Skeptical newbie!

[Anonymous]

I'm a 100% newbie to the world of trains. I've thought about building my own train "world" but my home definitely does not have the room. Therefore the idea and dream died right there. Then today I was watching the DIY channel and saw a quick story about an individual who created a beautiful train "world".... outdoors! I couldn't believe my eyes! After a quick search on the net, I find myself here. I'm skeptical about the whole idea. Why? Because I live in Houston where 100% humidity kills everything from May thru November. How can a garden railway survive in this type of heat, not to mention the rain as well? I'm talking about the temperature AND humidity above 95 degrees for 4-5 months straight day after day after day! Not only the trains and tracks, but what about the buildings, people, etc.?[?] If I'm going to even think about moving to the next step of research, I thought I'd get some expert advice from this website. Please feel free to bombard me with any and all information that will convince me that this can be done (or not done) here in Houston, Texas. I would rather know up front, then to move forward, build a beautiful garden railway, and then watch the Houston sun and humidity destroy it in three days!

All info, opinions, etc., are greatly appreciated.[?]

[Curmudgeon]

Nah, it doesn't work.
I've been at it two weeks, and can't figure it out.



Actually, it does, and folks in Phoenix do it, outside (altho some are, in fact, clueless).
Cactus. Desert plants. Drip watering systems.

Marty does it in knee-bra-ski, I'm up near Seattle, Frather Ferd is in the Great White North.

Eaglewings Ironcraft (builds custom metal bridges) is in Phoenix, and several others.

Good spot to look for info is www.mylargescale.com, you can find folks in your area who are crazy like us.

TOC

[TurboOne]

There is a large garden org. here in San Diego. Even people that live near the ocean. They have moisture 365 and other than cleaning track often, no problems in general.

But as folks right in from around the country you should learn more. Love Texas, met the most polite people ever there. You folks have got manners down. Awesome.

Tim

[toenailridgesl]

Thlorian,
I'm in Adelaide, South Australia. Our summer temps average hi 90s with the occasional week of consistently over 105 temps. Thank Huey that we don't have your humidity! The secret is correct plant selection, plus drip watering as Dave TOC suggests. If you want to represent a Wa logging line complete with lush vegetation.....you gonna have to move!
But....
Buildings can be made of concrete & wood which are quite heat & rain resistant, track is UV resistant, the little details you don't leave out in the lousy weather.
But there are some excellent GRs in Tx. You've got a good GR club locally, contact them (listing in the back of Garden Railways magazine), also a bunch of them hang out on the MLS site as Dave TOC mentioned above.
It's possible ANYWHERE to have a great Garden Railway, but, as you're a newbie, don't try to bite off too much initially. It's always possible to enlarge & improve but if you try to build the world's best right off you'll just finish up disappointed, frustrated, broke & quit.
Start with a small area & simple equipment & grow into the hobby. As your information base & experience grows you can slowly add to your empire.
Important reference websites:
http://www.mylargescale.com
http://largescalecentral.com
http://bachmann.com
and of course here at GR mag. + buy as many back issues of the mag as you can find. Excellent reference & info, plus support for all levels of experience. Nice bunch of folks too! (Rene, is that worth a free sub?)

And check out my URL for some info for newbies.

Good luck & hope you can join us in the World's Greatest hobby!

[Anonymous]

Hi Thlorian
[#welcome]
I too have my own set of problems to deal with summer temps over 100
some winter nights in the -2 or there abouts range, not to mention when it rains clay heave. and the odd pillar blast from the mines.
Not to often have high humidity with the high heat for which I am greatfull.
You need to do the track formation acording to the soil type you have so it don't move too much choose plants and garden techneques that work in your area use weather proof track..
Line side structures are often wood or concrete though some are weather proof plastic.
I am a black thumb gardener so will not even think about garden advice.
As has been said start small and build slowly as your knowledge grows
and your track plan should be a lot simpler than it would be if built indoors
It is possable to build a garden railway any where its mostly geting choice of material right and suitable garden plants for your conditions along with the necesary information to go with it and you came to the right place for some of it
Have fun thats the real important bit
regards John

[Anonymous]

Thlorian
You have several garden rail roaders from texas on the forum , go for it , you start out small , and before you know it you add, and you add and you have a nice size RR . I AM IN IT 4 1/2 years and still growing ,i am working on a 6- silo grain elevator ,and i have 13 other buildings. I make my own , i only have 170 ft of track , but next spring i want to add more, i also have a pond in it ,with gold fish in it. go for it , ben of penna.

[Marty Cozad]

Thlorian
My first thought after reading this is, are you more into the trains part or the gardening part?
If it is the trains part check around your area for others and see what works best there. Same with plants, don't have so many if you don't want to mess with them.
As TOC said, we all do it everywhere in this great country.
In July to Aug I work on it in the evenings, in Dec Jan in the afternoons.
Matter of fact we are going to get out 2nd snow fall tomorrow and man i love running in the snow.
Right now i'm home from work and the guys are off cause this icy rain has the truck doors froze closed. Roads are really bad. And after this post I'm going to play trains in the shop and work on switches and enjoy a day off beings I worked NewYears day trimming an addition.
Its 18 degrees out and theres alwasy stuuf to do in garden railroading. Its a year round sport.
I would like to add that garden railroading is so many hobbies in one. Its not just seeing the trains go around in the garden, its building structures or kits on rainy days, its painting or adding detail to those flat cars with loads on them. Its planning and figuring how to build a bridge and make it strong enough with out spending alot of money.
Its trimming those small trees a so they look like real ones in a photo..
Its even figuring out how to install battery power so you don't have to clean the rail all the time.
It is a challenge, if your up to it, go for it.
My first G engine sat on my desk for a month or so before i bought track for it.

[grandpopswalt]

Marty,

Congrats! That was an excellent description of what this hobby is all about.

Walt

[Tom The Brat]

Thlorian, there's no hope for you now. You're trapped.

The problems with having your railroad outside are a little different from inside, but it works quite well. (Who am I to talk? I don't have an outside.)

One secret: Most garden railroaders don't leave their trains out in the weather.

[DSchmitt]

Thlorian, Here's a linkthat will be od interest to you[:D]

http://www.burger.com/railroad.htm

[whiterab]

I hate to tell you this, but you can't use being in Houston as an excuse not to go outside. I will tell you that laying ballast in the summer afternoon sun can be a real bummer but I've done it.

Actually there are real advantages to Houston. When laying the ballast and the track you don't have to worry about frost heave. Also, I have just spent a week working on my layout - something you can't do comfortably in winter up north[;)]

I live most of the time in Houston but my layout is in the Hill Country. There is an active Large Scale group in Houston (Houston Area G Guagers - HAGG) that meets monthly for regular meetings at individual homes in the area. There are also two Hobby shops that carry G scale equipment in the area. There is a link on Don's site on the previous post on how to join HAGG.

If you want more information, drop me an e-mail (see my profile) and I can give you locations and times for the club and the stores.

[Anonymous]

From what I understand there is no where in mainland United states that has as high a rating for warm weather as here on the Sunshine Coast in Sunny Queensland, its about half way weather wise between Florida and Hawaii. When the north East trades blow, we know all about hunidity. and from October to March it never gets below 20 degrees and over 30 to 35 degrees every day. Then there is the monsoons 50 to 75 mm (2" to 3 ") of rain overnight.

Still my garden railway thrives as do I, so weather is no excuse.


Ian

[whiterab]

Thlorian,

I replied to your e-mail on the information you requested but the message got kicked back. I'm in the Hill Country right now using a remote mail service and that could be the problem.

I'll be back in Houston on thursday and I'll try again or you can e-mail me a phone number and I can give you a call when I'm back. I remember how helpful it was when I finally found some help locally and will be glad to pass on the favors.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by toenailridgesl

Thlorian,
Important reference websites:
http://www.mylargescale.com
http://largescalecentral.com
http://bachmann.com

Phil,

Thanks for those links. I had never seen largesalecentral before.
I'll be going back to have a look at the photos later to see if I can get any good ideas.

Glen.

[Anonymous]

WOW! Thanks to all for the information and tips all done within a day or so! Normally in a forum, I'd expect to wait a week or more for an answer. I guess my life is over now as you have convinced me that it is feasable. The next step is to obtain as much research and thumb through some magazines for ideas and prices. Any more links or info is appreciated. I started a subscription to Garden Railways as a start (Toenailridgesl, that's your plug for a free subscription from Rene).

Thanks again to all...

[Marty Cozad]

Please feel free to ask for help with problems. I'm sorry we don't give out ca***ho. The next problem you may run into is over thinking all the info. Get a starter set and enjoy and dream. Remember, "without a vision; garden railroaders will perish." I read something like that somewhere else???[;)]

[Dick Friedman]

Good advice from all, Tholian. Visit the local hobby shop, and join the regional garden rr society/club/whatever. They'll give equally good or better advice, and they will know what grows and doesn't in your area.

[whiterab]

Thlorian,

Tried to e-mail you again with no luck. You may want to check the e-mail address you have listed in your profile. Thanks.

[Anonymous]

Just do it! It's a great hobby and half the fun is in overcoming the challenges. Unlike indoor modelling, it's just like the real thing.

Julian
England

[tangerine-jack]

Welcome to the forum! I concur with Marty, don't overthink or overplan. There are a lot of choices out there from railroad design to hobby store product that can overwhelm you. Add in the plans for your garden, and it becomes almost too much. Start small, start with something- the ideas will flow from there. My only advice, which is free and worth every penny, is to go to your local gardening/home warehouse center, introduce yourself to the general manager and staff. You will be there more than anywhere else, so you'd might as well get to know those people!
As a matter of fact, I do give out cash, but it's all in Kerplakistani dinars.[:D]

[oX)]

[Anonymous]

I live near Dallas, Texas. We have to deal with the same temperatures as you do in the summer. Fortunately, we are not quite as humid (although still pretty humid compared to other parts of the country).

There are several different aspects to garden railroading that can be considered separately as some of these may be more important to you, or may not be important at all.

* Track
You won't have any problems leaving the track out year round. The thing you do need to consider is expansion/contraction. I find the best way to deal with this is to have lots of curves and to NOT fasten the track down - let if float in the ballast (like the real trains do). Solid brass track is probably the most common, but the new stainless steel track is becoming more popular. Just make sure the track is solid metal. Don't use Bachmann track outdoors since it is hollow steel with will rust away in no time in your environment.

* Engines and Rolling stock
As others have pointed out, you probably do not want to leave your engines and cars out except when you are running them. Some people get quite fancy and build train sheds so that they can just drive the train out of the shed and then back into the shed when they are complete. Personally, I keep all of my trains indoors and carry them outside when I want to play with trains.

* Plants
The gardening aspect of garden railroading is really no different than gardening in general. You just need to make sure you use plants that do well in your area. A hard lesson I learned when I first moved to Texas is that a lot of nursery don't necessarily sell plants that grow well in the area - they sell the plants that people want to buy. Find a nusery that specializes in native plants and talk to them. There is also a CD you can get that shows plants that grow well in Texas with a search tool.

* Buildings and scenery
If you want to include buildings in your garden railroad then you need to make sure they are made of materials that can withstand the elements in your area.
- I would avoid anything made of wood, especially plywood. An exception might be if it were made of redwood or treated lumber.
- For plastic, you need to make sure the plastic is UV protected (most plastics are not, they need special UV inhibitors added to be able to hold up outdoors). There are G scale buildings made of UV protected plastic, but they can be expensive (expect to pay nearly $100 per building give or take $25).
- Concrete can be used for building. Check out www.jigstones.com. They sell molds where you can cast your own concrete pieces to build just about anything you want (buildings, bridges, tunnel portals, etc.)
- Anything made of metal should be OK as long as it isn't steel. Steel, of course, will rust away (stainless steel is OK outdoors)
Something else to consider is to paint the structures using exterior grade paint (the same kind as you would use on a house). Paint can protect surfaces that might otherwise last in an outdoor environment.

I hope this helps.

Jon

[Anonymous]

Listen mate just ignore these people; the way to go is get yourself an LGB starter set, get it out in the dirt turn it on, let it go. If you are not hooked straight away, don't do it.

What you are looking for isn't in any shop (store) or any magazine or from any person; it is either within yourself or it isn't. The few hundred bucks you spend on a starter set may be one of the best investments you have ever made.

Down under power and purpose

[whiterab]

thlorian,

I got your last two e-mails but my replies got bounced again. Seems I can get your messages but can't reply. How about sending me a new e-mail with you correct address in the body of the message and I'll send a message to that address.

[whiterab]

Thlorian,

I've got the information about the next meeting of the Houston Area G Scalers. It will be this sunday afternoon at one of the members homes.

See my note above about a new e-mail address and I'll send it to you. I don't want to publish a name and address on a public forum.