I like short weekend projects. Since my layout has barely been started anything I work on generally needs to put aside for later. Telephone poles are a neat detail that adds a lot to a scene without much effort. For my smaller scale layouts I purchased plastic poles and painted/weathered/detailed them, but for O scale I thought scratchbuilding them would be fun.
As it turns out, while this was on my mind I randomly pulled a back issue of O Gauge Railroading magazine (February 1998) out from my shelf (of about 100 that I have) and I couldn't believe it when it featured an article on building telephone poles! It was Divine intervention. What's more, the inspiration for the article was based on the reader seeing a layout as a child in Rochester, NY (my hometown).
The basic supplies are 3/16" diameter wood dowels; 1/8" x 3/16" stripwood for the crossarms; green seed beads (size 8/0)' and some metal pins. I calculated the cost to exactly $0.82 per pole with two crossarms and 16 beads. They might not be the cheapest poles to make, and they might not be 100% perfect compared to real telephone poles. But I think they came out great, they were fun to build, and they fit into my budget.
I started by ordering a pack of twenty 3/16" wooden dowels on Amazon, which cost me $10.79 shipped. Thankfully most were straight with only a few bending a little. I set them all aside one another and marked out 8" from one end (the total height), as well as the four spots which would indicate where the notches for the crossarms would go. My little bandsaw made quick work of cutting them down, and then I used my belt sander to slope the top part of the pole 45-degrees (to allow rain to run off and prevent the pole from rotting). The speed of the sander burned the tops of the poles black, which may prove a problem later during staining. But it sure was quicker than cutting with a razor saw.
Then, I marked and notched each pole... twice... for the crossarms. This was the most tedious and frustrating part of the project. I tried razor saws, a Dremel tool, three types of hobby knife blades, and the edge of a file. What worked best was to use a razor saw to make the notches, and then whittle the area between with a #11 blade. It is hard work as you need to get in close to see what you are doing, and hold the pole near the top to steady it for the cutting, but you also don't want the blade to slip and cut into your finger. I did all 20 poles in two sittings.
The crossarms were cut using a razor saw to 2" in length, and then I used a sanding stick to clean up any rough edges. They aren't all perfectly the same length and that is okay. I miscalculated while cutting them and ended up with twice as many as needed.
Next, I marked out the four spots where the insulators will go.
Then, I stuck thin quilting pins into the crossarm at those spots until they stuck/wedged into place. Finally, all four pins were cut to length by eye (enough to hold two beads but not much more) with cutters. Once cross arm at a time. I later put a drop of thin superglue into each wire joint to hold the wires firmly in place. Don't use too much glue or it will interfere with the staining of the wood later.
Then, I gave each pole and crossarm a good brushing of Minwax "Special Walnut" stain. As expected, the stain didn't penetrate where the superglue had pooled around the wires but that's okay because the glass beads will hide it later.
After letting the stain dry, I used wood glue to assemble the crossarms onto the poles. Fitting them into the notches wasn't too bad though some notches were bigger than others. I made sure the crossarms were generally pointing in the same direction on both poles. Then I let it all dry. Later, I applied drops of thin superglue into the notch joints from behind for further reinforcement.
Then I looked at the poles and was dejected. The crossarms stuck out too far from the poles instead of being flush. Maybe I should have cut the notches deeper? Had I done so, though, the poles might have broken. As I drove to a picnic later that day I looked at the poles I passed and saw that the crossarms were not notched into the poles but were bolted proud of them. Feeling better, when I came home I gave everything another coat of brown stain to darken them more.
If one coat was good, two wasn't better. It dried shiny in places which didn't look at all realistic. So, I sprayed them with Dullcote and several days later game them a black oil paint wash. Then I thought they look more like old posts that would have been exposed to smokey steam and diesel locomotive exhaust.
However, once they dried they looked worse. The mineral spirits reacted to the Dullcote and superglue and left huge areas of white residue. Some might look like sun bleaching, but the result was terrible. As a last ditch effort I brushed everything with another coating of the walnut stain. This worked to hide the bleaching, but then the stain had dried in spots leaving shiny areas. So, another coat of Dullcote was sprayed on and I called it good. They might not be perfect, but I just need to get out of this cycle.
After a couple of days I glued on some small green beads to represent glass insulators. I used Aleene's Tacky Glue because it dries clear and filled any excess space inside the beads. It was a bit tedious trying to pick up each bead with tweezers because they were round and not cylindrical, but in the end I only lost a couple to the rug. I made sure to line up the beads on top of each other as best I could so they didn't look wonky. A few areas only got one bead if I left the wire too short, resulting in a "broken" insulator.
For the V-shaped metal support brackets that go underneath the crossarms I took regular staples and cut them in half, then glued them on. The next day they were painted with brown paint.
The last detail was to add the bolts holding the crossarms to the main poles. I tried using cut track nails and tiny pins but they without predrilling the hole I risked the pressure of pushing them in would knock the crossarm off . So, instead I used thick black craft paint and a toothpick to apply a small blog where the bolt should be.
The total time involved was about 10 hours, or 30 minutes per pole. I could probably do it faster next time, but 20 poles should last me for a while. While they aren't perfect, I am happy with the results.
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