is even though we know it is not possible / accurate / acceptable or ? The best and most common example is a backdrop. We see the backdrop, realize it is not just an abstraction and move on. So as Spyder said - you may want to adjust the distance between poles to fit the scene, not realty.
Working with that 100-foot distance, here's a quick-and-dirty method to space them. Take two 50-foot boxcars, coupled together, and place them on the track. From the end of one car to the far end of another car is a bit over 100 feet, but you could place your poles based on the length of the cars. Should work on curves and straights. At least that's how I'd do it along the main...........
For variety mix it up with 2 40-foot cars, one 40 & one 50, as well as the 2 50's. If done on a "Random" process, it will break up the pattern.
I've p;aced the power poles on the JJJ&E about 85' feet apart. Most of the time I estimated an approximate distance.
I used an 80' passenger car today and it worked out well for my small layout. Thanks for all the tips everyone.
Im a repairman for AT&T and spend more time than I care for around all sorts of poles. Basically...pick a number. But the smaller the pole the closer together.In town closer than in rural areas also unless you are talking high power lines that are generally above more common electric and telephone poles. We also attache to power poles so about anything goes.
I agree with oldrk, just place them where you think they look right. I was an electrician for 20 years and the power company would charge for any pole over 100ft from the servicedrop and every 100ft after that. There’s no way that they would put a pole in less than a 100 ft unless there was a service drop or a change of direction in between. They aren’t allowed to cross someone’s house or building to get to another house on the other side, although I have seen some illegal stuff. So they would put a pole between every other building and catch the two adjacent services and maybe any buildings across the street if it isn’t too far.
Having traveled the Union Pacific mainline from Denver to Cheyenne the past five years on the Denver Post Frontier Days Train, I have clocked the train's speed by timing it using the quarter mile pole markers. There are 10 poles per quarter mile, so that makes 40 poles per mile. 40 divided into 5280 feet equals a pole spacing of 132 feet! The old Santa Fe Raton Pass route, used by Amtrak today is the same. On my NTrak module I spaced my poles at 132'. Just a suggestion. Hope this helps! Buzz Lenander
I think that lines crossing tracks need to be a minimum of 24' in height. Roadways need to be 17' or higher. I am basing this off of standard highway overhead clearances (this also applies to bridges or other overhead obstructions). Again lesser roads could be a bit shorter. Peter
Buzz, I have never had many dealings with poles on open highways and I’ve never actually measured them, but I was thinking probably around 150’, so I believe you are correct at 132’. I’m guessing that it’s probably a rounded number like 130’:thumbs_up:
