This is Euston!

[letterspider]

Have you heard of EZ Line?

[RBE]

The finest EZ line rope btw is still thicker than a no9 guitar string.

[cornish trains jez]

Hi guys,

 

Thanks for your advice and suggestions. Quite a number of years ago, I built some OHLE and I used EZ line for the contact wires. It looked ok, but this time around I’m looking to do something really fine so only noticeable upon close up inspection. I agree with Cav, soldered on contact wire should theoretically hold on and bearing in mind the layout it is going to be shipped around to exhibitions, I’ll need something sturdy. I’ll also be doing the droppers which will be a laborious task but will add to the overall appearance.

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

Edited March 10, 2018 by cornish trains jez

[RBE]

Glad to here it. The droppers are noticable in my opinion.

[Denbridge]

Hi guys,

Thanks for your advice and suggestions. Quite a number of years ago, I built some OHLE and I used EZ line for the contact wires. It looked ok, but this time around I’m looking to do something really fine so only noticeable upon close up inspection. I agree with Cav, soldered on contact wire should theoretically hold on and bearing in mind the layout it is going to be shipped around to exhibitions, I’ll need something sturdy. I’ll also be doing the droppers which will be a laborious task but will add to the overall appearance.

Best regards,

Jeremy

my concern, with the sheer complexity of the track layout, would be access to even do track cleaning.

[RBE]

Yes. Difficult.

[cornish trains jez]

my concern, with the sheer complexity of the track layout, would be access to even do track cleaning.

  

Yes. Difficult.

 

When I had my Swiss layout with catenary I used a Roco cleaning wagon which was pretty effective so I’ll most likely use it again and see how I get on. Agree though, it’s going to be tricky cleaning the track if that doesn’t work.

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

[cornish trains jez]

Hi Jeremy.

 

Have you considered black nylon monofilament for the wires? My worry with metal wire would be expansion & contraction under different temperatures leading to distortion or breakage. I think nylon would also stand up to tensioning better and be easier to repair if it gets broken. When I experimented with OHLE some years back I think the stuff I used was advertised as 'Magician's Invisible Thread'. This was white so needed painting but I've seen the same stuff in black.

 

300108.JPG

 

Tom.

 

 

That OHLE looks fantastic Tom. Is it N brass or scratchbuilt? Any more photos of the layout?

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

[Robert Shrives]

I recall a layout that had droppers made of a fine thread of glue . It might be an idea to have some soldered ones for strength and use the glue thread to add in extras. The real job had zillions of droppers and clips to support - life may not be that long !

 

great modelling and very inspiring.

Robert  

[RBE]

Glue is an awefully messy way of making droppers and you will no doubt get blobs. If using wire as the contact and catenary you can add wire droppers very quickly with layout wire strands. It solders instantly.

[cornish trains jez]

I recall a layout that had droppers made of a fine thread of glue . It might be an idea to have some soldered ones for strength and use the glue thread to add in extras. The real job had zillions of droppers and clips to support - life may not be that long !

 

great modelling and very inspiring.

Robert

 

 

I think Kinlet Wharf used this method.

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

[jamie92208]

Jim Smith Wright who's doing New Street in 4mm put me onto brass coated steel wire that's used for spark erosion.  I've used it for my experimental stretch of contact wire on Green Ayre wher the 0.3mm wire is actually spot on for size in 7mm.   The catenary is compound and I'm using nickel Silver in yard lengths for the intermediate and catenary wires with droppers made from the same wire as the contact wire.   Even though I've painted it it's very difficult to see on the layout.   I got a reel of the wire from a local engineering works that does spark erosion. It was a reel end and probably has about 2 miles of wire on it.

 

Jamie

[Mark Pelham]

I think Kinlet Wharf used this method.

Best regards,

Jeremy

Yes, used on ‘Kinlet Wharf’, and I believe trialled on ‘Lowes Hill Marina’ beforehand - both RM articles tucked away ready for future reference!

 

Cheers,

 

Mark

[cornish trains jez]

Yes, used on ‘Kinlet Wharf’, and I believe trialled on ‘Lowes Hill Marina’ beforehand - both RM articles tucked away ready for future reference!

Cheers,

Mark

Spot on. I was re-reading the Lowes Hill Marina article just a couple months ago. Brilliant little layout oozing WCML atmosphere.

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

[cornish trains jez]

Jim Smith Wright who's doing New Street in 4mm put me onto brass coated steel wire that's used for spark erosion.  I've used it for my experimental stretch of contact wire on Green Ayre wher the 0.3mm wire is actually spot on for size in 7mm.   The catenary is compound and I'm using nickel Silver in yard lengths for the intermediate and catenary wires with droppers made from the same wire as the contact wire.   Even though I've painted it it's very difficult to see on the layout.   I got a reel of the wire from a local engineering works that does spark erosion. It was a reel end and probably has about 2 miles of wire on it.

 

Jamie

 

Hi Jamie,

 

Do they do an ultra fine version?

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

[TomE]

That OHLE looks fantastic Tom. Is it N brass or scratchbuilt? Any more photos of the layout?

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

 

 

Hi Jeremy

 

The masts were N Brass. The support arms were scratch built with thin wire & sommerfeldt insulators which are not cheap, but worth it for the detail. If memory serves it was these.

 

I hadn't applied droppers in that shot, which is why the wires run parallel, but you'll need more tension in the contact wire to stop it being pulled upward by any tension in the catenary wire, regardless of material you use. 

 

Tom. 

[RBE]

Jim Smith Wright who's doing New Street in 4mm put me onto brass coated steel wire that's used for spark erosion.  I've used it for my experimental stretch of contact wire on Green Ayre wher the 0.3mm wire is actually spot on for size in 7mm.   The catenary is compound and I'm using nickel Silver in yard lengths for the intermediate and catenary wires with droppers made from the same wire as the contact wire.   Even though I've painted it it's very difficult to see on the layout.   I got a reel of the wire from a local engineering works that does spark erosion. It was a reel end and probably has about 2 miles of wire on it.

 

Jamie

0.35mm is spot on for 7mm scale. The contact wire is 15mm diameter (give or take as the real one isn't round). 0.3mm is near enough though just not spot on.

 

As for the droppers, what I did on Outon Road was to tension the contact wire, apply the catenary wire loose and then solder the droppers in place after creating the gentle curve of the catenary. Once in place and put under tension the contact sits level and the catenary curves properly. Probably harder to achieve in 2mm but the principle applies.

[jamie92208]

Hi Jamie,

 

Do they do an ultra fine version?

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

 

I'm not sure and I think that my reel of wire has gone to France with my layout.  However it's worth doing a google search for spark erosion wire. It's called EDM wire and can be very fine down to 0.07mm.   This company certainly supply it at 0.1mm.

https://tmsedm.co.uk/products/j-g-dahmen-gmbh/continuous-edm-wires/dc390-dcs-dch/

 

  The fact that it's steel cored and brass coated gives it tremendous strength and makes it a doddle to solder.  All my registration arms are brass so I pull out a long length and anchor it under tension, usually over several boards then solder it to the underside of the cast arms.  At baseboard joints I carefully cut it and then bend the wire back to make a hook on each side of the joint then couple to hooks together before repeating the process.    It might be worth seeing if there is an EDM company near you and just going in and asking like I did.  Apparently they can't start a run on a machine unless the wire spool is full so a lot of part used spools get thrown.

 

Feel free to PM me if you want any further info.

 

Jamie

[cornish trains jez]

I'm not sure and I think that my reel of wire has gone to France with my layout.  However it's worth doing a google search for spark erosion wire. It's called EDM wire and can be very fine down to 0.07mm.   This company certainly supply it at 0.1mm.

https://tmsedm.co.uk/products/j-g-dahmen-gmbh/continuous-edm-wires/dc390-dcs-dch/

 

  The fact that it's steel cored and brass coated gives it tremendous strength and makes it a doddle to solder.  All my registration arms are brass so I pull out a long length and anchor it under tension, usually over several boards then solder it to the underside of the cast arms.  At baseboard joints I carefully cut it and then bend the wire back to make a hook on each side of the joint then couple to hooks together before repeating the process.    It might be worth seeing if there is an EDM company near you and just going in and asking like I did.  Apparently they can't start a run on a machine unless the wire spool is full so a lot of part used spools get thrown.

 

Feel free to PM me if you want any further info.

 

Jamie

 

Thanks Jamie. Just had a look at the website and certainly looks like 0.1mm could work size wise and will keep a note of it for nearer the time.

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

[DavidMcKenzie]

When I had my Swiss layout with catenary I used a Roco cleaning wagon which was pretty effective so I’ll most likely use it again and see how I get on. Agree though, it’s going to be tricky cleaning the track if that doesn’t work.

Best regards,

Jeremy

Hi Jeremy,

 

Looking forward to seeing how the OHLE develops, especially with the wiring. I have chicken out for now and decided to go without, but never say never, it's one of those thing's that I would love to do. I just don't have the confidence yet.

 

I am jumping back a bit, but I noticed you mentioned a swiss layout, is it online anywhere? Sorry it's slightly off topic, but I'd be interested to see it if any photo's exist.

 

All the best

Dave.

[njee20]

0.1mm wire... doesn't bear thinking about what happens if you have to get a finger in to retrieve some derailed stock...!

[cornish trains jez]

Hi Jeremy,

Looking forward to seeing how the OHLE develops, especially with the wiring. I have chicken out for now and decided to go without, but never say never, it's one of those thing's that I would love to do. I just don't have the confidence yet.

I am jumping back a bit, but I noticed you mentioned a swiss layout, is it online anywhere? Sorry it's slightly off topic, but I'd be interested to see it if any photo's exist.

All the best

Dave.

 

Hi Dave,

 

I started a very short thread with a few photos of my old Swiss layout. Here’s the link for you...

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?/topic/90029-an-old-n-gauge-swiss-layout/

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

0.1mm wire... doesn't bear thinking about what happens if you have to get a finger in to retrieve some derailed stock...!

 

Mmmmh, not looking forward to that scenario arising!

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

[cornish trains jez]

A little bit more on the gantry tonight and both ends now soldered together and any excess solder carefully filed off. I now need to modify the supports, finish the last few details on the wall and then I’ll be able to fit it into position.

 

 

Best regards,

 

Jeremy

[Amnesiac]

The N Brass catenary looks very good! May have to invest in some!

[RBE]

Looking good. I miss making OHLE. I might have to do some more on a future layout!!