Good afternoon all:
Thank you all for the compliments. I do this stuff because I greatly enjoy it, but it's even more fun to share it with others.
Jonathan -- As I read your post, I remembered that the Williams Gs would do tighter curves, and in fact I had eyed up the 4800 in Conrail blue some time ago. I probably wouldn't get one for myself, but I'd try to run one if someone had it. My only concern would be likelihood of the pantograph sliding out from under the wire as as the nose swings through a curve. It might be OK with the O63 curves, but I think I'd be surprised. Also, you see Amtrak and Swiss SBB Cargo together above, so I'm never opposed to running anything that has a pantograph and would fit, even if the eras (or locations in this case) don't match. The E60 sounds like a great idea. I seem to remember seeing that shell on eBay at one point. I think I have to get some other things done before I jump into a totally new project! 
And what is wrong with your AEM7 that it needs such an overhaul?
Alan -- Interesting pictures. Did you do that in a CAD program? I understand your point about the trains being of primary focus. In my case, I would say that the trains and the catenary share said focus, and that's the way I designed it. Many folks run trains, but not many power them with overhead wire. It's an oddity of sorts, kind of unique, and an interesting talking point. Now, if I had to actually model catenary to scale, I'd probably use Sommerfeldt, maybe with some Marklin components. But, as you correctly state, its not near robust enough to handle the kind of traffic I would throw at it. It's hard enough to maintain this system, much less the delicate scale stuff.
I actually made a number of repairs today as a result of trying to make some videos last night. Wire was too high over the staging track bumpers. I eliminated 3 insulated joints, which resulted in having to redo a tensioner because the wall-driller ran out of 'tensioning' room, and the wire still needed more tightening. Now the rear automatic pantograph on the TRAXX F140 doesn't raise all the way for some reason. There were also a few spots that needed more dremel smoothing, as they partially flipped the AEM7 pantograph at low speed. A tensioning pole was missing 2 base plate screws. (???) 
It's an odd dichotomy of fun and frustration. Rarely can I make a repair on the line without having to fix something related to it.
