I’ve probably built more power poles for The Hills Line than all of my other past layouts combined. It makes sense for a few reasons. The prototype works in a lot more industrial area than previous ones. Plus due to its history as an electric interurban it would make sense that electrical lines would follow the right of way.
Since I needed some high voltage lines for the southern half of Eldon C. Stutsman in Hills, I had plenty of left over components to build similar arrangements in other areas of the layout. The best and most obvious location to add these poles was along the Maiden Lane interchange portion of Iowa City.
After studying the arrangement and styles of the lines in the area, I mocked up the overall layout of the power poles in the space. I wanted the poles to be evenly spaced through the scene but also not interfere with operations or operators. Four poles spaced about two and a half feet between each one gave the best balance of form and function.
The poles themselves were constructed from jumbo bamboo skewers. I’ve used thinner diameter ones for the other poles on the layout, but the extra girth works for the higher voltage being carried on the lines. Each skewer was stained with a diluted wash of Burnt Umber acrylic paint.
The Walthers Modern High Voltage Transmission Tower kit offers a decent variety of insulators and crossarms to build a variety of arrangements. I trimmed and altered the individual elements to best reflect the prototype arrangement. Each was spray painted a metallic aluminum and lightly weathered.
Once ready, the arms and insulators were attached to the poles with cyanoacrylate glue. CA Accelerator makes installation a breeze and prevents parts from drooping as the glue dries. Of course once you stick something on it, it’s stuck!
Additional components were added to the lower portions of the poles, including Rix Products crossarms and Bar Mills transformers. All were based on prototype pictures to best match what is present along the industrial spur.
The Hills Line 