Category:Catenary overhead railway power systems
Catenary system is a slightly over-technical term for an overhead power cable distribution system for electric trains.
The overhead cables are normally in pairs: a curved suspension cable that carries the weight, and a flat horizontal cable suspended below it that carries the electric current.
Terminology
The word "catenary" refers the the mathematical shape of the suspension cable's curve: it's the same shape that a length of chain forms when suspended from two points, and is similar to (but not quite the same as) a parabola.
The locomotive then picks up the electric current via an overhead sprung pickup called a pantograph.
Modelmakers
In the period dealt with by the museum, the two main manufacturers who produced pantograph/catenary model railway power systems were Tri-ang and Marklin. Meccano Ltd. (Hornby Dublo) also announced a forthcoming system in the 1960s, and produced a model pantograph-equipped locomotive that could run either with with track or pantograph power, but the company went bust before the new system made it to the shops.
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Triang Railways, 1960 catalogue front cover, sixth edition (TRCat 1960).jpg 2,200 × 1,685; 935 KB
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