Heavy Electric Modular Group

[Green_Elite_Cab]

Some pictures!

It looks like the steel cross-span is holding for now. Some of the joints didn't stick well, but others seem solid. I made sure to really heat up the pieces and tin the parts good.

To construct the cross-spans, I went through the following process-

1.) bent and cut the wire to match the "master" drawing
2.) sketched out the Cross span drawing on a piece of wood
3.) Cleaned the wire, then taped it to the wood in the proper spot
4.) Tinned and soldered with plenty of heat, stringing on the Insulators as I went.

I left short pieces of excess wire on the cross spans. The plan is to mount the poles into the module first, anchor them, and then place the cross span in. That way, I can finely adjust the placement to make sure the hangars are position properly above the track centers. I will use an old Passenger car truck with a slotted dowel to be an alignment tool.


As you can see, my planning has paid off, and the hangars are directly over the track centers when laid down upon them. Only Track 2 (third track from the left) might need to be adjusted, but this one joint won't be so bad.



Here we can see the overall assembly. The cross spans are "strung" into the pre-drilled holes in the pole. Though I am tempted to just solder the cross-span in and be done with it, I worry that it won't come out right when I actually install the poles in their places. Tomorrow morning I'll try to install the proper mounting equipment on the module so that the poles will be anchored in place. If that goes smoothly, I can solder the cross spans into the poles relatively easily, especially if I can get my 140 Watt Solder gun working (it needs a new tip as well, but the 40-watt is doing the job for now).




Speaking of anchoring the poles, I found some 3/16" brass "square" tubing, which VERY snugly fits over the poles, which are 5/32" wide (a scale 14", exactly PRR spec).

The plan is to solder some brass sheet to these square tubes, and drill holes in the sheet for screws. This will be the "mounting bracket". I'll slide this onto a properly positioned pole, and then install a wooden block or cleat onto the module so that it holds everything in the right position. Finally, I will drill and tap a hole through the square stock AND the pole, and install a long screw through it. This will securely hold the catenary pole so it doesn't slide up and down.

Alternatively, some kind of pin, or nut/bolt arrangement might also work.

You can see how snug of a fit it is! I almost wonder if I could get away with just "clamping" the poles into this square tube, instead of drilling all the way through. Still, this will be better in the long run since it will guarantee a solid foundation.



Here is a rough MS-paint drawing of the plan.




Also, I have the supplies I need to build the "Hand Place" bridge skeleton.

A combination of these angle pieces and some brass or phosphur bronze sheet will make a broad channel, to which I can solder on the catenary supports, and also lay a scratchbuilt "body shell" for the bridge. These will be supported by thick Brass square tube stock on the ends. the "feet" of the bridge will be soldered to some Brass sheet, and then screwed into the module.




A rough schematic drawing. Once its in place, I can build styrene bridge on top of it, scratchbuilt to match the prototype of course! The "ends" of the bridge will be concealed by the retaining wall and extruded from hill that will make up the terrain.




In the mean time, these poles also need their cross span, which I will do either tonight or tommorow morning.




Things are moving along!