Real life catenary question?

The only way to be sure is for you to climb up on top a train and measure some.

Please let us know how you get on.

Cheers, Steve

The question you should ask is what voltage the catenery is transporting as Dutch 1.5Kv cable will be larger than 25Kv used in UK mainline as the Dutch system needs to transport more current.

Chris

This is a 25Kv stretch of the London-Birmingham line where the original copper has been exchanged for aluminium. Forgetting it has a figure-of-8 cross-section I am looking at it from the side. I remember some years ago a debate as to whether catenary wire would even be visible in N-gauge, this modern variety certainly would be.

(kim)

What do you mean by 'figure of eight' cross section. I have never seen or heard of 'catenary wire' being anything other than normal round stranded cable. Early WCML installations were copper, all more recent installations have been composite aluminium and steel, the ally to give good conductivity and the steel for strength.

The contact wire in all cases is copper and is sometimes referred to as 'figure of eight' although the actual shape is circular with two grooves. The grooves allow clips to be fittedto support the wire without affecting the smooth contact surface.

Keith

There's your answer: "... the original copper has been exchanged for aluminium." Aluminum must have a larger cross-section than copper to carry the same current. So, yes, the wire is most likely larger than before.