Crewlisle

With reference to Mark's query about the catenary in the Bachmann catalogue in comment 907, the article on the Viessman catenary was in Model Rail No.106, July 2007. With Viessman & Sommerfeldt catenary systems, you are restricted to set lengths between masts. Many years ago I used JV catenary (still available) as their single masts were a good representation of early WCML masts with no mods required. I also used their continental style masts, modified to look like the multi track portal frames as seen around Crewe & Birmingham. I used the masts/portal frames but scratchbuilt the wires to span 3 or 4 masts to fit my layout as catenary is unique to each layout. Whilst not superdetailed like that on 'Birmingham New Street', when viewed from 1M at exhibitions it looks the part, is all portable & trains can be run at a scale 100mph with the pantograph in contact with the wire. See comments 585, 599 & 613 for photos & brief description. An article on the construction & fitting of the catenary will be featured in an article in Model Rail later this year.

I have just found this forum and after reading it was surprised how some contributors are never satisfied. Personally, I think these signals are what modellers have waited for for many years. Thanks and well done Dapol. However to sum up the comments (good and bad) about Dapol's announcement to make semaphore signals, can be done by using the light hearted analogy of a tree swing as set out below: IMG.pdf

With reference to pictures of my catenary on 'Crewlisle': Yes, that is the continuous run section that can take 100mph scale speed running. With regard to my reference to Hadley JV catenary being no longer available, I have since found out it is just JV catenary and is stocked by a company called Marno Ltd. in London. Making and fitting the catenary was featured in the Railway Modeller in 1993. Might be worth considering a 'dusting off' and updating to kick start the fitting of catenary to more layouts!

General view of one end of Crewlisle to show how even basic catenary looks OK when viewed from about 1M. Close up of catenary at left hand side of top photo. All masts and wires are portable. Portal frames and masts are modified Hadley JV (no longer available in UK) but I am sure Sommerfeldt could be modified in a similar way. It is certainly worth the effort, even for basic catenary like mine. See my previous comments on 13 and 14 June.

Perhaps I used the wrong terminology when I referred to pantograph 'bounce'. What I should have said was that the pantograph could move up or down depending on the height of the contact wire, eg going under bridges or entering/leaving a tunnel. May I advise anyone contemplating doing OHLE, think very carefully about making it permanent, ie soldering all the wires. You can be sure that if you have a track or nearby lineside problem, it will happen under your most complex bit of OHLE! I totally agree that all track, ballasting and nearby track features should be complete before installing OHLE. 'Crewlisle' had been in progress for about 15 years and the only reason I even considered OHLE was when Lima bought out their Class 87 and my son wanted one. You will have to weigh up how accurate you want it to be and have a trade off of prototypical installation against how far it is from any viewers. As I said before, mine is viewed from about 1M. Even though it is very basic, it took quite a few hours to measure where the masts should be positioned, modify the masts/portal frames and construct the catenary but looks OK when viewed from that distance. The end result was worthwhile and it has stood the test of time, all of it being removed and reinstalled when the layout is dismantled. It takes about 30 minutes to install the masts and hook up the catenary.

Question - Why bother about all the nitty gritty details on a loco (eg fitting the supplied screw link couplings, air pipes, size of cab numbers, etc.) when, looking at the photos of various layouts and model AC electrics there is no catenary? It is like the Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale of the 'Emperor's New Clothes' where instead of the crowd exclaiming 'He has no clothes on!' we should say 'There is no catenary'! Surely, the first thing you have when intending to run AC electrics is the catenary and secondly the actual AC loco? To produce acceptable BR style catenary must be quite easy by adapting something like the Somerfeldt system. First you have to decide if you want recognisable/representative BR style catenary for scale speed WCML running with pantograph in contact with the wire to get the pantograph 'bounce' or authentic BR super detailed catenary as per 'Birmingham New Street' layout which would probably not be substantial enough for 100mph running but is perfect for a large station layout. I fitted portable catenary (easy to remove for proper track cleaning/repairs to track) to my 00 gauge layout 'Crewlisle' 25 years ago using modified Hadley JV masts and multi track portal frames to represent early WCML OH catenary. Some of you may have seen Crewlisle at the NEC in 2009 and Alexandra Palace in 2011. AC electrics and the APT run at scale speeds of 100mph with no problems. Because the catenary is in the middle of the layout, sprayed with grey primer, it looks like the real thing and blends in perfectly with the railway scene. It only has the actual catenary wire but no other details such as the earth wire carried between masts. Viewed from about 1M it looks like the real thing. Two things to remember, you can modify continental style masts and multi track frames into BR styles, including wire headspans. However, the only time you can probably use their catenary is if your layout is just straight or large radius curves. All my catenary is scratchbuilt from 22 gauge high tensile steel wire so that if the catenary gets caught in the pantograph, it just bends and springs back - no kinks in wire! And the important thing to remember is the wire must be straight between masts. That is why the catenary wire must be made to fit the unique layout of your track and radius of curves. No cheating by bending to the curves as I have seen at some exhibitions!