I have several projects that require a length of rope that train crews would pull on to operate various appliances. I’m currently working on a diesel locomotive fitted with trolley poles to trip crossing signals. I would like to add a length of rope between the end of the trolley pole and the pilot handrails so the train crew could easily raise or lower the trolley pole. The problem is that regular thread won’t hang limp like the rope used on the prototype. Does anyone have any ideas or techniques for simulating the way a length of rope would hang limp from an appliance?
I have seen very real looking rope made out of dental floss. Simply pull the strands apart until you get a thin enough rope and then paint it. I saw this method used to make kite string in HO. The string had a nice sag between the child and the kite. The guy got the floss so thin you could hardly see it. Good luck.
Brent
you might try getting some embroidery floss (go to Micheals arts and crafts and ask the clerk)
then pull it apart into really, really fine treads, then braid it into the thickness you want then wet it to make it sag, then stiffen it with clear cote.
good luck
Go the other way and use a fine copper wire and shape it to the limp position then paint it an appropriate color. BILL
Ordinarily the rope used to pull down a trolley pole was under some tension; trolleys usually had a take-up reel kind of like the spring on a roll-up window shade. It kept the rope from swinging around, and in case of a dewirement the spring would activate and smack the pole down onto the roof of the car instead of letting it swing wildly in the air, damaging overhead wiring and creating electrical hazads.
Would E-Z line work for this application? It is usually used for telephone and telegraph wires. Hangs fairly loosely. Escept when cyanoacrilate (ACC/ Superglue) gets into it.
Suspend a length of black thread in the approximate sag/radius that you want between two points. Use clothes pins…whatever…and get the thread to sag as you need to by moving the ends together.
Next, make a mixture of white glue and water with a drop of dish detergent in it. I would use one part glue to four parts water. Then, over 8 different sessions, use a small artist’s brush to paint the thread with this solution. Ensure it dries before returning to paint it each subsequent time. Eventually, it will be quite stiff. If necessary, paint it with acrylic paint to get it back to the right hue, but the white glue may just give the black thread a weathered look.
Use whatever method seems best to fix the appropriate length of what you have rendered between the appropriate part of the pole and any securing cleat or handrail.
-Crandell