Catenary is not energised Hank. If you look closely you can sometimes see that pantograph head is just below the wire! This is because my curves are too tight for the wire to stay central enough without the posts being very close together - they are already way to closely spaced - but the overall effect is quite convincing, I think. Several years ago our club built a "Euro" layout for which I handbuilt all the catenary - miles of it! The pantographs did actually slide along it, but as it was an exhibition layout, being transported in sections regularly, the risk of damage to catenary was a bit risky to be using it as sole power pickup.
Catenary is great. With my European layout I had catenary. And it was much fun to look at the pantograph. How it went up and down along the wire. This old video shows it. Wolfgang
Wolfgang, I love the video! I have always been fascinated by overhead catenary and pantographs sliding along it. On a previous layout (Belgian HO) which I exhibited around the country for a few years, I liked to watch the pantograph lower as locomotives passed under a bridge where the wire was lower.
This is a video of my earlier Belgian layout, which had an electrified double track main line and a single track diesel worked upper level industrial area, including a working stone loader. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M70-YdHjQfs
Oh man I like those and I've seen them before. Alan, I noticed you used Kadees on your euro trains. Is that pretty common?
Geeky, there are no better couplers if you want reliable coupling/uncoupling. They are fairly widely used, but are in a minority still, I think. All new European models are fitted with an NEM coupler box, usually on a close-coupler mechanism, and Kadee have produced a series of couplers which just plug into these. So very easy conversion.
Just searched out this old thread and thought I would resurrect it for those who have not seen my Slovenian efforts, as now we have moved to live in Slovenia, the layout will be reborn here. The layout will be longer allowing longer trains to be run, but will keep the main style and facilities of the previous one. Progress reports will be shown here on a new thread and my website.
Alan, What a treat to find your post on here being revived. Where are you in (SLO)? he he he faking a nationality auto sticker. I've dug out all my old 70's FS and SNCF trains and am building a layout so I don't visit here as much due to a lack of euro modeling on this site. Link to my outdoor euro stuff, you'll be shocked to find out I am getting the British train bug. http://www.oogardenrailway.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=241 Would love to see what you are up to on your layout. Would love even more to find out how you made your catenary as my layout is mixed nationality and I plan to have an Italian section running catenary. i do have some poles from the 70's, pretty sure they are either lima or rivarossi. Anyway, it's good to see you are alive and well, merry christmas too.
Hi Geeky, good to hear from you! A heack of a thread you have going on your garden railway! For a blow-by-blow account of how I made my catenary, take a look here: http://www.andersley.co.uk/catenary.html Other how-to's on my website http://www.andersley.co.uk/details.html I will try to get more international stuff on TB
We live near Ptuj in north-east-ish Slovenia. About 30 mins drive from Austria, 45 mins from Croatia, an hour or so from Hungary and about the same from Italy. So plenty of interesting rail action around here.
How quickly one forgets everything is (relatively) so close in Europe! The closest state border is around 6 hours away, the ACT about 2.5!
Yes, the ALCo S1 & S3 share the same body style as do the ALCo S2 & S4 to each other. The S1 & S2 have the ALCo designed Blunt truck while the S2&S4 have the AAR Standard drop equalizer switcher truck. Gene S.
Thanks for the links. I am going to have to make some of those catenary poles at some point. I have a question for you: are there D214 diesel switchers in use in the former yugoslavia? Roco makes an FS model of it, you can look it up if you need a picture reference.
Here's 3 pix of the LAJ ALCO switchers The 1st two are of #1 S-2 (as received & 1970s) & 3rd is #7 S-4 (1970s): https://picasaweb.google.com/107389354387456095061/LAJENGINESALCOS2S4 As can be seen the LAJ S-2 & S-4 have different trucks not the same ones. In reading about the ALCO S-1 thru S-4 switchers there were alot of variations in the bodies & trucks, especially thru time. If you want to have a model that's correct for the prototype you're modeling get some pix of the one your modeling. But if you're freelancing, you can do whatever you want "because it's your MR!".
Thought I would resurrect this thread (again) as I should be starting the new layout in about 1-2 weeks time. I will start a new thread when I get going.
