I've just fiddled aound with the overhead system to accompany the DB restaurant car pantograph.

After all the work I've done and loosing 2 of the finely detailed pantos (broken) I realized the panto is only up when stationary, when the car sits on its own and meals have to be cooked before hand until the loco is coupled to the carriages.

Never the less it was a good exercise getting the right angle of the overhead wire within the limits of the pantograph.

the problem with the Panto was, a.) it worked only in one direction, as this sounds odd but having the panto in front of direction it stayed with in the framework of tolerance, turning it around )panto in the back, the panto became free and lost the contact with the wire.
Having had the restaurant car already wired up for interior lights and the Roco electrical coupling again I had to unsolder all wires and reverse all soldering points.

In the end a lot of work for almost nothing, 2 panots ruined but now I'm relaxed, in case of any derailment, hopefully no more pantos will be destroyed with the Pantograph down.

Soon I'll have a video of my DB Class E 44 (beige & turquoise colour) [Primex 2702 Set] with the restaurant car included.

John

...and not to forget Marklin's classic 4016 (green) and 4035 (red) light-steel dining cars of the SBB.

Interesting thought, DC through the catenary... Could you still reverse the DC locomotives I wonder??

Brilliant topic Thanks guys.

No I did not know how the pantos were used, I just assumed (Ass/u/me)that they were up for normal operation

And DC thru the overhead - thinking outside the square there
and the advantage of cheaper purchasing price and greater choice

@Dreadnought,

If you want to light your train without having the pantograph up at all times would be to order one of the original Hag AC sliders (old generation passenger coaches), fix that on one of the bogies (they clip in wonderfully) connect it to the lights and then run a cable from the lighting socket at the other end of the car with a Maerklin pin or socket at the end. When you couple the coaches, connect each coach using pins and sockets. All that will be visible between the coaches is a single cable. The connectors can be pushed through the window in one of that gangway doors.

Anybody else considering lighting any older Maerklin 24cm or shorter 4 axle bogie coach should also consider the Hag slider instead of the original Maerklin ones. I recommend this highly.

Regards

Mike C

HAG part no. 518, domestic price per piece 6 Swiss Francs.

Well, it is at least possible to operate one loco this way without modifying the tracks. 2-rail loco typically uses one of the rails + catenary. If you separate all of the outer rails you can use 2 electric 2-rail locos, but no 3-rail vehicle can be on the same power circuit, because it will connect the outer rails. In a modular layout some people use K-track to be able to connect to a 2-rail or a 3-rail layout as desired.

While it is possible, I would say that it is not tempting. It would only be useful if you are running electric 2-rail locos, and adding a decoder in those locos is far easier if you are running digital. You can still operate them from catenary!