Jack00 Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Hi all, Hope I'm posting in right section ( forgive me if wrong ) I'm building a prototype n gauge layout that's approx: 2ft x 6 inch wide. With twin section of mainline. Purpose of layout is to practice for bigger projects. Such as weathering track etc. Set in midlands/London Im looking into installing over head lines, but from scenic section into fiddle yards is my concern....how does one deal with the transition on loco's installed with pantagraphs, from touching the over head lines to "open space" with no over head lines?? If you get what I mean? I don't want to snap off pantagraphs by having an ubrupt "engaging" to the lines. Sorry hard to explain! Jack. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Revolution Mike Posted February 12, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 12, 2012 IIRC Andi on Dagworth uses some bits of spare rail to guide the pantos from full height down to wire height ie a transition that will work in either direction (going off the wires or on to them). Cheers, Mike Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack00 Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Ah brilliant. Thanks for the tip! Makes sence to have something to gently guide into place. Was worried I may snap pantos off :/ Jack. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted February 12, 2012 Share Posted February 12, 2012 Yep, that's the way it's done, regardless of scale - an angled piece of old rail, brass strip etc from about 1/" above the highest reach of the pantograph, and the other end is soldered to the catenary wire. There should be a bit of an overlap - even just 1/2" will be fine - with the end of the wire making a smooth transition (you may need to file it to do so). The angle - and therefore length - of lead in should reflect your line speed - obviously if you're running trains at a scale 100mph you don't want them to hit the transition section at too great a speed otherwise you might just find you need to buy a lot of spares... The most important thing, of course, with the lead-in is that it must be completely smooth on the face that will touch the pantograph - any solder blobs etc and you could damage the pans. Can probably draw you a picture if you are confused Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack00 Posted February 12, 2012 Author Share Posted February 12, 2012 Ah thats very helpful thankyou! My soldering isn't the beat to be honest I better get practicing before hand. A picture would always be handy.... If you don't mind? Much appreciation, Jack. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium Steven B Posted February 13, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted February 13, 2012 Another option is to fix the height of the pantograph - use something like really fine fishing line or invisible mending thread. Set the height to just below your wires and you shouldn't have a problem. Using fine thread means that you'll be able to push the pantographs back down so they'll still fit in the box (unlike glueing them). Happy modelling. Steven B. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cromptonnut Posted February 13, 2012 Share Posted February 13, 2012 Ok please don't laugh too much at my attempt to illustrate the process from right to left as the loco progresses. The grey uprights are posts - the 'exit' ones can probably be just brass section soldered together, they don't need to look accurate and of course the Dapol ones will be the wrong height. The red wire is the catenary, and the green line is the 'angle in'. You'll see how the pantograph hits it and lowers down to the correct height before exiting out to the scenic section - and of course the same as it leaves will leave the pantograph springing at its maximum height. As I said, make sure the 'overlap' particularly is smooth - you could solder or glue depending on your arrangement but do make sure that it is smooth. You'd probably want a much shallower angle than I've illustrated but hopefully the principle makes sense. The most important thing of course is to make sure that the highest bit of the lead in is higher than the reach of your highest pantograph - otherwise you'll just end up ripping it off! Shout if you need further explanation Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jack00 Posted February 14, 2012 Author Share Posted February 14, 2012 That's a clear explanation thanks cromptonnut! Pictures are helpful too Steven. B you've gone for the 'easy' life option, which I love. Less work for myself and effective solution. Will have a play around with prototypes to see which I get along with the most. Hopefully not snapping too many tiny parts.... Thanks for all your help Jack. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mike at C&M Posted February 15, 2012 Share Posted February 15, 2012 http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/22983-bayerndorf-im-tirol/page__hl__bayerndorf__st__25 Have a look at post No.28. I have simply used one of the catenary wires, but angled it upwards on to the supporting gantry so that the wire finishes higher than the tallest pantograph. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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