How Do You Maintenance Your Railroad?

[ironhorseman]

Please forgive me if the following questions have been asked here before and discussed at length, but as a non-garden, non-large scale railroader, I’ve always wondered out of plain curiosity how you outdoor model railroaders protect your layout and scenery from the weather and debris and animals? As outdoor modelers do you feel your railroads require more care and maintenance? And not to get onto another subject entirely, but is this the biggest obstacle you face in having a garden railroad? If not, what was your biggest obstacle?

I’ve tried to research these questions in books, magazines, and the internet, but as an outsider I can’t get past some of the jargon and since I don’t model large scale I guess I can’t relate. Just wondering. I figure someone who is practical in this hobby could give some personal insight/experience into what works and what doesn't.

If this topic has been discussed at length in another thread could someone link me if no one wants to go over it again?

[Anonymous]

I don't do to much ,for the winter, i put my buildings in my shed ,take them out to repaint a few at a time ,if they need it ,wait until spring to check the ballast and fill after, i start early APRIL to do this ,replant flowers to make my GRR colorful, check the tracks ,i have one bridge that needs rebuilt , and i want to build 2-3 new buildings, these are my winter projects. and run some trains , inside in the warm. ben

[Anonymous]

one off the things that attracted me to garden railways was the fact that none off the models ever get coated in dust, it just gets washed off!!i leave all my buildings, pepole ect out all year, the only thing that comes in are therolling stock and locos,maintance is just that, maintance, just like the real thing, if a street light stops working, the maintance crew(me)fix it, if the station needs a repaint, the maintance crew (me)paint it,thats half the fun, its just like haveing your own world with the responceabilty that gose with it

[Anonymous]

Locos are taken apart and thourghly cleaned once a month or as needed, and are lubricated as I reassemble them. Frieght cars are maintenanced once every six months or as needed. First, I remove the trucks,and lubricate the bolster and I remove the wheels and oil the axle ends. Passenger cars are handled with three different procedures. For aluminum cars, I poli***hem once a week and remove the trucks and lubricate the bolster and axle ends.
Lighted coaches, unless aluminum, aren't polished but taken apart and all wiring connections are checked and the truck bolsters and axle ends are oiled.
Heavywieghts and old time style coaches are maintained, unless lighted, are given the same treatment as frieght cars.
Track is cleaned before and after ech session or as needed. All electrical connections are checked twice before and after each session, and all problems are dealt with immediately.

[Marty Cozad]

Well MAX

"biggest obstacle? "
Thats a good question.
I would say heavy rains and leaves.
Right now the RR is a mess with leaves from 30 some trees.
I love late fall and winter because NO yard work.
Spring I give up on controling growth unit the drier season comes.
Note the point: As out door modelers there is seasons and my "layout" changes all the time. Thus I love this hobby.
As for my dog, and cats and other things it adds life to the RR.
when I was in baby scales I had cats that wrecked my HO layout, and no moon light to run by. no sunsets. no snow, The indooors was lacking all that makes this hobby,,,"real".[;)]



and


and

[tangerine-jack]

I sweep my track with a standard floor broom every time I operate to clear track of leaves etc. I usualy don't clean the track, I have all metal wheels and a 10amp power supply, running regularly cleans the track just fine. If I have a particularly filthy section of track, I squirt a little WD-40 on the offending area- works like a charm.

The rest of your inquiries raised a smile, you are obviously an indoor railroader! But questions are good, they cure ignorance. We don't have "scenery" as you understand, we use rocks, dirt and real plants-none of which need any protection from the elements. Nature is our scenery! If any of us use anything artificial (tunnels/waterfalls etc) then in almost every case we use standard building materials such as brick, concrete/PVC or terra cotta. Woodland Senics is a cuss word around here! Our hobby stores are Lowes, Home Depot, and Kempsville Building Supply.

As far as animals go, not much you can do about that. A .308 Enfield takes care of my deer issues, and a .22 Ruger does a good job on racoons. Standard practice is to not use plants that may attract unwanted animals (if you plant snap beans as scenery, then don't complain about the white tail deer!), but in the end they will come and investigate at some point or another anyway. Our track and structures are rugged enough to withstand the occasional animal or two. Cats do negligable damage, dogs may dig as dogs do and birds love water. The cats take care of the birds, dogs can be kept out by a fence (invisible works best for astectics).

I've had many indoor layouts, and in my experience I do less maintenance in the garden. Track cleaning is rare, track maintenance is once or twice a year (leveling and ballasting) and the rolling stock is well rugged and needs minimal winter maintenance. Everything is bigger and heftier. Overall far less hassle and headaches.

My biggest obstacle comes from design to production- that is to say you can make the best track plan on paper, but when the shovel hits the dirt, you may have to modify! Expect the unexpected, don't fret over it, it's part of the challenge. Plus you can't run trains in a hurricane, it don't work.

Hope this helps!


[oX)]

[Anonymous]

Similar to what I do for my deer nd varmint blues. Except I use a Marlin 60 ..22LR and a Model 94 Winchester .30-30. For the really heay duty varnmintss, I use my Colt Accurized Targer Rifle, .223 Rem.

[Marty Cozad]

Angel takes care of most deer and coons.
thats her on the left. Andy is giving her a donut.

[Tom The Brat]

Marty, you need one more photo in your previous post, "The Four Seasons of Table Creek."

[John Busby]

Hi ironhorseman
First off I don't protect the scenery from the weather
If I did it would die our scenery is the real world those trees next to the line are alive and need the rain and sun..
If you mean the structures they get painted with exterior grade paint from time to time..
I feel the outdoor stock is better constructed than the indoor stuff but then it has to be to cope with the real world.
The biggest obsticals I have
are the soil type I have and never enough time to do the things I want to do
regards John

[piercedan]

II live in Massachusetts and run outdoors year round.

I plow the snow, and I built a car to blow away the leaves.

I leave 10 cars outdoors all the time, just make sure I take in engines and anything else with electronics on board.

My power panel is outside and I have been using the aristo 27mhz receivers and these are all outdoors. permanently.

Only problem I have had is a mouse ate my antenna wire on a receiver.

[ironhorseman]

Thanks for the replies, everyone! You've enlightened this HO'er. I guess no matter what scale and no matter how unique each scale's problems are, creativity and innovation rule the day. (duh to me [D)][swg]) Like any railroad, model or business, never ending process.

Perhaps someday when I'm settled down and own a little bit of property I'd like to get into garden railways, it looks like fun. It'll be a long time from now but I won't stop dreaming.

[smcgill]

Snow!!! [:D]
This is the best part of being out side!![:p]
Ask marty aboute snow!! [;)]

[Tom The Brat]

Snow? That's just when you can't go barefoot.

Well, not always[:-,]