# hi voltage transmission towers



## sloedown (Mar 28, 2012)

In HO scale how far apart should the hi voltage towers be apart going across flat ground? Thanks in advance,Roger


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

I'd guess somewhere around 4 or 5 times their height. Cable "droop" (or catenary) might be somewhere around 1/20 or 1/25 of the distance between towers.

Guess on my part, but reasonable, I'd hope.

TJ


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## waltr (Aug 15, 2011)

Wow, that answer didn't come out of google.
It would depend on the tower's height, the higher the tower to greater the distance. The ones around here are about 150ft high and seem to be spaced about 1000ft apart. Divide by 87.1 is 11 1/2 feet in HO.

Now this is where selective compression comes into play unless your layout is huge. 
How tall are your towers?
How far apart do they look right?


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## sloedown (Mar 28, 2012)

They are 9" tall(actual model height) and not sure about what "looks right".Was thinking of building a power station but on a 5 by 9 table they might be a bad idea.


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

waltr said:


> Wow, that answer didn't come out of google.
> It would depend on the tower's height, the higher the tower to greater the distance. The ones around here are about 150ft high and seem to be spaced about 1000ft apart. Now this is where selective compression comes into play unless your layout is huge.


Google, no ... but my dims and your dims are quite close. I said spaced "about 4 or 5 times their height". Your example (150' high, 1000' spacing) yields a spacing of about 6.7 times height. But then you went on to talk about some "selective compression" ... which could get one back to 4 or 5 times the height.

So why are you thinking we were so far off in our responses??? I don't think we were.

TJ


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## waltr (Aug 15, 2011)

TJ,
We were both writing at the same time. I didn't see your post until after I posted. Also said the distance "seemed" to be X, not measured.
Your estimates also sound good.

sloedown,
9 inches HO is (multiply by 87.1) is 65 feet tall.
I'll use TJ's distance formula of 5 times height so spacing is 9*4 = 36 to 9*5 = 45 inches.
You may get away with spacing of 25 to 30 inches and not look wrong.


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## sloedown (Mar 28, 2012)

waltr said:


> TJ,
> We were both writing at the same time. I didn't see your post until after I posted. Also said the distance "seemed" to be X, not measured.
> Your estimates also sound good.
> 
> ...


ok...thanks


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## tjcruiser (Jan 10, 2010)

waltr said:


> TJ,
> We were both writing at the same time.


Ahh ... got it ...

Thanks!

TJ


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