Overhead lines are not very common on gauge 1 because they are not only expensive but also difficult to install and only vaguely resemble the real thing. For this reason, overhead lines are usually not used when operating electric locomotives, or at best, masts are erected. This is understandable because catenary systems are highly complex networks that require a great deal of expertise and enormous manual skill to install.

Jean-Luc Declerck from Belgium is a model builder who has set about constructing fully tensioned overhead lines and shows how he did it here in 99 pictures. He designed a prototypical SNCB overhead line for 1:32 scale.