I've been hoping that some of the new(ish) Dapol or Peco Catenary, would come up on that well known auction site as 'used' and a bit cheaper, but no such luck.

There also doesn't appear to be many recent applications of either system documented on the web.

So I bit the bullet and ordered some Dapol masts, they being the cheaper of the two.

Not a very good picture, but I'll try and do some more later.



My scratchbuilt (sort of) resembling Mk1, Dapol Mk3 with the longer arm which is push off and Dapol Mk3 with the shorter arm which is pull off.

(Think I've got that right).

Initial thought are the Dapol versions are very springy, much better detail than my efforts, but not as robust.

The distance between the contact wire and catenary wire (encumbrance) at the registration point (mast) is different for Mk1 and Mk3.

Dapol are probably right  for Mk3 and I'm a bit out for Mk1, but I'll have to solder up some new Catenary wires to try out a section of track using the Dapol version.



Ed

I would have thought springy plastic is not the best stuff for carrying overheads Ed.  It could easily lead to disaster.

Why not metal ?

Simply cost Peter.

These cost £10 including postage for 10 masts, so you could say they're pretty cheap to replace.

The Peco system is marketed as (and I quote), "Using robust nickel silver and steel parts these masts will last considerably longer than a fragile plastic mast", and cost £8.50 including postage per mast from the same supplier.

Both systems are however, purely cosmetic.

If anyone wants to donate  few Peco masts, I'll try those out as well  





Ed

At £8.50 per mast, don't look this way for donations Ed !!!  :shock:

The tram modelling fraternity obviously have a requirement for overheads and most, as far as I know, make their own masts from rod and tube, in either steel, brass or aluminium.  A bit time-consuming but much, much cheaper than buying ready made - and it often has to work too rather than just being cosmetic.

The raw materials are often available from the large DIY stores cheaper than from the specialist modelling suppliers.

Tram systems tend to be just a single contact wire Peter, which makes things a hell of a lot easier.

Dave (Westcoast) and other have suggested code 100 rail for masts and gantries,

http://yourmodelrailway.net/view_topic.php?id=14021&forum_id=52&page=5#p260518

but I don't get many problems with my scratchbuilt version.

The wires are just hooked on and if I knock them off it's easy enough to hook them back on.


Ed

First attempt as some Catenary made from 1/0.6mm hook up wire, for the Dapol Masts (terrible trouble trying to take some pictures).







Bit bent, not quite on the registration arm properly and needs the solder filing down, but not too bad.

Far more fiddly than my Mk1 Catenary I made, as the distance between the contact wire and the Catenary wire is about half.

For comparison…



Struggling a bit with 10mm droppers, think I use my magnifying visor for the next attempt.


Ed