[8-|] Over the years I have collected many telephone poles for my layouts but never really completed the projects. And there are several good products that can used and look realistic; from Atlas, Rapido, Bachman and Rix Products, just to name a few.
On my current layout I have plastic telephone poles all of the way around so it gives the impression that power lines are there but they are really not.
Some of my collection stuck in blue foam board.
I decided that I wanted real wooden phone poles like on Dick Elwell’s layout on the Allen Keller video. So purchased a bag of bamboo sticks for about $2.00 and my wife found a despenser with tooth picks that could be used for the cross arm.
[:D] Good point, I have snagged the wires accidently, especially when I had to put down new ballast on a curve, but I have learned to be as careful as I can and remember the wires are there. I reach over them, not under so I don’t accidently lift my hand into the lines.
Also, I might add, as long as you are careful the contact cement holds the fishing line in place very well, only once has a line become disattached but I glued it right back without a problem. I have found that before you put in the lines in make sure that you are pretty much finished with an area so that you don’t have reach in there anymore unless it is absolutely neccessary.
Over all I am very sastisfied with the appearance, and as I said, I try and be very careful when working around the poles and lines. I sometimes will drap a piece of paper towel over the lines to help remind me they are there.
I thought about doing this too. I’ve seen some model railroads where the pole are in place. but no lines.
What I did decide to do was the model the old line side communication poles and downed wires that I see along the CN main line that I watch.
You could also try to locate the poles and wires on the other side of the tracks, away from where you might be reaching, so your not always reaching over them.
[banghead] That’s why this forum is important. You bang your head against the wall and then somebody comes up with a simple solution that even I should of thought of. Great point, just put the wires on the other side of the tracks, genious. Although I do have to reach over the wires occaisionally, but since the scenes are for the most part complete I don’t have to do it as much.
Your poles look very good. I haven’t made any telephone poles but I have done a lot of power poles. After struggling with all the negatives about poles on my HO layout over the last 40 years or so I went with ⅛” dowels for the poles also with dark oak stain.
I put the cut poles (35’ to 55’ in the area I model) in my drill press and used 120 grit sandpaper to taper them to about 3/32” at the top. All of my layout is what I would call rural so I made some dual poles with a single cross arm between them and single poles without cross arms for general distribution.
I use a ½” long ¼” OD ⅛” ID styrene tube for the pole base. I drill a ¼” hole in the scenery and glue the base in. The power poles plug in and are easily removable.
For power lines I use .015” x 36” steel piano wire. I like the piano wire for several reasons, most importantly the steel wire doesn’t collect du
