Trackside telephone pole spacing?

[yakumo381]

Going to add some trackside telephone poles to my Niihama layout similar to those in the attached pictures.

 

However what would the typical spacing between the poles be? Looking at japanese train videos on You-Tube it seems to vary between around twice the length of a DD51 down to less than the length of a DMU coach but this may just be down to camera angles, etc.

 

Also any rules on which side of the track they should be and when or doesn't it matter?

 

Any ideas?

[kvp]

The general rule is that the wires should not sag more than it's healthy for them. That means the max. is about two dmu coaches. The minimal distance depends on the curve of the line. On the outside curve, it's good practice to keep the wires out of the loading gauge, so the tighter the curve, the more poles you need. On the inside of a curve, it's not healthy to brake the wire too sharply, so more poles might needed to make it curve more smoothly. Usually there are extra poles when the line crosses a road or the tracks, because it's good practice to keep the wires up as much as possible when someone will be moving under them. Other than these, usually there are no really strict rules, but each company can make up their own extra rules.