BR Mark 1 OLE project

[Northern Electric]

Mark 1 booster transformer towers. Can be made up as singles, or connected with a piece of H-beam to make a 2 track.   I'm working on the 4 track version at present.

Current iteration of the transformer is slightly different to the one in these photos - The radiator fins are on the sides not the back and printed as part of the main unit making it a little simpler to construct.

Edited December 19, 2023 by Northern Electric

[Northern Electric]

Here is the "standard" WCML portal, the one I think most people think of when they visualise the WCML. The 4-track mid-size lattice with ladder legs.

As with the smaller 2 track version, this is flexible in how you make it up. I can be made up as a 220mm portal (2 or 3 tracks) or a 340mm portal (4 tracks with lots of room) or can be supplied with a reduced centre section to make a 290mm 4 track portal. I'm also going to offer a double sided leg so it can be built as a duplex as per the smaller version.

I've also designed overlap fitting with the staggered type registration arms so you coulds simulate a boosted overlap section realistically.  I need to tweak the print settings for those but will be offering them in due course.

[Northern Electric]

Similar to the above but with different style boom section - The tapered 4-track portal with a standard width of 295mm. Can also be made to 210mm with centre section of the lattice omitted.

These appear to be found more often in/around station areas (they are everywhere around Manchester which is where I got my reference photos) and can be seen with both fixed equipment type fittings (the V-shaped ones, without any pulley wheels) and constant tension (L-shaped fittings, with pulley wheels).   I'm offering them with the V shaped fittings as that seems to be more commonplace, but you can mix and match as required. 

Bottom pick is an example of the overlap fittings that I'm still working on (normally seen on the squared-off portal above), I will say though, its a bit of a pain getting them all lined up straight and neat!

 

[Northern Electric]

Finally (for now at least) I also have the large 4-track termination portal.  This is the largest portal and the most difficult to produce and construct. The large gaps between the struts which are unsupported means it needs a lot of support material adding in the printing process to come out right, and it takes some time and patience to cut all this away.  However the end result is quite pleasing.

I'm currently working on doing the counterweights and guides to go inside the legs which you see on the constant tension ones (higher speed open-road stretches mostly).

I've already designed the smaller 2 and 3 track version as well, just need to perfect the printing setup before its ready for sale.

 

If you are interested in buying any of the above or would like to support or asist the project in anyway then please PM me, either on here or via ebay.

Many thanks, Niall

[Northern Electric]

I forgot to mention, I am still offering my 3d printed OLE insulator packs too, for people who may be looking to solder their own registration fittings for greater strength.

I will also be doing the termination pulleys and counter weights too.

 

I realise that being printed in resin and therefore somewhat fragile, these models will not suit everyone's requirements but, once constructed the portals are of reasonable strength and, if combined with soldered brass registration fittings, should be strong enough to form part of a working system with active pantographs.  However any pressure applied by the pantographs would need to be minimal, as would any tension or lateral forces applied to the wires.  I've not had the opportunity to test this out in practice but I do believe it could work.

 

Currently I am selling these models from as little as £3.50 so they are certainly good value for the level of detail and realism they can bring to a layout, and also offer something new in the market place.   3d printing gives me the low-outlay high-flexibility tool I need to be able to try new things like this out a low risk that would otherwise not be possible.

That being said, it does seem bizzare to me that after 60+ years, still none of the RTR manufacturers who operate in the UK will take this topic seriously but anyway, that leaves a gap in the market I will do my best to fill!  

I have decided not to attempt to address the issue of wires because there is no single solution that would please everyone, and it's an area of manufacture I have no knowlege of, or connections in.  So I will leave it up for indivduals to decide for themselves what road the want to go down as regards wires (or not).  

 

I hope over time to offer further products, such as feeder station transformers, circuit breaker cubicles, possibly mark 3 and LNER DC structures too.   Lets see how it goes!

[roythebus1]

Very good, well done!

[njee20]

Lovely job! I've been playing in N, but just not happy with how fine I can get bits (or not) whilst retaining rigidity of lattice pieces. Some work well for FDM printing, but not particularly the lattice structures. I like the modular approach though, very elegant way of doing it.

 

[Northern Electric]

Modular design is necessary by virtue of the fact that the print envelope is limited, very limited in the case of my small-ish resin machine.  And the fact that the parts need to be easy to pack for postage and arrive unbroken.  It is possible to print even smaller and finer parts that this but they just become too fragile to survive the trauma of being posted and then handled for assembly. FDM is great for larger, bulkier structures, but for fine details and smooth finishes, resin/LCD produced a much superior product.