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Underground cabling


manna

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G'Day Gents

 

I'm building a model of Edgware station (GN) in the 1930's, in the 20's the Northern Line was extended to Edgware, it passed under the (then) LNER branch to Edgware, which is also part of the model, and I have to include the cabling along side the tracks, would anyone know the distance between the uprights, I've judged them to be app 5'

 

Thank you.

 

manna

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Must admit I'm not an expert in this field and defer to others on RMWeb who are - however I'll always learn from these sorts of enquiries.

 

I guess you've taken a look at the LT Museum's online photograph collection already, and I can see in there a number of pictures of the Edgware extension including an excellent couple of views of cable-laying in the 1920s. This tells me that the cable runs on this section probably included not only signal cables but also the larger 'high tension' [power or HT] cables.

 

The furthest back I can get in archive drawings, so far, is a 1936 proposal for a design standard which gives 8-foot centres for signalling cable suports, and 4-foot centres when supporting HT cable. So, my suggestion is to try supports at 4-foot intervals, and check for appearance with contemporary photographs. 5' might be wise if the closer spacing seems overpowering.

 

Checking a much more modern standard for the railway, separation of HT cable supports is given as 1200mm...

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I will throw into this question, I agree with the 4 ft dimension but I was stumped to find a "cable" that would not recoil itself. I finally hit on using resin- cored solder. A couple of lengths of double sided tape on a piece of scrap plywood first. The roll out your 1.25mm solder and straighten it. Then lightly stick down to the tape and paint black with acrylic paint. When dry, roll each strip 90 degrees and paint the side you missed. Thread into place on your supports and super glue (you cannot solder solder!) Touch up scratches and glue on rectangular pieces of 5mm x 3mm card  onto every other span. If you can, print on each of them, "DO NOT LEAN TOOLS AGAINST THESE CABLES."  Yes I do jest here.

post-276-0-72273800-1410101216.jpg

You may find the Britainfromabove site useful. You will have to log in to be able to magnify photos. Here's a start for you, 

http://www.britainfromabove.org.uk/image/epw031554?search=Edgware&ref=43

I feel I must also explain why the cables are on the opposite site to the track. Well on Tappa's brilliant layout "Margary Street, which is based on the Widened lines, He has modelled the "Overground" portion and the "Underground" is outboard to the left in what you see in my photo. The latter is not modelled at the moment but..........

Now if you want cable bridges..................See one Mally Baker but don't hold your breath, at-least until he has finished his bathroom conversion!

post-276-0-66890100-1410181551.jpg

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G'Day Gents

 

Thank you for your replies, I have looked at some LT museum pictures.

 

Thank you for the idea of using solder for the cable runs, I to, was wondering what to use, I did think of heavy fishing line, but I don't think it would 'sag' between uprights, I'll try both 20mm and 16mm gaps to see how it looks.

 

I'll post a pic or three, shortly.

 

manna


G'Day Gents

 

Thank you for your replies, I have looked at some LT museum pictures.

 

Thank you for the idea of using solder for the cable runs, I to, was wondering what to use, I did think of heavy fishing line, but I don't think it would 'sag' between uprights, I'll try both 20mm and 16mm gaps to see how it looks.

 

I'll post a pic or three, shortly.

 

manna

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G'Day Gents

 

Thank you for your replies, I have looked at some LT museum pictures.

 

Thank you for the idea of using solder for the cable runs, I to, was wondering what to use, I did think of heavy fishing line, but I don't think it would 'sag' between uprights, I'll try both 20mm and 16mm gaps to see how it looks.

 

I'll post a pic or three, shortly.

 

manna

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Don't forget that in the original style of cabling* the top cable wasn't exactly a cable but a compressed air line.  I used small diameter rod for this sprayed with grey primer.  Sorry but the layout was ripped up for a house move so can't measure the distance between uprights or find a packet with the rodding to get its size.

 

revUndergroundcabling_zpsa02be6d5.jpg

 

 

*I've noticed that recently cable runs seem to have gone mad so the original cabling is often 'in there somewhere' amongst a lot of more recent stuff

 

 

Edit:  Not sure if you've seen my Ayelsbury Junction thread which has been defunct for some while but some more pics on there:

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/50822-aylesbury-junction/

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Thomas's Handling London's Underground Traffic (1928) contains a photo of a Fog Repeater signal which is almost certainly situated somewhere along the District Railway in West London. The cables are mounted on clips fixed to a low brick retaining wall (as opposed to being mounted on the more usual concrete posts), and it is possible to use a brick count to determine the horizontal clip spacing which is 3ft-6in centreline-centreline. It is very unlikely that this spacing would be any different where posts were used.

 

Photos in the same book of the above ground section of the Morden-Edgware line confirm that the standard cable support posts were already in use and are certainly not incompatible with a 3ft-6in post spacing, certainly the posts seem closer together than they are tall.

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