PLANS FOR RIDE ON BACK YARD TRAIN

[Anonymous]

I WANT TO BUILD A SMALL TRAIN IN MY BACK YARD, BIG ENOUGH TO PULL SEVERAL CARS AND HAUL AT LEAST 6 PEOPLE. I AM A PRETTY GOOD MECHANIC AND CARPENTER. WHERE CAN I FIND PLANS, PARTS, TRACK OR GET STARTED???
THANKS,
ERIC

[Anonymous]

Eric, Not many of us (to my knowledge) are into riding garden railroads. But just the same[#welcome]

You might find what you need at www.ridingrailkits.com I only know of them through their add in Garden Railways Magazine.

Check'em out and I hope it's waht your looking for the scale size of these is 1 inch to the foot scale.

[Anonymous]

Now this is some BIG BOY TOYS. I was checking out the web site... 10,000 for a powered w/ sound unit.... YIKES!!!!!!!!!

i will stay with my G, and HO
thats way to rich for my blood.

hehehehe but i would like a box car to sit on :-)....and run my trains

Jeff

[Anonymous]

In response to Eric Spears question. Check out Live Steam magazine and if you can find one, an issue of Modeltec (no longer published). Both are good for sources . I had a 1/8 scale railroad when I lived on Cape Cod and now have a 15" gauge railroad here in Maine. (www.tallpinesscenicrailroad.com) On both lines I built everything, even wheels. If you are a good scrounger, and I hate that word, you can build rather inexpensively. The cost of track is about the same as you would spend for G gauge, around $2.50 per foot. But be warned if you take that route you will need some tooling. THAT can get expensive. You can get around that though if you have a friend with a machine shop or can sign up for night classes at your local high school or college. I hope this info helps you out. It is great fun moving down the track on something you can ride on or in. By the way, I have built several riding cars in both 1/8 and 1/4 scale using the pull out plans from Garden Railways. Good Luck. Walter Whiting

[Anonymous]

Walter, Really enjoyed your website! What you have created is masterpiece! I'm not sure if other members of this forum will see the self disipline you have put forth on your RR.

Definately an EXTREME Garden Railroad[:D]

[Anonymous]

WALTER
SOME GARDEN RAIL ROAD, I DON'T HAVE THAT MUCH LAND ., BUT LIKE WHAT I HAVE ,IT KEEPS ME BUSY ,I HAVE A SMALL POND WITH FISH AND A RAIL ROAD RUNNING AROUND IT, SO FAR ABOUT 165 FT. OF TRACK , AND SEVERAL BRIDGES
BEN --OF---PENNA .[:)][2c]

[Anonymous]

If it works for YOU that is wonderful.Send some pictures. Walter

QUOTE: Originally posted by bennysrr

WALTER
SOME GARDEN RAIL ROAD, I DON'T HAVE THAT MUCH LAND ., BUT LIKE WHAT I HAVE ,IT KEEPS ME BUSY ,I HAVE A SMALL POND WITH FISH AND A RAIL ROAD RUNNING AROUND IT, SO FAR ABOUT 165 FT. OF TRACK , AND SEVERAL BRIDGES
BEN --OF---PENNA .[:)][2c]

[Anonymous]

Walter

How much does one of those rails weight?
On the photo side of it did the program your using for showing the photos come with a brave net pages or is it a different program?

[Anonymous]

The rail is 12 lb. and the website program is from godaddy.com. I tried to link to bravenet, but I can't get the program to run correctly. Walter

QUOTE: Originally posted by Bluebonnet - 71

Walter

How much does one of those rails weight?
On the photo side of it did the program your using for showing the photos come with a brave net pages or is it a different program?

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by walter42646

The rail is 12 lb. and the website program is from godaddy.com. I tried to link to bravenet, but I can't get the program to run correctly. Walter

QUOTE: Originally posted by Bluebonnet - 71

Walter

How much does one of those rails weight?
On the photo side of it did the program your using for showing the photos come with a brave net pages or is it a different program?

Program worked fine when I checked out your web site.

[Anonymous]

Saboja and others,
I am building a train toy box from plans from Meisel Hardware. I am making it from treated plywood and will be used as a seat and to store my controls and such. Also I have seen plans on Ebay for ride-on backyard trains. I've been curious and have book marked it several times only to forget about them.

[Big_Boy_4005]

The magazine you want to get is called Live Steam. That's where you'll find the ads for the riding scales. 1" and 1-1/2" are the most common.

Hang on to your wallet though, because to build something large enough to haul 6 people, you will need to spend at least $5,000 to start. That will get you some track, a gasoline powered diesel engine, and a few cars. It helps to be a machinist, and have a well equiped shop.

[Rene Schweitzer]

Eric,

I second what Big Boy has said--check out Live Steam magazine. There's also another magazine called Grand Scales Quarterly, which focuses on 12" and larger scales. Check out their web site: http://www.grandscales.com/

To echo what Matt said, Riding Railkits is our only ride-on scale advertiser. I've met the owner, Rod Johnston, and he's a great guy. They sell kits for ride on, as well as an intro video.

Good luck!

[Big_Boy_4005]

Thanks Rene, actually Walt said it first back up near the top, but I missed it. The only reason I know anything about this stuff is that there is a club near where I live that operates an 11 acre railroad. I joined the club a few years back, but never got very involved, and simply dropped out after a while.

Part of the reason for dropping out was that I realized that I wasn't going to be able to handle the trains. Not only from a cost perspective, but also maintenance and even riding. I'm a rather large guy at 6' 1", 350 pounds. That is kind of close to the load limit for 1" trains. 1-1/2" can go to about 500 pounds.

Eric, I would suggest looking in the back of the Live Steam magazine, and see if there is a club near you, and visit there before making any decision. Riding trains are fun, but they aren't easy. The bigger they get, the more they behave like real trains. One nice thing about 1" and 1-1/2" is that once you have a train, you can join a numer of different clubs and travel with your train.

Walter, I've never seen anyone do 3" on a private layout. Isn't 3" the size used in zoos and amusement parks?

[Anonymous]

Big boy
Yes it is. They also use 24" gauge equipment. I have built railroads in HO, O, G, ! 1/2" and 3". For me personally my favorite is the 3" followed by G. Reason being, you ride in it and to me there is no greater thrill than operating large equipment that you built with your own hands. While I agree that it can be very very expensive to buy, everything can be built by anyone with the desire. You don't need heavy machinery, but it helps. You can sign up for night courses at your locan high school or college. Materials can be scrounged. I built everything for mine including wheels. In fact I wrote two articles for Grand Scales Quarterly on how I made wheels and boxcar end ribs. By the way, I have a friend that lives 5 miles away that has a 15" gauge railroad.
Regards
Walter

[Big_Boy_4005]

Thanks Walt, the 3" sounds comfy for someone my size. Actually the 1-1/2" isn't too bad, but getting down to the 1" is tricky. It's unfortunate too, because the club I mentioned has perhaps one of the most beautiful 1" lines in the country. It basicly wraps itself around this pine covered hill 3 times as it works it's way to the top. People with 1" trains from all over the country join the club just to run on the layout.

The 1-1/2" line is no slouch either, at just over a mile. The plan is a lot simpler though. It's basicly a folded figure 8, so that it goes twice around over and under. To me, part of the fun of owning the large scale stuff would be traveling to other clubs, which is what a lot of those guys do.

Are you listening Eric?[swg]

I'm afraid that I can only dream about such things for now. I have a huge indoor 3 rail O project that should last a lifetime or two.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by walter42646

Big boy
Yes it is. They also use 24" gauge equipment. I have built railroads in HO, O, G, ! 1/2" and 3". For me personally my favorite is the 3" followed by G. Reason being, you ride in it and to me there is no greater thrill than operating large equipment that you built with your own hands. While I agree that it can be very very expensive to buy, everything can be built by anyone with the desire. You don't need heavy machinery, but it helps. You can sign up for night courses at your locan high school or college. Materials can be scrounged. I built everything for mine including wheels. In fact I wrote two articles for Grand Scales Quarterly on how I made wheels and boxcar end ribs. By the way, I have a friend that lives 5 miles away that has a 15" gauge railroad.
Regards
Walter

Only five miles away? Sounds like it's time to obtain a right of way and get some dual gauge track laid![:D]

[Paul W. Beverung]

Eric; I've got 7 1/2 inch gauge 1 1/2 and 4 inch scale. You can get started for a resonable cost depending on what your talents are. An old lawn mower engine and transmission is a good power plant for a diesel. I've built a steam locomotive for under $1200. Take a look at LIve Steam magizine, also 7-Plus mag. They both have web sites. If you want to you may drop me a line E-mail. I'll be happy to give you a hand.

Paul

[d4fal]

Unless you are lucky enough to find a manufacturer(s) for the scale you want, you may have to build everything you require. Because I am in 3" scale, I've scratch built everything so far. Finding a good supply of rail has been my biggest problem until I had found a source that would custom make it for me. The rest of the things that I needed was not nearly as big a deal. If you are very handy, with a good shop to work in, then you should have no trouble.

[Anonymous]

Walter

Enjoyed your site very much and extremely nice looking track work. If I could get the chance looks about the correct size and your pick of rolling stock was about what I was thinking of.


Thanks
Mikadousrp

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Big_Boy_4005

Thanks Walt, the 3" sounds comfy for someone my size. Actually the 1-1/2" isn't too bad, but getting down to the 1" is tricky. It's unfortunate too, because the club I mentioned has perhaps one of the most beautiful 1" lines in the country. It basicly wraps itself around this pine covered hill 3 times as it works it's way to the top. People with 1" trains from all over the country join the club just to run on the layout.

The 1-1/2" line is no slouch either, at just over a mile. The plan is a lot simpler though. It's basicly a folded figure 8, so that it goes twice around over and under. To me, part of the fun of owning the large scale stuff would be traveling to other clubs, which is what a lot of those guys do.

I think you need to be more concerned with the guage of the rail than the scale of the train. Few of the amusement park trains I have looked at even remotely try to fit any "scale" at all. The smallest "ride on" trains I could consider are on 7 (1/2 or 1/4 depending on what part of the US you live) inch guage track. Some people try to ride on 3 3/4 inch guage track but I consider that right up there with trying to ride one of those mini-bikes. Not too bad when you were a kid but kinda funky at my age. The british seem to have some interest in 10 1/4 gauge track based railroads. Get into the 15,18,24 inch guage tracks and you are looking at amusement park railroads or light industrial. I have read that you can buy trains and track out of old mines. Something like that would definately be commercially available.

Turning radius becomes an issue as you get to larger guages. A small train on a "size 7" track as I call it is very tight on a 15 foot radius curve with long cars having clearance and binding issues. 30-40 ft radius curves are more confortable making even the smallest layout too big for many back yards. Trains that run on 7 1/4, 7 1/2, 10 1/4 or 15 inch guage track are still possible to load onto a trailer and haul around behind your truck. Some of the more enterprising railroaders run dual guage track supporting one of the 7's as well as something bigger.

You might check out http://www.7plusrailroader.com/ if you think one of the 7 inch guages might do you or http://www.grandscales.com/ if you think you want something even bigger and http://www.oneinchrr.com/ if you want to play around with the tiny squatable stuff.

Good luck to you. I looked into this a couple of years ago. It is then that I realized that the guage of the rail is the prime concern when planing your rail. I did find a few folk who tried to make "scale" models on narrow guage rails but they were the exception rather than the rule. Most were just like me and wanted a train to ride around their back yard and didn't care much about scale.

[Train 284]

Big trains huh? They are pretty amazing arent they? I volunteer on a 15" gauge railroad (www.onprailroad.5u.com) and I'm helping a friend build a 7 1/2" gauge railroad. He is building everything from scratch, but from what I see, you are going to need a lot of special tools. I do not know what gauge you are thinking of but I would recommend these sites... www.7plusrailroader.com and www.grandscales.com both put out by a friend of mine. Good luck

Matt

[jmozz]

walter did you build the enigne and how much did it cost jmozz

[steamengine060]

Hi
I have a riding railroad im my front yard and a friend and I made it he built the engine and cars and wheelsets, the cars he made out of plywood the engine has a 5.5 horse power lawnmower engine in it also we started out with belt drive and worked our way to hydrolics.
The track was made out of 1X1X 1/8 angle iron in twenty foot lenghts for the straight away and 1X 1/8 flat iron for the curves treated wood for the ties, on the flat iron we welded tabs cut from the angle iron to the flat iron to attatch the steel to the ties and on the angle iron we just drilled holes were we wanted the ties to go.
That is about all I can help you with

[Anonymous]

Another place to check is the yahoo group, live diesel. They specialize in 7 1/2" lawnmower engine powered locos.
I'm lucky enough to live within 10 miles of 2600' of 7 1/2" guage track with plans to add 2600' more. They also have 1600' of 2' guage, with plans to add 2000' more.
If you are interested in getting into 7 1/2" then try to join one of the groups in your area. Having a source of on hand mentors really helps. All of the people I've run into that are into the large scale trains are very friendly and willing to help.
It's a whole lot more fun to ride the trains than just watch them go around the track!

[Anonymous]

Another good source for information the larger outdoor scales is www.discoverlivesteam.com . Lots of links to clubs, private RRs, and suppliers of all types.

I agree with Walter, once you ride on a steam engine you built, tending the fire, blowing the very real whistle, listening to a real CHUFF, it's hard to look at model railroading the same.

I give the following warning to all model railroaders before they run my steam engine:

If you like your hobby the way it is now, DO NOT operate my engine, it is addictive, and may well ruin your hobby as you know it now.....

More than one HO, O, and G scale hobbyist has taken the very deep plunge into live steam after being seduced by the sights, sounds, and smells of live steam railroading.

Don Sweger
TVRR 3000' of 7.5" track and growing