Got the double catenary extended around the side wall and over the first lift bridge and meeting up with the 2nd bridge. The bridge was the trickiest part of the installation. The bridges are both lift bridges hinged at 1 end.
Since the mainline catenary needed to end at the bridge I had to figure a way to overlap the catenary from the mainline and the catenary on the bridge so that there would be continuous pantograph contact as the loco entered and exited the bridge. The hard part was coming up with the right spacing and configuration of the catenary supports at either ends of the bridge such that the bridge could be opened without anything hitting the opposing supports or catenary.
Now I would like to say that I designed it all out on paper before building it and that once built from the plans it all worked out fine. Since most of you know me well enough to know that there is no way I could do that I won't try to con you.
It was all trial and error, with ample amounts of each coupled with a scant bit of bourbon anxiety medication before arriving at the correct spacing and support configuration.
This is a short video of a PC GG1 pulling a 17 car consist under catenary power. It ran smoothly around from the left rear of the room and around onto the 2nd bridge where the catenary ends and it ran out of power. Note there are still some trimming of bolts, patching and painting that needs to happen. I also discovered that the nuts that go on the bolts used to attach 1 piece of cat to the next extend below the catenary wire a tad which prevents the pantograph from smoothly gliding from one piece to the next. I will simply grind the nuts to eliminate the issue.
The bridgework is built as a single unit so that I can remove it to gain access to the catenary supports in case I need to work on them. It is made to slide over the catenary supports. This is the start of the 2nd bridge.
Total of 17 cars most of which have some weight to them. The GG1 did fine considering it is not a diecast body.
It appears the intermodal containers are a different size between MTH and Lionel. The MTH containers clear the catenary with 1/8" to spare. The Lionel containers need another 1/8". Looks like I will be running some single stack intermodal cars.
And there are my filthy PC coal hoppers bringing up the rear. I don't think these cars would be allowed at Hudson Coal even with its recent "aging".
Now that the bridge specs have been worked out the remainder of the catenary installation should go a lot quicker. I have 5 conventional GG1's that I need to modify to allow selection of power source from either catenary or track via a slide switch. That is pretty straight forward.
5 comments:
That looks really great! I love the way the GG-1 rolls around the layout and catenary!! Good stuff!
E.E., really great looking progress on the catenary! Love the PC GG-1 and train. I won’t complain about dirty coal cars. That just comes with the territory.
Thanks Neal. It is cool watching the pantograph undulate a bit going trough some spots where the catenary is a tiny bit higher or lower.
Brian - I had to laugh at your comment about not minding the dirty PC coal hoppers. I had visions of the reaction of Ralph and John R. when they saw the hoppers. Ralph would be nodding his head up and down approving the level of dirt, possibly thinking there ought to be a little more. On the other side John R. would be nodding his head side to side saying way too much dirt.
Wow you've made a lot of progress E.E.! Catenary really coming along nicely and the big train looks right at home rolling along under it. Good to know the PC GG1 is up to the task of pulling it.
Looking forward to the next update!!
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