Telephone Pole Wires

It’s called EZ Line and it’s basically an elastic thread.  It’s pretty inexpensive and works quite well. 

You can use plain old thread, but keep in mind it’s not flexible if you pull it tight, so anything that catches it after you put it up is going to break the line, the poles or something else it’s attached to. 

Hi,

Thank you for your help. Can I find this product at large train shows? I will look into that. Thanks.

Ricky

Scenic Express has o-scale elastic telephone line in various colors, but I wasn't able to pull up a picture.

You might have to request a catalogue and view them there.

Just please don't pull that stretchy stuff tight. Real lines always droop (except in Minnesota when it is 40 below) to allow for thermal contraction. 

I used to be against that stuff until it was pointed out to me that it is possible to droop it properly, and it has the advantage of not instantly breaking the first time you bump it (as Boilermaker1 pointed out).

You can get similar stuff in the beadwork section of Michaels.

  I used thread many years ago on my telephone poles. But I found out the local spiders like to spin their webs in my wires. I got tired of cleaning it so the town folks now have underground cable.

Berkshire Junction  EZ line. 

Hi,

Thanks for all your help. Thanks,

Ricky

You can also buy EZ line at dozens of eBay sellers. Works great. 

My last layout, I used thick black thread and also thin black fishing line. But...….. I kinda forgot they were there, I'd hit them with my hand when I reached down to move things like people, vehicle or a structure .   

Thanks for this thread.  I could use some telephone poles on my layout.  I have some poles, just order some EZ line.

I have been working on some utility poles and am using E-Z Line. Great stuff.

What are you guys using to attach the wires to the poles?

At my layout they would be a huge spider web attraction and I would accidently get my hand in the wires sometime.

Matthew Jones posted:

I have been working on some utility poles and am using E-Z Line. Great stuff.

Matthew - great photo. Are those beads on the cross arms?

Sean

Hi,

Thank you everyone. I was going to ask, what’s the best way to attach them? I was going to wrap them around and the ends, and then rest them on the poles in the center, but I’m not sure if that’s the best way to do it. Thanks,

Ricky

I got mine at the York show, called E Z Line at a table called Berkshire Junction, look for them, they should be there.

Sean007 posted:

Matthew Jones posted:

I have been working on some utility poles and am using E-Z Line. Great stuff.

Matthew - great photo. Are those beads on the cross arms?

Sean

Yes. Small glass beads with a hole in the center. They are attached to short pieces of wire inserted into the cross arm. 

Ricky S posted:

Hi,

Thank you everyone. I was going to ask, what’s the best way to attach them? I was going to wrap them around and the ends, and then rest them on the poles in the center, but I’m not sure if that’s the best way to do it. Thanks,

Ricky

EZ Line suggests using CA glue. They have a very complete set of instructions. But I discovered you have to be careful. Too much of this glue will actually melt or "craze" the line. After many failures I ended up doing as you suggest - I wrapped it around the first pole and then tied a knot. Then touched it with a very small amount of CA glue on the end of a needle. After that (as their instructions suggest) you just wrap it around the next 5 or 6 poles, and then glue to the next pole. Repeat that process until all you poles are done.

Hi,

Thanks for your help. 

Ricky

E-Z Line is basically Lycra thread. It is made of many, many very fine strands that create a lot of surface area. Therefore, thin CA sets almost instantly when you touch a drop to the line. This is a benefit (big benefit) and a curse. The benefit is you do not have to knot it. You just wind the line around whatever you are belaying it too and then touch it with a very small amount of CA on the tip of a toothpick. It is instantly glued and will NOT come undone. This allows you to do nice things when rigging a model ship like tying the vertical radio antenna wires to the horizontal ones by touching the junction between the two with the CA, pulling the connected line up tight and trimming it close with a very sharp Xacto knife. The lines are not tied together, just held by CA.

The curse is if you accidentally get CA on a part of the line you do not wish to, that too is instantly glued and probably has to be scraped. I intend to string my telephone poles with E-Z Line medium weight. Incidentally, they make two thicknesses. The Essex above at 1:350 scale uses fine. They also make it in several colors. I'm using their "patina green" to simulate bare copper telephone lines. I used their beige color for the signal halyards on the Essex's island.

Nice looking ship model!!

Thank you. Here's one more that shows a bit more of it. It's a Trumpeter model modified to represent the Essex as it was later in the war. Changes were made to the island's shape and the arrangement and variety of the radar suite. Guns were added to the forward port sponson. Air wing represents colors and insignia of the 1945 scheme. Hangar deck is illuminated with Surface Mount LEDs.

Trainman2001 posted:

Thank you. Here's one more that shows a bit more of it. It's a Trumpeter model modified to represent the Essex as it was later in the war. Changes were made to the island's shape and the arrangement and variety of the radar suite. Guns were added to the forward port sponson. Air wing represents colors and insignia of the 1945 scheme. Hangar deck is illuminated with Surface Mount LEDs.

Awesome, Nice job.

Wonderful model of the Essex ... not to be confused with the whaling ship of the same name ...

If you don’t want to use CA glue because of the instant set or if it’s a difficult place to reach, you can always use canopy glue, a white disappearing glue that allows for a little setting and moving around time. It’s usually recommended for installing plastic styrene in window frames because it dries so clear but, works well for so many other applications. For hard to reach poles I often find it difficult to tie a knot around the insulator (because I’m balancing on a ladder or a topside creeper) so I apply some canopy glue, and after a couple of minutes can just wrap the EZ line without the knot. 

That's a good idea. And I really need to get a topside creeper. One of the reasons my poles are not installed is it's really hard to work in my village.

Trainman2001 posted:

That's a good idea. And I really need to get a topside creeper. One of the reasons my poles are not installed is it's really hard to work in my village.

They’re not particularly inexpensive but, IMO and for me, it’s been invaluable. There are a number of areas that I could not have detailed without it. Probably let’s me reach 3-4 feet further if needed. I suppose those areas could have been planned better or done in a different sequence but, that’s just hindsight and the Creeper has been the solution.