anyone on this forum try O scale for outside?

[FJ and G]

Atlas has nickle/silver track and UV protection ties purportedly able to withstand the elements.

Trains, obviously, don't have UV protection or sealed motors so they would need to be operated in fair weather and not overhead sun.

The plus side for some, like me, would be a larger outdoor empire (in scale track miles), no need to repurchase G scale trains (since already have O).

Once my indoor layout is completed, I'm planning to try some outdoors operations with O scale, purchasing n/s rails and cutting my own ties from treated lumber. I may build a small oval and test run it for a year to see how it holds up.

[Anonymous]

FJ and G
The best bet is to get in touch with some English O scale modellers.O scale has been run outside for many years in the UK.We tend not to have forums but enjoy modelling online groups.Try Yahoo groups or modelling webrings.
If you don't have any luck I will get in touch with people over here and find some stuff.
Troy

[Anonymous]

Great! I have just been discussing building an HO scale pike in my back yard. Nickel silver rail should be impervious to the elements. I would think one would hand lay the track on extra heavy duty (and sealed) wooden ties. This might be laid on a raised roadbed, with different materials hiding the elevation above the ground.

Again, obvious advantage, already own all power and rolling stock to have a really neat outside layout. Disadvantage, taking extra care to protect the equipment from the elements.

Anyone have any thoughts?

[Overmod]

The Atlas track works quite nicely outdoors. I used a raised continuous support to give a reliable subgrade for the track -- the kind of continuous box beam of PT lumber used by some G scalers being a reasonable approach; I used concrete sections and tendons which is probably overkill for most, but I wanted very stable control over curve spirals and superelevation, and good control of vertical curves as well.

Remember that track requires increasing precision as the scale decreases, which makes even small weather- or land-related movement significant. I'd be quite leery of hand-laid ties in O gauge, and more so in a small scale like HO, unless all materials used were dimensionally stable, water- and freeze-cycling resistant, firmly anchored against casual banging from outdoor hazards, etc.

You can use geotextile from the side of the roadbed 'box' to give the ballast prism and subgrade profile (and to keep weeds, etc. down).

Now that home-improvement stores have a slew of very accurate laser equipment for leveling and profiling, it's becoming increasingly practical to consider accurate trackwork in smaller scales. Then the question becomes how you build and operate rolling stock that's wind and 'disaster' proof...

One other little point: I prefer to shape the railheads to approximate 'prototype' curvature and wear, and to darken the webs of the rails -- selenium black is a good way to do this in a 'weatherproof' way, or you can use an appropriate mix of Rustoleum-style colors to give the appropriate rust, curve grease, etc. effects while keeping a bright railhead. Cheap fishplate detail, etc. is worth the effort. I used the Atlas track with the concrete ties, but used a little 'sanding liquid' to kill the gloss -- which gave a reasonable appearance but the color is still a bit too bright gray and too uniform. Proper glued-down ballast rock was a very, very important detail -- I used thinned outdoor-grade white glue to secure it, which essentially assumes that the track is intimately and permanently linked to its substructure, which I think is 'easier' to do in O and smaller than it would be in G.

[Anonymous]

Hi,
I used to model in O outdoors and did so for about 15 yrs. I have no experience with Atlas track but can confirm that Peco Flexitrack is very good, as already mentioned the smaller the scale the more fragile and Peco track does stand the test of time as well as LGB track in G scale. However if not lifted too often then it is good and will last. It also has the benefit of now being produced as a narrow guage style as well , ie odd shaped ties etc.

I used to solder a small black cable across the fishplates in an omega loop to maintain good continuity without losing expansion characteristics, flexitack in 1 yard /1metre lengths can be quite forgiving but good attention to leveling will pay off in the long run. in all try it and have FUN!
happy modeling
defaucumberg

[Anonymous]

Atlas O-gauge track has worked well for me. The layout is over 5 years old.
Still needs cleaning for good electrical contact. Last year I added MTH DCS
function to layout. The Atlas O gauge track is not attached, instead floats in
the ballast. I live in Northern Ilinois, tough winters and hot summers affect
the roadbed. Each spring I fill in the lost ballast and away I go.

Just watch plant size because O gauge trains are smaller.

Don't forget 2005 national garden railway convention in July.
St Charles is just west of Chicago.

See you there, the lefthand[8D]