What to Use for 1st O Gauge Garden Rail Roading Track: Lionel 0 Gauge vs MTH O31 vs Atlas Stainless

[Anonymous]

Good Afternoon,

We live in Minnesota - variety of weather conditions: Hot, Cold,Wet, Dry!

My son and I as a Boy Scout Merit Badge Project are expanding our present O-Gauge Lionel MTH Consist to a 'Covered" Outside Garden Railroad. We also have a variety of inherited Lionel and K-line Engines, Cars, Track 1960-2005

Ours will not be the traditional ground level garden railroad. We will using our old 10 x 5 table that has been marine varnished top/bottom/ adding boulders, bushes, .. around it to make it more realistic.
It will be about 25 inches high off the ground. two long runs, 3-4 Various Switching and Turnouts ...
It will be covered at night or when not in use with ground cloth.

Question(s):
1). We have alot of extra MTH Real Trax O-31, O-42, We would like to use this track to cut down on cost to build Can this be used outdoors with wd-40 or will it rust?
If it is prone to rust. How long before it may begin to rust heavily? Months, Year (s)?

2). We also have a lot of 1960's (Rusted , yet cleaned (bright boy) Lionel O-27 track and switches. Could this be used or combined with MTH Real Trax?

3). Everyone we have talked to suggests stainless steel O gauge (Atlas ...).
This railroad may be outside around 1-3 years. Would the MTH Real Trax or Lionel O-27 last that long?

4). We have older 0-27 Lionel (refurbished) Engines that we would like to run on this railway. Can our Rail King Engines or Premier Engines Run Outside during good driving conditions on O-27.

Any Suggestions regarding our O-gauge Outdoor Rail Road would be helpful.

Thank all for your time and consideration,
GrandmasterII

[Wild Bill]

GrandmasterII: Stainless, or Nickle-silver will be your best bet.
The MTH real track is made of Nickle-silver and that will hold up well. The weakness is with the plastic roadbed. It will tend to warp up in prolonged heat, and sunlight.
If you can keep it in the covered, in the shade, it will last almost indefinitly. You will have to be very carfull with the Lionel switches however. the rails will rust if they get wet, almost imediatly, and the switch motors will not hold up to adverse conditions either.
There are MTh convertion pieces that will mate up with the Lionel track.
Also, you engines will run on this as long as you can avoid high-heat situations. That tends to be hard on the electronics
Over all I wouls say that as long as you can cover the layout well enough to keep it from the worst extremes of weather, it would probably work.
On my own outdoor O guage layout I use Atlas track, and switches made in England, that although pricey, do the job well. go here: http://www.trainweb.org/oscaleoutdoors/
And go to the outdoor ayout list to see how some other folks have done it. I have the one outside of Reno, Nv.

[GP-9_Man11786]

My advice would be to use Gargraves stainless steel. It will hold up well and since it's flex track, it will give you many more options for your track plan. It is also very realistic. I am also an O-guage hi-railer and have worked with both gargraves track and ross and curtis switches.

[Curmudgeon]

If GarGraves, get the UV stabilized plastic ties. The wood will rot out in one to two years.
Please do NOT use your Lionel 027 track, as it will rapidly become a rust streak.
You will never keep contact at the pins due to corrosion and rust.
Wheel electrical contact will go away.
TOC

[Anonymous]

Don not use any tubular track, regardless of make. Use solid-rail track only. Remember that tubular will eventually rust from the inside as well as the outside, and you can't see what's going on inside.

In solid-rail track, I would recommend stainless steel. And, of course, you'll want ties that will hold up over time. UV-protected plastic is probably best in that regard.

Don't expect your outdoor pike to hold up anywhere near as well as a Large Scale layout would--all things being equal. Your O gauge track will require a good bit more regular maintenance to keep things operating reliably.

Run watever trains you care to outdoors, in any scale, just as long as you are willing to accept that only Large Scale trains are intentionally designed for outdoor use on a regular basis. And even those trains/layouts aren't exactly 100% maintenance-free.

[Anonymous]

Wild Bill, Gp-9_Mann11786, Curmudgeon, Allan M:
Thank you all for your Reply. The Scouts have decided to experiment with one section of each track we presently have O-27, O- gauge (tubular); MTH Real Trax leaving them outside to see what happens . Thus opening a whole new arena for learning Who takes care of track, What causes ..., When does it need to cleaned Where: Does Shade help...? i.e. oxidation, warping, is there a film of dirt on the track .. How did it get there, What can be done to clean the track ...

In the mean time after we level the table adding boulders and foilage; we will experiment with each boy designing their own track plan- setting it up with mix of MTH O-27 and/or O-Gauge Tubular and using our older engines in case of derailments and Run the Trains.

The Boys are looking forward to "Night Trains by the Fire" where I would run my MTH Premier engines and consists on MTH Real Trax.

Thanks Again for each of your comment They have been very beneficial - Have a Great Day!

Grandmaster II.

[underworld]

Stainless is going to be the best all the way around....and be sure that the ties are UV protected.

[:D][:D][:D][:D][:D]

underworld

[John Busby]

Hi grand master II
Just a thought given its scouts involved allow a little larger track clearance between tracks
for exuberant hands.
I can still remember the exitement of model trains when I was younger
I still have it.
I would concure with the forget tin plate track.
But I don't agree with the large scale is better "O"scale has been used out
doors for a long time now particularly in the UK.
They also seem to prefer 16mm scale to "G" which runs on you guessed it O gauge track
or sm 32 track which is just coarse O gauge with a narrow gauge sleeper spacing on it
and weather proof
thats my two cents worth
regards John

[Anonymous]

I would go with the MTH track. It is solid construction unlike the tubular Lionel.Just dont expose it to long stretches of sunlight because this track does not have uv protection.. Atlas and Gargrave make track that you can use outdoors