Hi guys,
How far in inches, or centimeters, would I space single crossmember 2 line rural utility poles from the 1960s? My total distance needed to span is 29 inches with two small buildings that are 20 inches apart along a 2 lane road. Also, would both buildings receive a separate transformer? I am definately not an electrical guy, but I am going on what I see in real life. Thanks so much ----Rob
Rob,
This info is taken from an article on pole lines in last year’s MR issue of How To Build Realistic Layouts. The author states the following:
“On average, railroad poles are spaced 100 to 150 feet apart. Most poles are placed no closer than 13 feet from the closest rail, and the bottom wires shold be at least 27 feet above ground.” (Article: “Stringing details in the sky” by Michael J. Burgett, pg. 32)
Even though the “100 to 150 feet” stat would be for poles lines traveling along the side of the tracks, I would think that that would be true along rural roads, too.
Now, taking the above numbers, we need to convert feet to inches:
100 feet x 12" = 1,200"
150 feet x 12" = 1,800"
With that information, converting all that to N-scale:
1,200" (or 100 feet) divided by 160 (N-scale) = 7.5"
1,800" (or 150 feet) divided by 160 (N-scale) = 11.25"
So, Rob, it looks like you can place your pole lines anywhere between 7.5" and 11.25" apart. With that being the case, and with the distances that you have given above, you can comfortably put two pole lines evenly spaced between your two buildings, and one pole line next to each of your buildings.
Rob, I’m afraid I’m in the same boat as you on the transformer question. However, I don’t think that you would need it for each building.
Oh, and if you are looking for pole lines, Rob, Rix makes a very nice looking and inexpensive kit of them for ~$5. The HO one comes with (12) 30’ and (8) 40’ poles, as well as a number of crossarms.
Hope that helps…
Tom
There are also other utility pole considerations that could occur…
[1] Utility poles going up over a mountain where a railroad enters a tunnel, or; parallel to and down a valley while a railroad bridge spans that valley.
[2] Utility poles (and natural gas pipes) that have support extensions on one side of a railroad bridge while crossing rivers.
Utility poles are spaced on average 150’ apart, but could go as high as 250’. It depends on the terrain and where the drops (connections to buildings) are. If moving a pole 20’ or 30’ allows a better path for the drop, then they’ll move the pole. Drops cannot go above occupied buildings. They can go over garages and sheds, but not houses. Low voltage distribution poles are 35’ long with 3’ in the ground, leaving 32’ sticking out. High voltage rural poles, the ones running alongside highways, are 50’ long with 4’ in the ground leaving 46’ sticking out. You may notice that the crossarms are fastend to the side of the poles. The crossarms must be facing each other on adjacent poles. To illustrate, suppose you have a line of poles running from left to right. The first pole on the left end will have its crossarms on the right side of the pole, the second pole will have its crossarms on the left side of the pole, the third one will have its crossarms on the right side of the pole, the fourth on the left, etc. As for how many inches or cm apart to plant the poles, you didn’t state your scale. Convert the distance in feet to inches and divide by your scale ratio. I.E. for N scale, 150’ = 1800". 1800 / 160 = 11 1/4" apart. However, that looks too far apart so I planted mine about 9" apart and that looks about right.
Hope this helps.
Good information, Bob! That’s pretty much what the Michael Burgett’s article said.
That’s 'cause Rob snuck it by you. [:)] Take a peek up at the subject line.
Tom