Good morning to you all, Dear Reader's that you are of 'Komata's 'Blog' - welcome to my world . . .
As usual, I have no idea about what is going to eventuate, but, here goes - so come along for the ride. . .
Telegraph Poles!!
For those of you to whom this term may be confusing, these are the line-side 'power'-poles that seem to be ubiquitous in many parts of the world - wherever there is a railway, a line of telegraph poles seems to follow - carrying the RR's lines of communication between the company stations.
You may know them by another name.
These poles can be made of a variety of materials, but here in New Zealand they were masterpieces of recycling and simplicity - why?
The New Zealand Railways Department, always operating with a view to save money (and having to answer to the Government for its expenditure), yet wanting to maintain its own lines of communication, came up with a very simple 'pole' to carry these all important wires. The pole, in its simplicity was two aproimately 30ft lengths of 40lb rail laid parallel to each other, and bolts put through pre-drilled holes at the bottom, middle and top. The bolts were tightened down and a rigid structure resulted. The 'pole' then had two more holes drilled one below the other at a point some 6ft down from one end and a wooden cross-arm (about 6ft in length) with matching pre-drilled holes was attached. Because the cross-arm was resting on the edge of the 'web' (foot) at the bottom of the rail, a pre-drilled block of wood was then inserted at the other (rail-head) end to keep the cross-arm flat and parallel. The bolts were then pushed through and, again, the whole structure tightened down.
What resulted was a cross-like 'pole' that was easy to construct. Insulators were added to the top of the wooden cross-arm, and the entire structure was then taken out to its new home, placed in a pre-dug hole and raised - another telegraph pole in place, and after having the appropriate wires added, a new pole for the network.
All of which is by way of background, but how could I replicate these 'always in the background, but there none-the-less' items that are very much part of the scenery in New Zealand, do it in N-scale, and on the Kereru Branch - my home layout?
I initially tried to duplicate the prototype, and create a 'sandwich-type' pole with wooden cross-arms just like the NZR had done. This was both fiddly and very unconvincing, so, being an advocate of the KISS principle (Keep It Simple Stupid), it was back to basics and to see what I could create that looked both realistic and feasible, and would be easy to produce in quantity - these poles are everywhere and I was going to need a good 40-odd.
But I didn't actually know how high these poles were - or how high I even wanted them to be on the 'Kereru. More experimentation, and back to close observation of the prototype.
Eventually, the TVR-variant of the poles came to have the following dimensions (and please remember that this is in British-N 1:148):
Height: 25ft (allowing for 7ft below ground) with cross-arms to be 6ft long, 1ft wide and to be placed 2ft down from the top of the pole.
The pole itself was just that - a single length of N-scale rail (invariably Peco code 55), with the cross-arm being a piece of balsa or spruce cut to length.
I used CA to attach the cross-arm to the pole, attaching the 'arm to the web (the bottom) of the rail to give the greatest area for the glue to work on. Then, having done all this, left everything to dry.
In an attempt for further realism, I also cut the heads off stationers-pins to simulate insulators.
This latter was not, ultimately successful, and is very, very difficult to do convincingly. The problem is that the pin-head tends to topple-over under its own weight and as I was using CA to attach them, they became stuck in the wrong places. Not a good thing at the best of times and with such very small items extremely frustrating.
Ultimately, I also found that they are not even noticeable to a viewer at the standard 2ft viewing-distance, so I abandoned the idea. An interesting experience certainly, but not worth repeating.
And as for colour?
For the initial pole, I used Burnt Sienna Acrylics out of a tube to give a simulation of rust, with the cross-arm being a light grey to simulate weather-effect.
However, I have since found that using any old, well-painted well-weathered (aka scrap)rail can be equally effective - it is of course pre-weathered and looks realistic as a result - and by using old rail you are acting just like the 'real' RR's do
But did the pole ultimately work - did it serve its purpose?
To my surprise, it did, and, with small variations, still does - the TVR standard telegraph pole can now be observed wherever the company has laid its tracks
There was however one necessary improvement, and this was concerning the cross-arms.
Initially, I used CA and wooden cross-arms, but noticed that the wooden arms tended to be quite fragile, and easily broken. I tolerated this or several years, but eventually concluded that there had to be a better way to do things, yet still retain the look of old, well-weathered wood for the arms themselves.
More experimentation, and, ultimately, the discovery that it was possible to solder cross-members made from old track to the poles, paint them, trim them to length, and that No-One Even Noticed that they weren't wood! Interesting!
As a result, I now solder the rail I am using for the cross-arm against the web (foot, base) of the rail (the same place where I had attached the cross-arms when using CA), then, when a secure joint has been formed and the solder cooled, use grey-and brown acrylics (still from a tube) to colour-up the 'arm as I wish.
To date no-one has ever noticed that the 'arms aren't wooden - BUT they have commented that the poles look very realistic!
Make of that what you will. . .
And for the all-important 'wires'? After the pole is is in place, I use very thin 'Schurring-elastic' (ask you wives or mums what this stuff is) which is very flexible for this purpose, and stretch it between the poles. I loop it around the cross-arms (always remembering to make sure that the 'wire' arrives at the TOP of the arm and departs from the top as well - NOT the underside - very unprototypical), and secure it with CA. I also paint it black AND white to simulate the reflective nature to the wire (have a look at a local telephone or utility wire on a windy day and you will see what I mean). The use of white also reminds me that the wire is actually there as it tends to 'vanish' when the black paint is applied.
I would not however put 'wires' on poles which are close to the edge of the layout.The 'wire' snags easily and being elastic will tend to pull the 'poles out as it gets caught. Surprisingly, power poles under tension can develop a fair bit of momentum and can become quite painful missiles!!! Better to err on the side of caution!
Hopefully, having read all of the above, you might even feel inspired to at least try making these 'oh-so-common' items for yourself - despite all that I've written they are actually quite easy. And don't forget, by doing so you might even save some money for spending on other (probably more-important), N-scale items (and that is ALWAYS a good thing isn't it?)
So there you have it, Dear Reader's - the 'Blog for today. An actual, complete, no-cliff-hanging how-to-do-it, Komata's 'Blog - amazing wasn't it - and probably terribly boring and old-hat to you all.
However, because, to quote the late Mr Sinatra, 'I do it my way' at least in respect of the TVR and my modelling, I thought you might find entertaining, if not somewhat amusing. You didn't? Oh well, perhaps another time, another place, even, another 'blog . .
But, if you DO want more of this sort of ramblings, please come back- perhaps tomorrow, perhaps next week, perhaps . . .
But, until then, to you all, my Dear Reader's
Happy modelling
Komata
"TVR - serving the Northern Taranaki . . . "
