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Peco OHLE


reevesthecat
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Guest jim s-w

Hiya

 

This is the initial picture Peco released a year or so ago. They are very rough samples and dont look much like UK masts.

 

Cheers

 

Jim

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  • 2 weeks later...

This is the initial picture Peco released a year or so ago. They are very rough samples and dont look much like UK masts.

I don't think they are too bad. Take a look at Nuneaton junction, http://www.railbrit.co.uk/location.php?loc=Nuneaton%20Abbey%20Junction

 

They seem a passable representation of UK masts. The only bit that seems out to me is the extra wire forming a triangle to join the upper arm but that is not part of the mast itself.

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Guest jim s-w

This is the problem with OLE

 

People don't know what it looks like! So far we have 2 people posting examples which they claim the peco OLE looks like. One is MK1 and one is Mk3 - these are 2 different systems and have next to nothing in common. So in that respect PMP is right in that its close enough for most people and for those that care about prototype accuracy they will probably build their own.

 

But to be fair to Peco the picture does show a rough mock up, a sketch almost. The Peco stuff is kind of close to mk1 but has the top catenary wire missing

 

Cheers

 

Jim

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People don't know what it looks like! So far we have 2 people posting examples which they claim the peco OLE looks like. One is MK1 and one is Mk3 - these are 2 different systems and have next to nothing in common. So in that respect PMP is right in that its close enough for most people and for those that care about prototype accuracy they will probably build their own.

 

But to be fair to Peco the picture does show a rough mock up, a sketch almost. The Peco stuff is kind of close to mk1 but has the top catenary wire missing

 

I completely agree with all of that. The wire arrangement in the Peco mock-up loks nothing like anything I have seen on the prototype.

 

I think it is a stop in the right direction for someone to be making catenary which looks close to british. All previous RTR systems are based on european systems & look nothing like anything in the UK.

 

Having built my own catenary (poorly), I know how difficult it is to get it to look right without falling apart when the wind blows!

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  • RMweb Gold

Having built my own catenary (poorly), I know how difficult it is to get it to look right without falling apart when the wind blows!

Sounds like you have captured the prototype's best feature fairly accurately, then! Don't recall wind being a problem with third rail.....

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Guest jim s-w

Don't recall wind being a problem with third rail.....

 

'course it is! The wind blows the leaves on and the trains stop! Any tabloid editor can tell you that! :lol:

 

Cheers

 

Jim

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  • RMweb Gold

'course it is! The wind blows the leaves on and the trains stop! Any tabloid editor can tell you that! :lol:

 

Cheers

 

Jim

Ah, but there's a supplementary stage you haven't mentioned! The wind isn't the problem - it's rain when the leaves are already down, thus forming a mulch under the wheels, which do tend to pick up and spin really quite well, just as they do on DMUs and other forms of traction! WSP is a basic requirement on such days. And of course, the third rail is still doing its thing just fine. Sorry - this electric string nonsense will never catch on. LBSCR tried it a century ago - and Southern ripped it out in favour of third rail. So that's that, then!

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LBSCR tried it a century ago - and Southern ripped it out in favour of third rail.

& the GWR ditched their broad gauge in favour of standard a few years before that. Doesn't mean it was better.

 

We appear to be drifting a little here...I thought this thread was about Peco's forthcoming product.blink.gif

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What's the max speed on 3rd rail? On OLE the record stands at over 500 kph... Frankly, 3rd rail only suffices for subway/Underground systems wink.gif icon_tongue.gif

According to that reliable source Wikipedia, the world speed record for 3rd rail is 108mph (174kph) held by a Class 442 Wessex Electric (set on 11 April 1988).

 

OLE record of 500kph? How many miles of UK track are suitable for speeds even remotely approaching 500kph?!

 

Paul

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Guest jim s-w

Sorry - this electric string nonsense will never catch on. LBSCR tried it a century ago - and Southern ripped it out in favour of third rail. So that's that, then!

 

How is proving the southern were cheapskates proving anything? Its like saying a 15 year old volvo is a better car than a brand new Aston because its cheaper!

 

I dont think you southern types have much to fear from the Peco OLE. The southern is well catered for thank you very much!

 

Cheers

 

Jim

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  • RMweb Gold

This is the problem with OLE

 

The Peco stuff is kind of close to mk1 but has the top catenary wire missing

 

Cheers

 

Jim

 

Errrr isn't the main thing about Mk1 that it is the only OLE with an auxiliary catenary wire, or does Mk 2 have one as well?

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  • RMweb Gold

Errrr isn't the main thing about Mk1 that it is the only OLE with an auxiliary catenary wire, or does Mk 2 have one as well?

No, Mark 1 equipment is characterised by large encumbrances of 6ft plus (the height between the contact wire and the catenary wire) and heavy supporting portals on multiple tracks. Mark 3 equipment has a much smaller encumberance, and multiple track equipment is more commonly supported on headspans rather than portals.

 

That's the two most obvious immediate differences, some mark1 stuff was compound wiring, with the additional wire between contact and catenary but by no means all of it. Most Ex DC equipment now converted to AC use also has the auxiliary catenary wire but is not mark1 or mark3 as it predates both.

 

Very little mark2 exists, I believe only a short stretch in Scotland.

 

The next few issues of DEMU's UPDate magazine will carry articles about scratchbuilding Overhead Line Equipment.

Andi

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  • 4 months later...

If you recall, Peco a while ago announced plans to produce OO gauge OHL equipment, has there been many developments on this front as it seems to have been fairly quiet since its announcement. Simple OHL is about all I can cope with at the moment!

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It was a while ago too. Warley '08 I believe, but it seems to have all gone quiet since.

 

Having built my own, I can understand they that they may be having problems with it:

 

You have 2 choices with OLE, build it robust or build it to look good.

 

1. Build a product which looked good. RTR pantograhs are generally sprung far too stiffly & the OLE would break almost instantly. If you selll a product, you have to expect customers to use unmodified RTR with it.

 

2. Build it robust. Hornby did this & the product never lasted long because it looked to chunky.

 

The modellers who have built their own OLE which looks good will have gone to great lengths to reduce the upward force of their pantographs. You cannot expect the average customer to do this.

 

Option 1 is just asking for trouble. Option 2 will never work financially. I don't se how it could work.

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  • RMweb Gold

The modellers who have built their own OLE which looks good will have gone to great lengths to reduce the upward force of their pantographs.

If the pan can hold much more than its own weight up then its too strong. Mine are weakened enough that they will not support a pencil laid across them.

 

Andi

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Or glue pantographs in an up position, not so much of an issue with Heljan 86s as the foam boxes can be altered to fit the new structure.

Doing this would prevent the prototypical effect of the pan moving up & down slightly, or being very compressed to pass under a low bridge. Depending on your point of view, this may be a necessary compromise.

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Guest jim s-w

Doing this would prevent the prototypical effect of the pan moving up & down slightly, or being very compressed to pass under a low bridge. Depending on your point of view, this may be a necessary compromise.

 

The pan will only move with a change in wire height - The rest of the time it stays dead level. The idea of a pan 'bouncing' up and down is born from models and bears no relationship to the real world.

 

It is in NO WAY prototypical.

 

Any perceived movement between the pan head and the locomotive is actually due to the loco itself bouncing on its springs!

 

Cheers

 

Jim

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  • RMweb Gold

i spoke to peco about the ohle a couple of weeks back and they said it should be out in the autumn, im after some for warmington when its released, my sound chipped 92 looks a bit lost on there at the moment

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