New beginnings

[dunnyrail]

Here in Oxfordshire, in the UK, we have four waste bins, one for recyclable waste, one for non-recyclable, one for green garden waste (for which there is an annual charge) and one for food waste. Woe betide you if you put stuff in the wrong bin as the refuse collectors will refuse to empty it. I believe some parts of the UK have as many as seven different waste bins. Where my son lives in Eastern Tennessee, in the US, householders pay the refuse collectors of their choice, so not everyone's bin get emptied by the same company. Everything goes into one bin. If you want to recycle you waste, you have to pay extra, therefore nobody does, as there's no incentive. Every time he picks up his order from the grocery supermarket, it comes in dozens of plastic carrier bags, sometime one item per bag.

David

I think when I was in Hemel there were 2 wheelies one for one recyclable, the other garden waste (non chargeable then) plus 3 I think biggish boxes, cardboard, glass and tins ( Ithink) then there was a food waste container that I never used as I try not waste food so any in there would be hanging around for weeks before I thought about emptying it. That makes 6, in the Nitz we have a black bin general rubbish, blue bin dry recyclables and green bin (to be charged for from April), that makes 3 here, food waste went the green bin but that all changes from April as it is apparently not allowable to charge for food waste so it all goes in the black bin to landfill to create more methane. And they spun the green bin charge on saving money, guess we shall need to see about this. Me I am not paying for a Green bin so green waste will be to the Green waste in the tip non chargeable, only when I go to Tesco every 2 weeks as I pass the tip. But made lots of changes, got out dead plants before the charge so my garden waste should be quite low. Oh yes Grass cuttings left on the lawn, apparently it is better tor it.

 

[Jasper]

Unfortunately that overhead wire will be taken down again, as it turns out it doesn't conduct electricity. From the colour I would have thought it to be either copper or brass, but apparently not so. It's a shame because it looks good, it's only 0.37mm thick which is quite prototypical.






Edit: now that I see these photos on the big screen, I realise that the camera has focused on the countryside shrubbery, and the (much closer) wire appears a bit blurred and hence bulkier than it is.

 

[PhilP]

Looks like it could be enamelled copper wire. - A single-strand of copper, covered (insulated) by a layer of 'varnish'.
Commonly used to make the windings of transformers.

Many Modellers use OO/HO rail-section for their overhead..

PhilP

 

[Madman]

We began stringing the overhead wire.

View attachment 324818

May I offer a small suggestion ? Place a washer under the head of the flat head screw holding the catenary mast in place. The washer will distribute the holding power of the screw. The base of the mast will be less likely to crack.

 

[Madman]

Unfortunately that overhead wire will be taken down again, as it turns out it doesn't conduct electricity. From the colour I would have thought it to be either copper or brass, but apparently not so. It's a shame because it looks good, it's only 0.37mm thick which is quite prototypical.

View attachment 324874

View attachment 324875

I have found that stranded bare copper wire works well as a contact wire. You can probably see the stranded contact wire in this video I made a few years ago of one of my former layouts.

 

[FatherMcD]

To be precise, it's an anti-waste rule. The main goal is to make us all aware of how much stuff gets used only once. So if I buy any hard plastic package in the supermarket, that package is now separately priced on the shelf tag and separately mentioned on the receipt. On the coffee machine in a fuel station, the cup is separately mentioned and priced in the menu. Simultaneously, reusable cups and salad-bowls etc. are being promoted.

Does it help? Will people become more aware of how much we throw away, and move into less waste-prone choices? As for my country, I think the Dutch will prove sensitive to the logic of it and will try to adopt this new way of thinking. I too have bought a reusable coffee cup and use it for those on-the-road coffees.

Some gas station chains in the USA sell branded mugs and tumblers then offer a discount if you use them. Just don't forget to bring the cup in and wash it between trips (as I'm sure you do). Haven't seen any studies on cups and bowls but turns out reuseable shopping bags tend to harbor bacteria and spread disease if they are not properly handled and washed between uses. Are the taxes (VAT?) also listed separately on the receipt? Did you know there is a 3% excise tax on telephone bills in the USA that was passed in 1898 to fund the Spanish-American War? The war ended, the tax didn't.

 

[Jasper]

Are the taxes (VAT?) also listed separately on the receipt?

Yes they are. Just not separately for every article, but at the bottom it names (for every tariff group separately): the tax percentage, the tax amount, and the amount including tax. So if you have reason to deduct anything, you have proof of purchase.

 

[Paul M]

To be precise, it's an anti-waste rule. The main goal is to make us all aware of how much stuff gets used only once. So if I buy any hard plastic package in the supermarket, that package is now separately priced on the shelf tag and separately mentioned on the receipt. On the coffee machine in a fuel station, the cup is separately mentioned and priced in the menu. Simultaneously, reusable cups and salad-bowls etc. are being promoted.

Does it help? Will people become more aware of how much we throw away, and move into less waste-prone choices? As for my country, I think the Dutch will prove sensitive to the logic of it and will try to adopt this new way of thinking. I too have bought a reusable coffee cup and use it for those on-the-road coffees.

I would hope it helps reduce litter, as anyone who drives along any of our roads here knows, we have a massive litter problem, some of our grassy verges are hidden beneath piles of discarded take away cartons, cups, nappies, you name it, its there.

 

[Jasper]

Yes, unfortunately I've heard Britons complain about this. There seems to be less of that over here.

 

[Jasper]

I took the coated wire down, because it isn't useable as a live overhead. Instead, I bought non-coated brass wire, thickness 1mm, and strung it up. Unfortunately it turns out 1mm is too thick, as it has a tendency to stay in shape, so if you try to pull it taut it still looks wobbly. Surely an ugly look, I didn't even bother to make a photo. The wobbliness doesn't help in securing good contact with the bow collector either.

So that went off too. Now I'm surfing the internet, trying to find uncoated, thin wire of any conductive metal. I'm surprised how difficult this is.

Of course, I could use H0 rail, as someone suggested here, or use LGB's overhead. Both of these can be bent into a regular curve that follows the curvature of the track. But I really liked the look of the thin coated wire, so I'd rather have something that has a similar look.

There's another option: I could just use the coated wire after all, and not have a live overhead. So far I have only one loco that even uses a live overhead. That loco is far from complete, maybe I can make it fit for track power.
So the question now becomes: how important is a live overhead to me? Do I want it because it's "interesting"? Am I after the "honour" of having achieved it? Some soul-searching is in order. And I just realise I can string the coated wire now, for the look, and think about a live overhead again at a later date. Hmmmmm.....

 

[Gizzy]

I took the coated wire down, because it isn't useable as a live overhead wire. Instead, I bought non-coated brass wire, thickness 1mm, and strung it up. Unfortunately it turns out 1mm is too thick, as it has a tendency to stay in shape, so if you try to pull it taut it still looks wobbly. Surely an ugly look, I didn't even bother to make a photo. The wobbliness doesn't help in securing good contact with the bow collector either.

So that went off too. Now I'm surfing the internet, trying to find uncoated, thin wire of any conductive metal. I'm surprised how difficult this is.

Of course, I could use H0 rail, as someone suggested here, or use LGB's overhead. Both of these can be bent into a regular curve that follows the curvature of the track. But I really liked the look of the thin coated wire, so I'd rather have something that does that.

There's another option: I could just use the coated wire after all, and not have a live overhead. So far I have only one loco that even uses a live overhead. That loco is far from complete, maybe I can make it fit for track power.
So the question now becomes: how important is this feature to me? Do I want it because it's "interesting"? Am I after the "honour" of having achieved it? Some soul-searching is in order. And I just realise I can string the coated wire now, for the look, and think about a live overhead again at a later date. Hmmmmm.....

Have you tried tinned copper wire? I use 25 swg for PCB repairs....

 

[Rhinochugger]

I took the coated wire down, because it isn't useable as a live overhead wire. Instead, I bought non-coated brass wire, thickness 1mm, and strung it up. Unfortunately it turns out 1mm is too thick, as it has a tendency to stay in shape, so if you try to pull it taut it still looks wobbly. Surely an ugly look, I didn't even bother to make a photo. The wobbliness doesn't help in securing good contact with the bow collector either.

So that went off too. Now I'm surfing the internet, trying to find uncoated, thin wire of any conductive metal. I'm surprised how difficult this is.

Of course, I could use H0 rail, as someone suggested here, or use LGB's overhead. Both of these can be bent into a regular curve that follows the curvature of the track. But I really liked the look of the thin coated wire, so I'd rather have something that does that.

There's another option: I could just use the coated wire after all, and not have a live overhead. So far I have only one loco that even uses a live overhead. That loco is far from complete, maybe I can make it fit for track power.
So the question now becomes: how important is this feature to me? Do I want it because it's "interesting"? Am I after the "honour" of having achieved it? Some soul-searching is in order. And I just realise I can string the coated wire now, for the look, and think about a live overhead again at a later date. Hmmmmm.....

Can you soak the coated wire in something to remove the coating ?

 

[Jasper]

Can you soak the coated wire in something to remove the coating ?

I have no idea. The coated wire is of unknown origin, and I don't even know what either the wire or the coating is made of.

 

[Jasper]

Have you tried tinned copper wire? I use 25 swg for PCB repairs....

Is it soft enough that you can pull it taut?

 

[Gizzy]

Is it soft enough that you can pull it taut?

Probably not. Maybe due to the tinning....

 

[Jasper]

Then I'm afraid I'm going to give it a pass.

I think I will just lace the entire tramway in the thin coated wire, and see how I like it, and whether the reduced accessibility bugs me. Then take it from there.

 

[Gizzy]

Then I'm afraid I'm going to give it a pass.

I think I will just lace the entire tramway in the thin coated wire, and see how I like it, and whether the reduced accessibility bugs me. Then take it from there.

My other thought would be an elastic thread. I've seen it used on indoor layouts.

However, I'm not sure if this material would be UVA/UVB stable for outside use....

 

[Paul M]

If you can use copper wire, wouldn't standard wire pulled from appropriate sized domestic cable be suitable? You can pull it taut and if need be weighted at each it as per the prototype

 

[dunnyrail]

If you can use copper wire, wouldn't standard wire pulled from appropriate sized domestic cable be suitable? You can pull it taut and if need be weighted at each it as per the prototype

On the Ruschbahn we used 40thou Nickel Silver (I believe) wire for the overhead, smaller copper wire was used to tie (solder) this to Buttons made from Meccano type bolts filed and in some cases drilled to accept the wire. It was all made to be flexible using fence turnbuckles to tension the wire that was hung from criss wires on steel rod uprights. All very strong to cope with the great outdoors.

Rough sketch of setup

 

[Jasper]

I have decided on a name.

After the true friend who guarded the previous layout for years, while I strayed from the right path pursued other interests, and who now guards the new one:

(drum roll) The Flamingo Tramway.