Trolley operation

[borsig1963]

hello everyone, I'm not sure if the topic is of interest, but maybe there is some other enthusiast of the trolley tram period

Currently I have not time and skills to design and build a complete system with trolley-pole, so I decided to develop a system that uses the LGB overhead line with the Bachmann trolley. Of course, the excitement of the pole sliding on the wire is missing, but the compromise of having the trolley is satisfactory.

On the straight sections there is no problem, the Bachmann trolley guide slides perfectly on the LGB wire but, as in reality, the issue of switches must be addressed: I simply copied what was done in real tramways managed with trolley-pole, creating a switch for the overhead line. From a modelling point of view, the result is not the best, but at this stage it was important that the trolley followed the correct direction taken by the tram at the switch.

I also created a hook to aesthetically improve the LGB one on the straight sections, really too rough. Both hooks were made in 3d resin printing according to my design. Obviously the goal is also to use the stock of LGB material already in my possession...

Here is a video of the tram engaging the switch and two photos of the hooks

 

[schienenkönig]

Hi Borsig1963,
This looks very good.
1. are the catenary wires 3D printed?
2. can the pantograph change direction at the points and do the overhead switches work?

Greetings from Wuppertal / Germany

 

[borsig1963]

Hi Borsig1963,
This looks very good.
1. are the catenary wires 3D printed?
2. can the pantograph change direction at the points and do the overhead switches work?

Greetings from Wuppertal / Germany

1
the wire is the LGB original

2
the overhead swicth works with bachmann trolley, I haven't tried it with a pantograph (I'm planning to replace all the pantos with trolleys)
I don't think it works, because I left a space between the 3 wires, in the middle of the switch, so that the trolley guide follows the direction of the tram on the tracks. I fear that the pantograph could get stuck in this small space without a wire

...I hope my explanation was clear enough

 

[dunnyrail]

If you redesigned the overhead frogs to have a ridge at the sides with a slight slope to it then it should work for both pans and trolleys, after all the prototype has allowed for that at Blackpool and Crich.