A number of years ago I was leafing through old journals from the IEE
(Institution of Electrical Engineers).  It was probably the
"Proceedings". I found an article entitled approximately "The Ideal
Catenary Solution" or "The Perfect Catenary Solution".  The author had
a Swedish-sounding name, I think it might have been Jorstad.  The
article was published in the early '20s.

The article dealt with the calculation of the tensions in
catenary-suspended trolley wire, and showed how it simplified to an
amazingly simple equation.

I made a copy of it at that time, and have lost it.  At the same time,
I do not have easy access to an engineering library, and I doubt if it
can be found online.  The researcher will have to actually look at the
annual indexes of these journals to find it (it was in the Electrical
Power section as I recall), but the number of volumes and names should
not make it too difficult.

All I need is the exact reference.  Once I have that, it is no problem
to order copies from any number of sources.

If the price I am offering is too low, "Lets Talk".

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Clarification of Question by liner-ga on 21 Feb 2003 10:25 PST

I need to make a clarification of the journal.  It is NOT the British
IEE (Institution of Electrical Engineers) that I referenced.  Rather,
it is one of the predecessors of the US IEEE, probably the AIEE
(American Institute of Electrical Engineers).

I believe the article you are looking for is -

Railway Inclined Catenary Standardized Design by O.M. Jorstad

Transactions of the AIEE, 1927, Vol. XLVI, pp. 1125-1138

The opening paragraph of the synopsis is:

A description is given of a new method of overhead contact design, the
"ideal inclined catenary."  This is based on an originally discovered
tension and weight formula.  A proof of the formula is given and other
characteristics of the design are mathematically analyzed.

THAT'S IT!!!!

I must be talking to a railfan.  Who else would be interested in such
an arcane topic these days.

Thanks plegresl.