At this point, all poles are temporary – and none are plumb.
The Niagara St. Catharines & Toronto Railway ran under trolley wire and modelling this will be essential. It’ll also have a huge impact on everything from the look of the layout, to how it operates.
Today while shuffling freight motors about the carbarn, I became curious about what the scene would look like with the overhead in place. I’m not yet ready to hang wire – far from it – but I realized I could at least mock up the poles. So I did.
This is a test, so I made it quick and easy. When I designed the layout and built the benchwork for this project, I marked out likely locations for the poles and drilled the plywood base to accommodate them. The overhead wire will put a fair bit of tension on the poles so I’m making them out of 5/32″ brass tube.
I have a bundle of 12″ brass tube set aside for use as poles. I ran a bunch of this through my lathe to quickly cut it into 6″ lengths. (When I build these for real, I will further trim them to the proper height, which – working from memory here – will be around 5″ tall.)
To mount these poles securely I’ll use small lengths of 4-40 threaded rod through the plywood base. I’ve used a 4-40 T-nut on the topside of the benchwork. Underneath, I will add standard nuts and a washer to secure the threaded rod in place and keep it from wiggling – I have not yet installed these.
Once I turn the brass tube into proper poles, I will epoxy them onto the threaded rods. Right now, they’re a loose fit so the poles are not plumb: They can wiggle on the threaded rod a bit. But some tape around the threaded rod – or a styrene insert in the tube – will tighten them up when they’re properly installed.
In its current state of unballasted track on unscenicked base, the car barn scene looked pretty barren. I realized it was because it felt so open and lacked vertical interest. The poles – even installed temporarily – make a huge difference to the appearance. I like it a lot!
Equally importantly, as I continue to test track and run my freight motors about the yard, I will get a better idea of what it’s like to operate with all those poles in the way. They’re already an obstacle: Are they too annoying for my taste? Better to investigate that now, before the wires are added.
The Model Railway Show 