I have just decided not to go on holiday and invest in catenary instead
OK, I am an absolute catenary dummy, I might not have read the manual (actually, there was none) but I am left with a few questions...

I set up my track's mid-circle (R2 = 437,5 mm - 24230) as test...the 70172 fit OK, but I am not sure if i need to bend the circle parts.

I left them straight in my test, but this makes too much of 'hangover' and the pantograph slips away/above.

So is it common to bend the catenary pieces to the curve it is supporting? Or is there another trick?

Gert Jan,

I agreed with Ron.

The other trick is placing more masts in curves with shorter contactwire elements.

Also the mast should be placed on the other side of the track (outside of the curve).
Because of the catenary forces on the masts and other construction elements (in real life).
That will be more realistic too.

Regards,

Timaximus

Hi Gert-Jan, you must use 16 mast for a circle of tracks. Every radius have its catenary wire, the lenght for R2 is 172,5 mm. cod. 70172
You must check that in the middle between two mast the wire mustn't be farth more than 6 mm from the center of the track
bye

Jack: Viessmann has a great variety of lengths for the catenary that is identical to the Marklin except for color (the Marklin is a little darker). You can get lengths for longer curves from them. They also have "make your own length" sections that you put the hooks on the end with special pliers they sell. I use the Viessmann exclusively and usually use the make your own length sections in my work. They will fit on the marklin masts. The Viessmann masts are insulated at the connections whereas the Marklin are conductive. With the Viessmann masts you must attach Y-Seil to bridge for conductivity at evey junction if you plan to run your loks from overhead (I have used a LOT of Y-Seil!!). I think I may switch to Marklin masts in the future, but I still plan to use Viessmann wires.

By the way, I run all my E-loks (digital) from above. I have a mix of Marklin, ESU and LokSound decoders and have never had a problem.

Hi All,

The gurus say that the Sommerfeldt catenary system is very good (http://www.sommerfeldt.de/). Has ne1 used these? Any comments, suggestions and experiences? Also, does ne1 have comparisons between the Marklin, Viessmann and Sommerfeldt catenary systems?

Cheers and warm regards from Kuala Lumpur,
Ranjit

Ron and Ranjit,

Yes, I am familiar with the Viessmann. I wish I had used the wires from the beginning. I would be finished by now. I do use the Viessmann tensioning masts. They look great. I don't want to change now as the color will look weird.

With regard to the Summerfelt catenary. I spent some time looking at it at the Toy Fair this year. It looks great, but requires much more fitting and soldering than either the Marklin (which is made for them by Viessmann) or the Viessmann itself. The gurus are correct, if you have the skill and patience for it. Frankly, the Marklin catenary is about as complicated as I want to get. I don't want to spend whatever time I have on this earth doing catenary no matter how good it looks.

With regard to the positioning tool. I gave up on it after a few sections. You can position the catenary faster and more precisely in my opinion by just setting a piece and running a loco with the narrowest panto over it to make sure it is centered correctly and then fastening down the mast and soldering the wire to it before moving on. I found that if you don't do this as you go along, the wire could move and then you need to go back and test it all over again. It is really no different than laying track. You should check a section with a loco and cars before finally pinning it down. Also on straight sections, they should be zig zaged so the panto doesn't wear down in one place. However, the zig zag should be slight to keep the wire as centered over the track as possible. If any are interested, I have some suggestions with regard to the make up sections that are used for odd lengths. Believe me, there will be odd lengths.

Hope this info is helpful.

Jack

Must agree with everything above - The M books and handouts are useless and as for the incorrect part numbers in the new catalogue!!! - What is a 74172?? or a 74142?? see page 367 - Anyway they obviously mean a 70172 and a 70142. Crazy people!!
My 5 cents on this is when you plan and buy your catenary items buy lots of adjuster sections (70231) as when doing a station area with lots of points and slips - it is a nightmare. Also they say bend the little edges up to fix the adjusted piece. Just be careful that you don't put too much pressure on the adjuster sleeve as it will just break off!!!

I think the idea of soldering it all up once you are happy with the installation is a good idea.
I am now halfway and it is starting to look really good but patience my friend patience!!