New catenary for O scale

Thank you for that, and about time too. I'm so glad they are doing it, at least it will be nice looking and scale.

its about time someone comes out with this! hopefully it sticks around longer then when MTH tried to produce it... i'd like to see it alittle more PRR though...

I agree with both Dave and Andrew.  It's about time someone came out with a decent cat system for O gauge.  I can definitely understand following a European prototype because there and in Asia is where most of the catenary action is these days (aside from the NE Corridor).

weird, I was absolutely certain that Sommerfeldt has been doing O catenary for 2 decades at least.

Darn.  That's gonna cost me some bucks!

80 feet of it?  Geeze.

Better start collecting empty cans :-)

Wonder if there is going to be a USA distributor?

Maybe they have, and the word just didn't get circulated well on this side of the pond.  We do tend to be a bit "isolationist" in this country as far as our hobby is concerned.

Allan, I've previously searched their site and found nothing. However, they advertized that they did make it. I can only assume they made it years ago and are now re-releasing it. Either way, I'm so glad, I've been pleading with makers for years to do something. The MTH stuff was way too chunky looking anyway. This Sommerfeldt stuff is beautiful.

No, Paul.  No relation or connection to Jack Sommerfeld in Wisconsin.  This is a German firm.

The Marklin wire has been out of production for a few years.  Marklin replaced it with a lesser system and I do not know if the new system  it is still available.  I made my own poles as the pole has to be rock steady with sectional catenary.  The MTH wire is a close knock off on the Marklin.  The MTH poles are not steady enough but do have a great adjustment feature. 

The wire I used is always on the internet for sale and can be had all over Europe.

As I stated, I am a toy train guy and what I used looked good for my application.  I have seen other systems that look funky when the train goes under.  When the pan pushes up on the wire it looks like people doing the wave at a football game.  My system might not be pleasing to a scale guy but it operates perfectly. 

Years ago I hosted a TCA layout tour when a very rude man took me aside from the control panel and told me I had a lot of nerve trying to conn people.  When I asked him to explain he stated he knows the G motors have rollers.  I stopped the locomotive took it off the track to show him no rollers. 

Marty, I am expecting this product to be solid and workable. Sommerfeldt are catenary specialists, they will make a product that works and is sturdy and practical. I expect the wire to be the same as the Marklin one.

If it's as good as what they do in HO, it's gonna be a really good product, But looking at its aspect, it's clearly oriented 3RS more than O27.

 

And releasing this product now is clearly motivated by the "MTH European market" strategy... Should ask Custom Signal to start thinking on some good looking european signals!!!

Guys, I hope it works out great.  I know many operators who would like catenary,and a custom build is sometimes out of reach.  A market does exist if it is a good product.  Having grown up just outside of Philly, I watched (and loved) all the PRR electrics and Reading MU cars every day.  A great Saturday was for me and my Uncle Joe to take the Reading MU cars from Hatboro to the Reading terminal.  We would eventually end up at 30th st Station watching GG-1 locomotives all afternoon.

 

I could not be happy watching an O gauge G motor running with the pan up and no wire.

I can't complain about the Marklin.  I've been using their sections (some have to be cut & resoldered to fit) for just about 15 years now.  Home made poles (they do have to be strong) mostly and some House of Duddy poles thrown in for that PRR look.  It's still in good working order electricaly but with the advent of DCS & TMCC I've de-energized it and just use if for show now.

I run DCS through my catenary with perfect 10 signal.  All my electric locomotives are MTH PS-2 locomotives. If I run a TMCC or Legacy steam or diesel locomotive under the wire, I throw a switch that is connected from earth ground to the catenary and experience perfect Legacy/TMCC operation. 

any chance you could throw up some pictures of your catenary? i'd like to see how it looks.

 

growing up in lancaster, i use to go down to lancaster train station with my grandma and sit on the platform and watch the trains go. this was in the late 80's.. so i missed out on the GG1's and MU cars that rolled through there, but we would take trips down to phili in the amfleets, and would frequent strasburg, the 4800 is the first thing i'd see. there's just something about "electric" trains that drives me nuts.

Adrew I can throw up some old pix I stored in Photobucket.  I saw the great days from 1950 until I joined the Navy in 1962.  My last trip on the Reading was 1965 from the Reading Terminal to Hatboro.

 

Here is what I have.  I would love to see guys get into catenary. It opens up many operating situations not available to 3 rails.

WOW! you have just about every NEC electic covered there! i like that NYC GG1! are those a set of williams metroliners? who made your catenary poles?

The Metroliners are Eliot Welz and the G is an MTH owned by forum member Gerry Morlitz.  Gerry had Jeff Sohn do the paint job.  As with all the work done by Jeff, it is excellent.  I did fabricate my own poles.

Folks,

If it is any help at all, there is a rumor that MTH will be producing its catenary again.

Cut those poles in half (approx) and you are in O gauge territory.

Ed Boyle

When I was planning my layout, I would have loved to see some New Haven style catenary available.  The NH electrics would look pretty silly to my eye, running around the layout with no catenary.

 

So I went with the B&M instead, which did not have catenary save for its very limited Hoosic Tunnel helper operation.

Digressing off topic, how can I contact Eliot Welz?

 

Now back to your regularly scheduled programming.

 

mikeg

Model Memories has NH catenary available in O gauge.

 

mikeg

It's not prototypical but it is cheap and easy... I've used lengths of farm fencing with wooden support poles to create a catenary system.  I know it sounds strange, but you can check an article in the competitive "toy trains" magazine that I contributed to back in July 2009.  I used two poles to build the initial demo system for the photo, but I've since found a way to fold the wire so I need only one pole.  I think I've discussed this system on the forum before but it was a while ago and probably won't still be here.

FJ

Will MTH be producing its Electric Loc again ? .. I mean the electric pennsys and NH... It's so hard to find!

 

Catenary OK! ..but it's better if you have something to run under!

Welz made those 30 years ago.  He lives in New Jersey.  Not a very friendly person. 

Guys,

 

The Milwaukee Road prototype cantenary on Scale Rail's layout referred to by Paul Fischer was made by Dave Hikel.  I have talked to Dave about it several times.  He is developing a commercial product.  At York in October he hoped to have it available this year.

 

Dave

Amazing, you can't find catenary for love or money, now there will be Sommerfeldt,MTH and now Dave Hikel is making it. Given that there are so many electric locos available, I can't believe it's taken so long. If Ed's rumor is correct, and I'm sure he is on the money, I wish they would make a more prototypical looking pole, the previous one was way too chunky. The European market would not buy it at all.

You can say that again Marty.

These people that are making this catenary, will they be a York in April to show it?

As someone who has run overhead electrics for years this looks very fragile. Running American type pantographs at speed can be a problem for something like this. Even the heavy duty system I used and will use in the future can be, like the real railroads, a problem once in awhile. However, it's good some one is offering a commercial system like this. Don

Anything Dave Hikel does will be the best.

Marty,

Great layout. How exactly did you wire the catenary so you can run DCS & Legacy?  I am planning a new layout based roughly on the Philly area and really want to run Catenary but, am not sure how to get started.

Chris

Marty:  I'm just a bit curious:  Why do you use your catenary to power electric engines with TMCC or DCS?  You have complete individual control over each engine with these systems, so what advantage is it to actually keep the overhead live?

 

It's my intention to erect a limited catenary system, since I model Milwaukee Road and have several of their engines, but I intended only to use it for decoration, not actual power distribution.  Isn't it more reliable to get your power, and signal for that matter, from two, three or four rollers on the 3rd rail than from just one contact touching the trolley wire>

 

Just curious, not at all critical.

 

Paul Fischer

Dave Drake, Dave Hikel did NOT make my cantenary. I don't even know Mr. Kikel. I originally made my Marklin cantenary two layouts back, over fifteen years ago. I use wood dowels, brass rod for cross arms, wood telegraph arms and most of the poles are stumped as the Milwaukee did. I drill holes for the dowels to fit in then glue them in place. They are very sturdy when complete.

You can see one of my videos with the electrics here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v...=11&feature=plcp

Don

Don:  I never tire of watching your layout videos!  Simply artistry in motion.  And every time I watch one of them, I see stuff I didn't see before.  On the subject of catenary, I see some of what your were describing and i think it's given me some inspiration; I'm gonna have to get off my posterior and get to work on mine.  Great ideas, there.

 

Paul Fischer

Thanks Paul, believe it or not, it won't take forever making the poles. I think there were over one hundred on my last layout. I did everything by steps. One night I cut all the poles to length and sanded them to a two sided point like Milwaukee did. The next time I worked on them by drilling the two holes for the cross arms and stained them. Another time I cut all brass arms. I assembled them over a few nights. You can easily do twenty a night. The critical part to placing them in the right position so the pantographs hit close to the center of the overhead wire. I added the telegraph arms after I mounted the poles but I would suggest you do that before you place them on the layout. Glad you liked the old layout. Don

 

Live catenary lets you power the locomotives.  While that is being done I use one of my ROW transformers hooked to the center rail to provide constant voltage to the passenger cars.  It is also possible to run steam or diesel from the center rail at the same time.  I never understood why anyone would make a catenary system and not power it. 

 

Paul, If catenary is done correctly, perfect contact is achieved.  Good pans properly sprung work the same as the rollers.   I know a small bit about DCS and TMCC and can state it works perfect from the wire.

Kerrigan, it all depends on the curve and or switches. Marklin made three different lengths  of wire. If I remember, one is twelve inches, one six or seven and the third can be adjusted to length. It's the shortest. All my curves were and will be at least 072 but I still used lots of the middle size wires. I took a old Lionel freight truck and glued a dowel to the center of the truck. The dowel went up to the hight I wanted the wire and it showed me the center of the third rail. I made my brass cross arms longer than need be. Once I attacked the overhead wire and got it centered I cut of the end of the extra long cross arm. I have found the MTH pantographs work best. The springs on K-line and Williams are too weak and the pans will sway back from the drag. Lionel's work fine but they are not scale. 

One other thing that help the look of the overhead was to paint the wire flat black. It makes it look smaller and dirty like the real thing. You have to remember to sand the bottom of the wire for good contact. 

I think I need to write a piece for OGR about making a catenary system. Don