Overhead maintenance equipment

[enodenlover]

Has there even been a model available, either kit or r-t-r, of a Japanese overhead wire maintenance car? I'd really like to have one, especially if it's of pre-1960 vintage. Thanks.

 

Bob

 

 

[stevenh]

You can always scratchbuild your own :)

Oigawa Railway has a good manual one.

 

Edited March 21, 2017 by stevenh

[cteno4]

Nice etched metal kit potential! Or just some careful soldering of thin brass wire and a some beads for wheels!

 

Jeff

[cteno4]

Bob, never seen any inspection cars or kits I think you are talking about. You mean the ones that can raise a platform to inspect and work on things?

 

Jeff

[velotrain]

A slightly more substantial version, but still not self-powered.

 

http://satoyama.in/info/sharyo/img/imgB743.jpg

[enodenlover]

Yep, the raised platform units. And me scratchbuild a railcar?? :laughing6:  :laughing6:  :laughing6:

[cteno4]

Suica got a snap of one on his trip

 

http://www.jnsforum.com/community/topic/12387-suicas-japanese-railway-photos/?p=148653

 

Jeff

[velotrain]

Jeff - Suica's image isn't quite in the requested era ;-)

 

Bob - Not exactly what you had in mind, but the era is right and it's definitely funky.

 

http://mu3rail.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2009-07-30

 

You could use this Aru Nine car as the starting point, and then build your own wire tower

 

https://www.modeltrainplus.net/collections/aru-nine-arumo-n-scale/products/aru-nine-a1005-open-wagon-emu-type-deto

 

If you're willing to put the power unit inside a permanently attached closed car (supplies?), then you can eliminate the hump in the middle.

 

Say: https://www.modeltrainplus.net/collections/aru-nine-arumo-n-scale/products/aru-nine-a1014-covered-wagon-emu-type-dewa

 

Maybe you could get Nariichi to suggest to Aru that they produce an overhead wire maintenance car - which would be an easy mod to an existing kit, such as the one referenced above, as well as several others.

 

If they did this, it would make sense to offer the "elevator" separately, so it could be added to other "platforms".

[cteno4]

Yeah it was just one I remembered recently showing up.

 

Is that an inspection car or just how they mounted the pantograph. There doesn't seem to be any platform to get up to look at things.

 

Arunine was my thought as well as something to start from as they have annice range of odd small cars like this that are cheap, detailed, and easy to fiddle with, so a great starting point. Also designed around the kato pocket mechs so easy to motorized and even the tsugawa mechs.

 

Jeff

[velotrain]

I think the pantograph on that car must have been an afterthought, or for some reason they didn't want to extend the roof on one of the cabs as is done in other situations.

 

The multi-height inspection platform seems such a natural for etched brass I'm somewhat surprised that no one has done it.

[cteno4]

Yes I am surprised kobaru or prohobby never did it.

 

Cool thing with the etched brass is it's simple graphic file to create. There are lots of etching businesses around, I looked at a couple of local ones that had about $60 min, so did not work to fiddle, but not bad to do a small run or something larger! Doing at home is not hard either, just a little messy. Could also be lasercut laserboard. The sankei details like fencing and playground jungle gym are nice and on that dimension.

 

Jeff

[velotrain]

Jeff - is that $60 per piece, or total?

 

If the latter, how about "crowd funding" for a run of maybe a dozen?

 

Part of the funding could be used to pay someone to create the design file - or they get a freebie or two (or more?).

 

It could be as simple as a couple of telescoping boxes (with a platform and fence on the top one), but we might want to also source a white metal "motor" and whatever else is needed to suggest that it actually operates.

 

Don't know if the workers get on before it goes up, or some sort of access ladder is needed.

[cteno4]

The minimum was a pretty good sized piece, can't remember exactly how big but when I compared it to usual sized pieces you get commercially it was very good. Biggest issue would be doing a couple of test loops before you had something final. I was looking at various long catenary cross pieces and x and v brace box frame uprights.

 

Jeff

[velotrain]

Here's a Japanese site showing American early-mid Showa equipment, and it looks like in those days the basic idea was to build a car with a platform just low enough that it cleared the running wire.

 

 

http://cedarben.blog.so-net.ne.jp/2012-09-14

[velotrain]

A truly minimalist approach from http://drfc-ob.com/wp/page/359?newwindow=true

 

http://drfc-ob.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/e69eb6e7b79ae4bfaee79086e7a4be.jpg

[enodenlover]

Many thanks, Jeff and Charles, for the various suggestions. That "minimalist" piece of equipment in the previous post may be just what I'm looking for since my fictional Tsubuden line is definitely a poverty row-type operation. The entire fleet consists of five interurban cars and one steeplecab locomotive ( all second hand and still in their original colors ), and a couple of two axle wooden freight cars. It's only about fifteen miles long and, like a number of other Japanese interurbans, the Tsubuden called it quits and pulled up the rails in the early 1970s. A line car that's just a flatcar with a wooden tower just might be within my limited modeling skills.