E Z Line color and size

I've used E-Z Line for 20+ years - the black stuff. First I don't think anyone from the scale police is going to measure the diameter of whichever one you choose. They might look at the third rail in the center of your track work first . If I were to do it over again, I might consider using green, maybe; although green might attract too much unwanted attention to the lines.

I use the heavy green for my catenery. Don't know how well it would work for wires that are supposed to be insulated. If only they made a medium gray which could pass for weathered insulation. I'd be worried the blue would appear too "blue". Maybe the white could be toned down a bit to appear gray?

Real wires and cables are black because protection materials that resist UV damage the best are generally black. Older lead telephone cables, up to 3" in diameter, are gray. Newer "inner duct" which is used to identify optical fiber cables, is made of orange plastic, which fades to yellow, as the red pigment in the orange plastic is destroyed by the UV.  Bare copper and copper-weld (iron wire coated with copper) wires used in open-wire construction for telegraph and telephone service was about 1/6th of an inch in diameter and would corrode to a light greenish tint. Those are the historic telegraph wires found along old railroad rights of way.

A 1:48 scale telegraph wire would be 1/6 x 1/48 of an inch.  That's 1/288th of an inch, which would probably be difficult to see in any color.

I've never seen blue wires on poles, but I've also never seen a 20' tall crossing flagman, either.

@modeltrainsparts posted:

@Magicland posted:

@Arthur P. Bloom posted:

Thanks all for your thoughts. I also wish that EZ Line came in a gray tone. I like the idea of a light greenish shade to mimic aged copper, as long as it is not too green. My LHS has a good selection of this product, so I will go and look at the colors closely. So far, I am leaning towards the fine green or fine white. Perhaps the white could be lightly brushed with gray.

Bob