Hey all,
I am scratch building some power poles for my N layout using scale lumber. They are to feed a small town, so I’ve modeled them after the real thing here in my small town area. Would it be worth it to include the lines, or would it be pointless in N scale? I don’t know of anything thin enough, or strong enough if it is thin, to replicate N scale power/phone wire. Thanks ----Rob
Take a look at “EZ Line” at Berkshire Junction.
Look under “Scenery Products”
http://www.berkshirejunction.com/
Mike Tennent
Rob,
There are a couple of ways to go about it. You can either use the EZ Line for electrical/phone lines, which (from what I read about and have seen) is a good product but expensive. Or, you can just leave it off altogether. The line poles themselves give the impression that lines are there. Rob, you could also just try it on a small section - particularly where it might get bumped more readily - to see how it looks and holds up for you.
Tom
i have an n-scale book that says use wig hair!!..the straight kind of course. i’ll bet that would be for the old telephone lines. it looked great in the book…just a thought, good luck with it.
Gosh, I would think some high quality polyester black thread would do the trick. That is what I was planning on using.
Peter
Personally, if I do this again, it won’t be with thread, but with EZ-line.
At their website, link to EZ-line pictures, view the 122kb file called emovie.mpeg, and ask yourself if the thread’s flexibility is that responsive, and if the line poles (usually plastic) will snap with that kind of pressure.
http://www.berkshirejunction.com/
N Scale is much more sensitive to this due to its smaller size than other scales. The model railroader’s scariest phrase is “Oops!”
I have done power lines a time or two. I found best results with EZ-Line. Expensive? I think it cost 10 bucks for enough to do multiple lines on a small layout and have plenty left over.
EZ-Line providing electric and phone service on my N scale blimp base layout. (Photos not taken specifically to show electric lines but you can make them out…)
I haven’t used EZ Line, although it certainly gets high marks from the people who have used it. Maybe I should try it. What I did was use the thinnest dark grey thread I could find. Black looks too stark and besides, the black insulation on power lines weathers to a lighter colour anyway. I cut a few lengths, long enough to do a complete run down a street, dipped my fingers in white glue and rubbed the thread. Then I hung it vertically with a weight to dry. The glue made it stiff enough to hold a sag when strung between poles. The hardest part was glueing it to the miniscule insulators on the crossarms. A touch of ACC and a squirt of accellerator seemed to work best, but it was frustrating. I modelled the drops into the buildings by twisting together two strands of the thread and doing the glue and hanging bit with them. Three strands, although prototypical, was too thick. Yes, the thread is oversize for N scale but then it seems one has two choices for N scale details–too small to be seen without a magnifying glass or oversize. It looks okay to me, and that’s what matters.
A word of warning: if you’ve got a cat, don’t let it up on your layout once you’ve got power poles planted. Our cat thought they were kitty toothpicks and chewed up a few of them. Fortunately, he doesn’t go up on the layout any more since I moved it (he wanted to get up in the window) but once he discovers that part of it is under another window, that may change.