Hi all,
I bought a box of O gauge accessories at a local auction and these were included. I have searched for a day now and can’t find anything about these. I am guessing they are O gauge, but may be wrong, catenaries as there was mainly Marx items in the box. There are more but basically the same structure.
Can anyone help ID these? Please and thanks.
Cheers
Welcome aboard kilohertz! I’m drawing a blank on those catenary supports but I’m sure someone here will know the story.
I’m 99% sure these aren’t O gauge. they appear to be catenary supports for HO trolley busses, like those produced by Ehiem. I have some very similar catenary supports for my HO trolley bus (which is unfortunately out of commission due to a burnt out armature). The catenary “wires” were flat steel strips that slide into the catenary supports.
-El
Those are almost certainly for trolleybuses – the double ‘wire’ arrangement is needed on model and prototype alike to ‘complete the circuit’ safely.
The problem I’m having is those bases. They don’t look like most of what I see for Eheim, or Silvine, or Aristo-craft, and I suspect someone will recognize that specific fabrication. The lattice bracing with that one little half-truss at the bottom is a spotting feature too.
Those trolleybuses were terribly expensive when I was little; the only thing more amazing was the monorails (of which I had two, one red and one blue, and couldn’t get over how amazing it was to have them…)
Schuco monorails?
If you look at the video I linked, it shows some catenary with identical bases. My poles have different bases, but the same mast/superstructure. I believe my pile of catenary and bus was probably one of the sets marketed in the US by Aristocraft.
-El
Those were Disney Alweg. Mine were Kenner Girder and Panel Sky Rail.
That’s neat, I never saw those before. Most Girder and Panel stuff was more prevalent just a little bit before I was born, I think. I had something similar from the late 70’s (may technically be considered G&P, I’m not sure - but Wikipedia seems to list it as part of the G&P “family”), it was called Kenstruct, I had the small one called the Interstate Highway Set.
Sorry to the OP (Welcome aboard, btw! 
), I have nothing to add regarding the original topic of the Catenary in question.
There was ‘Girder & Panel and Bridge & Turnpike’ a couple of years before Sky Rail, as I recall with an actual motor to make the bridge open and close.
The finest flower, just a bit after my childhood, was a set that would let you build a SCALE model of the Sears Tower.
From what I can see, ‘Girder & Panel’ was rebadged as ‘Kenstruct’ sometime between 1977 and 1979. I had not realized what was in the ‘500 piece skyscraper set’ – including opalescent ceilings and external ‘glass elevators’…
Thanks everyone for the warm welcome and all the input. I just got home and will digest all the info in the morning. I appreciate all the discussion, seems like a nice freindly community.
Cheers
Well I’ll be… 
Eheim trolley busses. I’ve never heard of them. Truly it’s a wasted day if you don’t learn something new!
Oh wow! We had the Kenner Girder and Panel set! (Circa 1964-1965 or so.) Ours had a clear plastic tank, piping, and pump option to build a “refinery” or “chemical” plant. Dad put some food coloring in the water so we could watch the fluids going through the system. Cool!
This is the first I’ve seen of the Sky Rail set. I don’t remember even seeing commercials for the same.
And I went back to the auction item lots from the same auction and think I found the trolley bus in a box of misc vehicles. Does that yellow bus with its nose sticking up look like a Eheim?
cheers
That bus appears to be a static, non operating model, probably of European manufacture.
The trolleybusses made by Eheim and others were usually made of a two piece plastic body, with the top being cream/white and the bottom being blue, green, yellow, or some other color. Non-trailer units have trolley poles at the front of the bus, on the roof.
-El
I think that bus is Wiking, judging by the visible wheels. It won’t be powered. The ‘real’ Eheim trolleybuses have separate rubber tires on machined wheels.
Look in some of the eBay listings for Eheim (sometimes misspelled) and Aristocraft to see what the buses looked like.
While you’re on eBay, look at the Eheim catalogues! Not only did they feature articulated trailers, they had special ‘luggage’ trailers that could be towed. They also made functional fountains (!) and cable-car systems for both passengers and freight…
