HO railraod in the garden?

[Anonymous]

Hi, I'm new to this site and have a simple but maybe stupid question.

I have alot of HO trains that my father and I collected when I was a kid,but have no room in the house to build anything.
I just bought a Bachman starter set (G scale) and when I started pricing the track and steam engines ect. My wife said why dont you use all your HO trains and figure out a way to do those outdoors.

Is this a stupid Idea? Is track laying with HO gauge impossible?(outdoors)
Should I just go with my original Idea of going"big" with the G scale.

I hope this is an ok topic for this board.

Thanks for any advice or help.
-Mike

[Gary Crawley]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Knicks0820

Hi, I'm new to this site and have a simple but maybe stupid question.

I have alot of HO trains that my father and I collected when I was a kid,but have no room in the house to build anything.
I just bought a Bachman starter set (G scale) and when I started pricing the track and steam engines ect. My wife said why dont you use all your HO trains and figure out a way to do those outdoors.

Is this a stupid Idea? Is track laying with HO gauge impossible?(outdoors)
Should I just go with my original Idea of going"big" with the G scale.

I hope this is an ok topic for this board.

Thanks for any advice or help.
-Mike

[#welcome]

Hi Mate

For a start there is nothing to say that a garden railway has to be "G" gauge.
The only problem I see in having a smaller gauge (eg. HO) is the engineering side of it.

First, you would have to make sure that your track is suitable for outside use, most HO track is designed for inside use only.

Second, your foundations under the track have to be very good with not many irregularities or bumps etc.

Third, my pet hate (even with "G") is keeping the tracks clean, I couldn't imagine how frustrating it would be in "HO"

All the other logistical problems, eg power, buildings, animals would be the same.

I have seen a couple of outside railways in "HO" (in a magazine) and they looked fantastic.
So it's really up to you, there is always a lot of help on the forum, I'm sure someone here has done it.

"Merry Christmas"

Reards
Gary

[toenailridgesl]

Mike, bear in mind that HO track is not UV-stabilized so the track will become very brittle with prolonged exposure to sunlight. Same with the rolling stock & lokies.
Sell your HO stuff on ebay & buy the big stuff. Bachmann LargeScale stuff is brilliant quality & in some cases is cheaper than HO locos. Track can be expensive but because of its size is not difficult to hand lay which saves a fortune. (There's a how-to on my website).

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the great advice Phil.I must say your website was an inspiration !!
The details !!!!![:0]

G scale it is.

[toenailridgesl]

Mike,
any time! This is a great forum for info for newbies. I suggest you buy yourself as many back issues of Garden Railways mag as you can find, then treat yourself to an Xmas present of a sub for 2006 (Rene', I get commission!!!!!!!!!)
Seriously, huge amounts of info available in the mag & here on the net. Also be sure to check out http://www.largescalecentral.com/
& http://www.mylargescale.com/
also http://www.bachmanntrains.com/home-usa/

http://www.largescaleonline.com/ is also good but wants $$$$ up front & considering that just about everything else on the net is free..... :) (Sorry, Jon! Facts is facts!!!)

Yahoo also has a bunch of LS e-mail groups, do a Yahoo search for 1:20.3, garden railways etc.
Am happy to help with more info, being both one of the old farts of LS on the net & a published contributor to GR mag. [twice!]{Hey, Marc! When are going to print my next piece?>>} (Pause for the applause!!!!!.....)

[Tom The Brat]

Good choice. You'll never look back!

[bman36]

Hi Mike,
Welcome to the forum! Made the same switch myself from HO to G. No regrets. All the best and enjoy the forum. Later eh...Brian.

[vsmith]

I came from years of frustration in HOn30, talk about small and difficult ! No regreats with switching.

Go LARGE! Live LARGE! Be LARGE!

editOn thing not mentioned so far, HO trains are NOT designed for outdoor use, exposure to moisture, dirt, dust associated with outdoor use will severly shorten their lifespan. Also UV light will corrode the plastic bodies of most HO rolling stock unless painted or coated with a UV resisitant sealant. Your track would be best installed on a poured concrete base, thats a lot of work but almost every HO or OO scale outdoor layout I have seen published was done this way. Overall. if your HO collection is very valuable I wouldnt use it outside due to the effects of exposure, if they are ordinary HO stuff (Tyco, Bachmann) you could use them outside and just run them till they fry, but to me, the amount of work the roadbed would require, the specialized UV resisitant track required and the issues about power (almost no HO powerpacks were designed with outside use in mind, so are also prone to moisture/dust issues) that Personally i would rather just sell off some of the the HO and get a couple large scale starter engines, some cars, and some track and just go for it. In the long run I think it will be far more rewarding and less complicated than trying to run HO outdoors. You really dont need a lot to get started outside.

Good Luck and let us know what your thinking of doing cause even if you decide to try the HO outside were still here to help out!

[devils]

Peco track is UV stable in all the gauges they produce, My father has had HO in the garden for the past twenty years using peco track.
The base is hardcore, a single layer of bricks and then Plywood covered in preservative and gravel roofing felt which protects the wood from water and looks like ballast!
Remember to allow expansion gaps for when the sun is out and don't pin it down as regularly as you do inside to allow some movement in the heat.
Main problem is Bird droppings and twigs on the line.
Enjoy whatever scale you try.

[Tom The Brat]

Well, I'll be. Somebody who has done it successfully for a long time. Nice to hear from you Devils.

Perhaps I should give you my Stitch graphic[}:)]

[FJ and G]

If I were to run smaller than O scale, I'd likely make benchwork out of cedar or redwood.

This would decrease debris from accumulating on the tracks and would bring the trains closer to eye level. Also would make cleaning the rails easier. I'd also handlay my own rails with cedar ties as the plastic isn't UV protected.

Or, you could spraypaint the ties and I suppose that would protect them to a certain degree.

I'm surprised there aren't more scales smaller than G.

I hear a lot of interest in doing it in posts like this one; but don't really see anyone actually taking the next step and actually doing it.