Small Scale Garden RRing

[old slow coach]

I am currently working on a "proof of concept" for using On30/Gn15 outdoors here in the mid-atlantic area. Specifically, I am attempting to use ballasted PECO streamline track. It's sort of an experiment at this stage (12' track and one turn out) After over a month of daily operation I have had nothing but success. The track needs a daily cleaning to keep things running smoothly, but that's an easy job on such small track. I'm tracking my progress in a thread on the Large Scale Central Forum at: http://www.largescalecentral.com/LSCForums/viewtopic.php?id=8674 I've included some pictures there of how I'm creating my roadbed. --dan

[g. gage]

I know a fellow in Reno NV with an outdoor O scale railroad. He uses Atlas track, but keeps his equipment UV protected when not running. That said I encourage you to visit a Garden Railroad Society in your area. I agree with Al above, the mass and weight of G equipment running outdoors feels like a TRAIN rather then a TRAIN in HO.

 Have fun, Rob

 

[altterrain]

 You could always go with On30 or Gn15 outdoors. As Ralph mentioned Peco On30 track is readily available (about $8 / 3 feet flex track. It works fine for Gn15 too. I currently working a on diorama with some Gn15 -

Well can't get to my photobucket right now because of site maintenance but will post later..

 -Brian
 

[ttrigg]

Smaller scales can and have been done outside. Here is a photo where I used a loop of Z scale as a garden railroad within my garden railroad.

In my case I learned that Z is much too small to leave out all the time, also it is NOT UV resistant. I'm building a small "backyard layout" for Douglas Flatbottom (he's the one with the pipe in photo) on a pelxiglass base so that it could be stored away when not in use. The Z scale people in the photo just disappeared when the dogs ran by. There are several folks here that have On3 out doors, read back in the forum postings to find a few.

Your major concern will be to get UV resistant (and weather proof) track and any plastic structures. Of course you could always build wooded structures. I'm interested in seeing photos of your progress.

[GearDrivenSteam]

I'm living proof budget has nothing to do with it. If you can afford HO or O, then you can do large scale. Budget is not your reason, believe me.

[cabbage]

 Both "O" and "OO/HO" scale are very common in the garden here in the UK. PECO Streamline is the one most commonly found outside -it is Nickel Silver, UV and weather proof. I use their SM32 track which is 32mm gauge. Don't despise the amount of space that you have...

Have a look here: http://lakes-pages.com/gauge3.co.uk/25sq.html

As to budget -the larger scale can actually be a lot cheaper than "OO/HO" or "O". This is because you can actually very easily build your own rolling stock and locomotives from scrap and junk. My budget for my railway is £10 per week -which is 30% of my weekly petrol bill.

Have a look at the "Home Page", study the models listed and most importantly the section marked "Kitchen Sink Engineering". Before the start of the current model my only power tool was a pillar drill that I bought for £29.

 If I can than you can!!!

regards

ralph
 

 

[gbbari]

While I cannot comment on availability of weather-resistant track in gauges smaller than G-gauge (45mm), I have noted that smaller scales look awfully small outdoors in the garden. One tends to look down upon the railroad outdoors (unless you build a raised garden 3 ft high or higher) and that tends to keep the trains 5 to 6 ft away from the viewers' eyes at the minimum. Details become a bit hard to see. Also the larger scales that use G gauge track tend to "fit" better among the vegetation that is generally available and that looks like miniature trees, bushes, etc.. I don't know of too many plants small enough to look realistic next to O or HO scale equipment.

I would enthusiastically suggest that you not count out large scale equipment simply because of limited space and budget. There is plenty of low cost affordable equipment that runs well on 4 ft diameter curved track (AKA "R1" in LGB terms) made by Aristo-craft, USA Trains, and Bachmann. You may even find a 2nd hand LGB starter set for a reasonable price these days, and Piko just introduced a nice set. I have designed several small but effective track plans for modelers who were restricted to relatively small dimensions. Ditto for buldings and structures, although you can build large scale structures for very little cost as has been demonstrated in these pages and on other forums for years.

Many of us started with a small set and built it up over the years. Many of us will never have a large, expansive or elaborate outdoor pike but the beauty is often in how well a simple pike is blended in with the surrounding topography and plants.

Al

[RR Redneck]

Ok....I'm sure that this has been discussed before, but.......I am wanting to get into garden railroading, but I dont have the space, nor do I have the budget, or a G scale railroad. However, an HO or O scale garden railroad would be doable for me, given the limited availability of access to competant hobby shops. Would it be possible to build and (with no more effort than a G scale railroad) maintain, an O scale or (preferably) HO outdoor model railroad. I know that the trains themselves caint be left outdoors for extended periods of time, and wouldn't be, but are there track products out there on the market that can handle it, or do I have to hand lay, or am is this notion as crazy as I originally thought?