Catenary System- Does Anybody Make one

Robert Coniglio posted:

I was wondering if there are any manufacturers who make a complete catenary system

 

Bob C.

Search MTH.

Jack had your the answer.  The MTH system is very basic, but it is the only O gauge one currently available.  You can also power your electrics through the MTH system if you want.

Since I run 3 rail, having a catenary capable of power is a low priority for me.  I would like one that is more realistic looking than MTH's, but it doesn't have to be scale detailed.  I keep hoping Menards will come up with something that looks good and not be too expensive.

I use a combination of HO Marklin Wire-frames for the wire and O-gauge Pittman poles for the posts; an idea for an O-gauge catenary system I saw in one of the magazines. 

Alan of "leaving tracks" aka the "ADMan" developed a unique system that he uses on his layout. Otherwise, you can use MTH's system that is rather large.

MTH makes a very nice one.  I have just completed installation of mine.  It's not terribly expensive and goes together well.  

In the June/July 2013 issue of OGR Don McCuaig (scalerail) had an excellent article on how to make catenary using the Marklin HO components Alanrail mentioned above. If I wanted overhead wire on my layout I'd go with Don's method. 

I have tried several approaches to catenary over the years and found that you can't beat the MTH system for ease of setup and reliability.  The parts are heavy duty and well made.  It is not perfect but it goes up quickly, is easily re-configured and works well.

Rolland

This is a shot of my system that Jerry mentioned. It works well powering the electrics. It's easy to build and you can knock out a lot of poles in a evening. Check out the June/July 2013 issue of OGR. Don

Dave Hike of Hike Layouts, a Forum sponsor, makes a prototypical Great Northern catenary system.

Dan, good job.  I made my own poles with Marklin wire.  I am running a bit over 300 feet.  It has been in full operation for 15 years.

Robert Coniglio posted:

I was wondering if there are any manufacturers who make a complete catenary system

 

Bob C.

Modelmemories.com in o scale and ho ,  cantenary systems , tell tales , high power transiton poles         , there o scale wire for the pantagrafs  to run on premade 4 /36" pieces for $40 . techman 

techman posted:

Robert Coniglio posted:

I was wondering if there are any manufacturers who make a complete catenary system

 

Bob C.

Modelmemories.com in o scale and ho ,  cantenary systems , tell tales , high power transiton poles         , there o scale wire for the pantagrafs  to run on premade 4 /36" pieces for $40 . techman 

they are listed on the o'gauge scenery source list  techman

Dan Padova posted:

MTH makes a very nice one.  I have just completed installation of mine.  It's not terribly expensive and goes together well.  

Dan, do you have problems with the overhead wire in the MTH system flexing or twisting, etc? I have the MTH system but haven't set it up it. The overhead wire seemed awful flimsy.

Steve

Couple of negatives about the MTH system. You need to bend the overhead wire on curves, This is not how the prototype works and to me it looks toylike. I'm lucky with building the Milwaukee Road. Their system was simple and easy to build. Many short lines and a few class one railroads used the system. As a model it is amazingly strong. Dowels are drilled into the wood base. Also the Marklin wire  comes in three lengths. The shortest is adjustable. MTH is a good system but not cheap. Wood dowels, brass rod and Marklin wire is all you need. Don

I have studied your catenary for a long time Don.  It spells Milwaukee all the way.  It is very well done.  My issue was a bit different as on my side of this great country catenary supports are steel and some places I beam.  I being a toy train guy, wanted something that looked like Lionel could have made it in 1954.  I feel I hit it with the 153 block signal caps on top.   It is one hundred percent operational and I do not have any rollers under the locomotive

Marty Fitzhenry posted:

I have studied your catenary for a long time Don.  It spells Milwaukee all the way.  It is very well done.  My issue was a bit different as on my side of this great country catenary supports are steel and some places I beam.  I being a toy train guy, wanted something that looked like Lionel could have made it in 1954.  I feel I hit it with the 153 block signal caps on top.   It is one hundred percent operational and I do not have any rollers under the locomotive

1. Marty, Mickey is not setting a very good example for the little ones. 

Ed, I had my Grandchildren at Disney a while ago and saw a pencil display with all the characters glued to the pencils.  A light bulb went off and I purchased several.  The kids love to spot them and I.D. them.  A bit of fun.

One of the projects when I retire is to build my on poles and photo etch my own Cat wire, I have a bunch Of MTH wire and poles to use in the mean time. I would stay with MTH system however it is very limited, it is only good for one line, I need three across and poles to handle it. It will be PRR system wire.

Try pricing 900 linear feet of MTH catenary!

RideTheRails posted:

Dan Padova posted:

MTH makes a very nice one.  I have just completed installation of mine.  It's not terribly expensive and goes together well.  

Dan, do you have problems with the overhead wire in the MTH system flexing or twisting, etc? I have the MTH system but haven't set it up it. The overhead wire seemed awful flimsy.

Steve

If you don't place the contact wire too low, there is no flexing.  As I was setting the height of the wire, I used the E-33 you see in my photos as a template.  At first, I had the wire lower because I wanted to run my GG1 under wire also.  However, the GG1 is not as tall as the E-33, so the Pantograph on the E-33 was pushing too hard on the wire.  I didn't see any flexing even then on the straight runs.  I hadn't installed the curved wire at that point.  

I decided that since this is a small switching layout, that I would only run the E-33.   If I ever build a larger layout in the garage attic, I will certainly have the GG1 in mind when building the catenary.  

Back in the eighties I had a layout with scratch-built catenary.  At that time I used 1/16" brass rod for the contact wire.  The pantograph on the E-33 I had at the time glided smoothly on the brass, so I was able to lower the wire to accommodate the GG1.  It seems the MTH contact wire isn't quite as smooth as the brass wire, so when I had the present contact wire lower, the Pantograph was dragging more.  I attached a piece of LGB track cleaning eraser to the top of the pantograph and let the locomotive run around the circuit a few times.  It smoothed out the bottom the contact wire enough that I could feel the difference.  

The MTH wire is stamped, so in the stamping process, there is always some burr on one side.  That burr can translate downward to the running surface of the wire.

I like MTH's system.  I thought of scratch-building one this time, but had the funds available so I opted for the MTH catenary.