I started my sickness with HO as well and had some left over when I switched to G scale. I found a use for it on my outdoor G scale layout and here's what I learned. I'm building a mine shaft and the switcher with ore cars go in and out thanks to a reverse unit. The span is only 5 feet long but still outdoors. I used a sheet of styrofoam insulating board ($10 from Lowes 4x8) shaped to the path of the mine. I slathered clear silicone sealer on it, squished in cinders then pinned the track to it. After it dried I surrounded it with the same cinders (my ballast) and it blended right in. Hope you're using Brass track if it's outdoors.
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Reading about the rain drops being mini HO scale bombs reminded me of the Pixar Movie "A Bugs Life" when it started to rain and everyone went running!
I had a friend that left a module outside in the Hampton Roads area of VA and the next time we tried to get that module in the club layout we were all having issues with trains derailing because of warped ties. No rain damage just the sun killing well laid track on cork roadbed.
Massey
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I have both HO indoors and G outdoors, as well as being in a club that has N and HO indoor and portable outdoor layouts, and G permanently installed outdoors.
I would never attempt to put HO outdoors permanently.
First, HO track is not UV resistant and the crossties would deteriorate very quickly in the Arizona summer.
Nearly continual daytime breezes and winds would blow rolling stock off the track all the time.
HO locomotives and rolling stock are also not UV resistant and would be seriously damaged by the sun.
Our portable HO scale modular layout is constructed on 4 inch thick styrofoam blocks that are set up on folding picnic tables. I have never tried putting HO track direclty on the ground, and would never consider trying it because it would be too difficult to keep it level.
I have read that Peco of England makes UV resistant HO scale track and that modelers in Jolly Olde England have outdoor HO layouts (I think they call it OO), but their climate is drastically different than Arizona and I'm sure they elevate the rail.
Twice I tried this. Twice I failed miserably. Tomikawa experiment just show you that weather is against you.
HO doesn't tolerate any track misalignment. Getting the track well laid is hard and it moves each time a train run over it. If you really want to try something, build prefabricated section of rail on boards and get them inside after a session.
Matt
Proudly modelling the Quebec Railway Light & Power Co since 1997.
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I use HO for hand truck rails between buildings in my G scale logging set up. i.e between mill and drying sheds or lath manufacturing. None of the plastic ties lasted more than year. Hand set them with wood rails. third year still holding up. NOTE these are not electrified rails. they just have kitbashed hand trucks made from flat bed cars with loads.
I considered building an outdoor HO railroad in my present location - Las Vegas, NV. So I took a length of Atlas flex track and a yard sale reject box car and put them on the top of the low retaining wall that crosses my back yard.
The sun shone - almost always. The winds blew - frequently at scale tornado speed. It rained - only once, but the melted hailstone raindrops hit with the impact of scale model bombs.
I rerailed the car, not once, but several times a day. Finally, about a month in, the plastic, which had been fading, packed it in and became chalky. The next 'blown off the wall' incident shattered the car. In the meantime the tie strip had curled up...
After I salvaged the rails and dumpsterized the rest I beat a retreat into the garage. There, the sunburned rails were recycled into hand-laid specialwork. The garage isn't climate controlled, but the walls and roof do keep the sun off and the wind and rain out.
Later I concluded that I COULD have built an outdoor HO railroad. It would have had to be built in elevated, closed structures something like showcases...
Some modelers in the UK and elsewhere have built outdoor HO and similar scale railroads. In the Dessicated Desert, the idea is a non-starter.
Just my experience. Others may have been luckier.
Chuck
Get a weed eater and remove the grass along the roadway by cutting a path right down to the ground. You might also try putting a 4x8 sheet of plywood down on the ground.
You won't be able to leave the track outside, as it's not UV protected. You will also be spending the majority of your time rerailing your cars after they come off the track. Every little breeze, or bug crossing the track is going to derail your cars.
Have fun.
Mark
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First I want to thank anyone and everyone who has and will answer my questions. I have been doing some research on Garden Railways and I know that HO scale is not the best choice to use outdoors however I have so much of it and want to learn the pros and cons before investing into this new way of running my trains besides this frist layout will only be for about a year. So my question would be what are the ways I can lay my track down on the grass without elevating it.?
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