new garden railway

[hackmo15]

Hi,
I'm considering starting a garden railway. I have a real nice space and want some input on size and type of trains to use. It seems the G scale is the size to use outdoors, but could the O scale be used? Should I use track powered trains or battery powered trains. After that I need to decide on brands. Are all the track sizes the same?, so that any train can run on any track?
I know this is a lot of info I'm asking for, but all help will be appreciated.
Thanks
hackmo

[ttrigg]

hackmo;

There are litteraly tons of info, dealing with ALL of the questions you have posed. Go back through all the previous threads and you will find some brilliant, and some rather heated discussions about size and scale. As you explore these postings you will soon see that the "G" in "G scale" stands for garden, and NOT a meausred size of model rr. (1:19, 1:20, 1:22.5 , , , , , , , , 1:30 ratios. etc.) After reading every post that has been done in the last month, then go read the two stickies at the top of the forum. Lots of good info there too!

[cabbage]

[}:)](cough!!!)[}:)]

1:19.1 is 16mm scale and is NOT "G" anything!!!

Infact NMRA does not admit it exists, despite the 16mm society having over 3,500 members in the UK alone... I run 'O' gauge 32mm track outside and on it I also run 'O' scale 1:43 models as well. There is nothing stopping you using 32mm track outdoors provided it is UV stable and designed for this environment. I use PECO SM32 track

This scale is used for narrow gauge layouts normally 2 foot (32mm) and Metre/Cape gauge (45mm).

It is a nice scale to use -there are a lot of now extinct 2 foot / Metre / Cape railways for you to be inspired by

Since the track will always be expensive it should be considered as an investment -to me 16mm scale enabled me to use my investment to the full!

regards

ralph

[tangerine-jack]

[#welcome]
Tough questions all, perhaps you should ask "how long is a piece of string?" might be easier to answer. The hardest part is in deciding what YOU want to do, then go out and find what's available. As mentioned before, there are a multitude of choices in scale, guage, power controll etc etc etc. Check out the posts on this forum, go to the public library and check out some books on Garden Railways, and then decide what is right for you.

My personal reccomendation would be to purchase a starter set, either LGB (if you can get one on sale) or any Bachmann Big Hauler sets (ditch the B'mann track and buy some brass) then put a small loop in your yard where you want the railway to be. Run the train, learn a lot, and get tons of ideas. Then once you've decided what works and what doesn't for you, go out and spend money on what will fit your needs. In the mean time, while you are running your loop of track, read these forums and ask questions, research and gather info.

Good luck!

[Anonymous]

Hackmo,

You’re where I was two months ago – fascinated by the trains but completely confused by the myriad of options. Aristo Craft, LGB, Bachmann, Accucraft? 1:22.5, 1:29, 1:32? Battery, track power, DCC? (And what the heck is DCC, anyway? Isn't that our nation's capitol?) American ties, European ties? You begin to wonder if the fog will ever clear.

Being a fellow newbie, I am hardly the one to offer many answers but there is a BUNCH of info in these forums and on the internet. I’m also finding that people in this hobby love to share and to help. As a fellow newbie, let me share a couple of things I’ve found over the last few months. I qualify my comments by saying that these are only my opinions and based on my experiences and ask forgiveness in advance if I offend anyone or accidentally tweak any forum rules.

As others have said, read all you can from the forums. Great stuff and pictures. Then Google “Garden Railroad”, “G gauge”, etc for internet information. There’s lots of it out there.

I learned a lot from an article on “Mixing and Matching Large Scale Cars/Sample Car Measurements” at

http://www.btcomm.com/trains/archives/measure.htm

This cleared up the scale conundrum for me and the fog began to lift a little. It seems that manufacturers specialize (mostly) in particular scales. Bachmann does 1:22.5, Aristo does 1:29, etc. I still didn’t know what scale I wanted, though.

The scale issue became clearer when I decided what type of locomotive most interested me. I discovered that particular manufacturers, while offering both steam and diesel locomotives, tend more towards one or the other. In going to the dealer websites (I used Wholesale Trains, Ridge Road, and St. Aubin, but there are lots of others, as well as the manufacturers’ websites) and I probably looked at ALL the manufacturers and the locomotives they offer – you’ll get a feel pretty quickly for what you like. Your own loco preferences and the article above will help you decide on which manufacturers to focus on and in turn you will start to focus on a particular scale. I love the older diesels that are offered by certain manufacturers and, therefore, decided to go with 1:29.

Before go any further (like ordering anything), I also suggest you read “Building a Garden Railroad on a Budget” at

http://www.btcomm.com/trains/primer/budget.htm

It has some good tips that will hopefully help us avoid at least SOME expensive missteps.

So far my railroad consists of a subscription to Garden Railways magazine (not a plug but I love it), a box car (1:22.5 scale, but oh well) and four pieces of track, all of which my wife gave me for Christmas. She keeps saying, “I’m going to regret this, aren’t I?” and I keep replying, “O-o-o-h Yeah!!!” I have a brand new yard so most of my rail construction will have to wait until next year but getting there will be half the fun. I hope you have as much fun, Hackmo.

[grandpopswalt]

Bravo DryHeatDan. That's excellent advice and very well written. We all look forward to more contributions from you.

Walt

[devils]

If you want to buy it off the shelf and your budget is limited then I'd stick with 45mm gauge, you can run any of the LGB, Bachmann, Aristo, USA trains etc Narrow gauge or standard gauge outline models as the mood takes you. Hartland do some nice Mack switchers which are cheap but the rest of their range is a little toylike for my taste.
O gauge or 16mm is becomming better served off the shelf but as the majority of manufacturers are small the production is limited and costs more.
Track from different manufacturers is compatible with simple modifications but try and stick with one brand that you can get easily locally as it's a pain waiting weeks to finish a circuit for a half straight to come in the mail!
If you like live steam then look at accucraft as they do some cheaper locos to get you started and some are re-gaugeable with just an allan key.
Decide what trains you like and that'll cut out a lot of the options until someone brings something else round and the cravings start. I've got British, US, Swiss, German and some are narrow and some are standard gauge but I did start with a couple of the original big hauler sets from bachmann. Just got carried away over time!
Good luck and just remember that even though everyone does limited runs, in 2 or 3 years they'll do another one with a different number so don't worry you'll miss out on a dream model. They might even come with sound included for next to nothing next time! [:D]

[kimbrit]

The main thing with our hobby is to stop talking/thinking/dreaming etc and go and do it. As T Jack said look for a cheap starter set, get it on the ground and it will go from there. Change your mind about something? I bet you will because we all have. Spend days getting the track down then rip it up? You will, we all have. But you will have the time of your life and that starter set will probably end up as something else anyway when you get to the saw/drill/soldering gun state of mind - this is when the fun really starts!
Enjoy.
Kim

The loco is a cab forward, the cab of which is from the first loco I owned, I bought an LGB starter set. The chassis is now the drive unit for my forney.

[Anonymous]

Take your time. Yes of course 'do it' but before you do anything try and get to a few garden railways and see what other people have done. You will probably find out what you really want, or at least what you don't want.

It doesn't take long to really get started. I began August last year. So far...



and



and



or



or even



Whatever you do, have lots of fun doing it.

Matthew [bow]

[ttrigg]

QUOTE: Originally posted by tangerine-jack


Tough questions all, perhaps you should ask "how long is a piece of string?" might be easier to answer.

TJ that's a very simple question, and the correct answer is: twice as long as from the middle to either end!

[Anonymous]

Hey, Matthew, that is one cool looking cow! I like your trains too.

[Anonymous]

Thanks DryHeat Dan. (oops, tough name)[:I]

I suppose the sheer amount of cartoon characters one sees all over the place has made an impact on how I make the population and livestock on my line.

Matthew. [bow]

[Anonymous]

You have been given a lot of pretty good info but also some of it is rubbish.

I have my own direction and many people go the way i am going; but many more do not want to go that way and everyone is entitled to their opinion. I like the civil and electronic part of things; i also like to have control all over the layout. For my type of versatile layout, their is no real way for me to go except LGB MTS but not everyone thinks this way; and you may well not lean this way either. I am hopeless at making rolling stock and i can't be bothered kit bashing but that may not be you. I think sticking to scale as a do all and end all, is pretty pointless and is viewed in this part of the world as "rivet counting" and a pointless excercise but many think differently.

So really you need to make up your own mind and the only advice i can give you is to go slowly and don't have too many pre ideas, as they may not be what you want as you get further into it; and you will certainl;y change your mind as you go!


Rgds Ian

PS take the advice; enjoy what you are doing or don't do it.

[Anonymous]

The best advice I could give you is to decide what are you interested in. Do you like modern big trains, or small logging lines, or what (there are a bunch of options here). Then what do you plan to do with the trains once you are done: Do you want to turn them on and sit back and watch them run, or do you want to actively participate and spot cars at locations. Do you want to run mult. trains at one time? Are you more interested in the whimsical, accuracy to era/detail, or run what you like.
If you are far enough along in this hobby these questions may make sence, if not that is ok to, but they will help you tailor what you want and how we respond, and pondering these questions may help you determine what you want to buy/build & how to do it.
As a basic example a logging line will more commonly have steeper grade & curves, while a modern RR will have very little grade and broad curves, and the layout you build for either will look entirely different.

But back to your original question, which you may or maynot have found an answer to. 45mm track ( also known as G, or #1 guage) track is the main outdoor track used. LGB, USA trains, Aristo, Accucraft, MTH, & large scale Bachmann (& and some others MFGers) all run on this track. This equipment and the solid rail track (that would be excluding Bachmann, and some other MFGers track which are hollow in the middle of the rail ) are designed to run outdoors and generally can handle the UV rays (sunlight without damaging it). Although storage of equipment unprotected outdoors is not recomended. Can any other gauge track be used, YES, but they are less commonly used outdoors (although several people on this site use other gauges). One would need to be more selective and more informed as to what, track/ equipment to buy (some will deteriorate outdoors, due to being unprotected (sunlight/rain/etc)), as they are designed for indoor running.
So the answer to the track question is, pick a guage that suits you, once that is detirmined, all equipment designed for that guage track will run on that track.
Next: Batt vs track power is a very big topic and I recomend you reseach the forums on that one as I am under the impression that it may be equally split on that topic. The main conseration there is ability to, pay for, wire up (or pay someone to do it for you) a batt powered ( and willing to charge it), vs willing to clean track and maybe wire up blocks, or buy a DCC system. This area can be very complex. No matter what you choose, one can always change there mind later.
Good luck

[Anonymous]

I had so much trouble to start with using LGB MTS you could nearly write a book about it, In retrospect i am convinced it was the people and not the euipment and again not a word against these people, more LGB didn't train them properly and the operating instructions are virtually impossible to follow.

However now three years down the track i have had no trouble in all that time and I am getting some wonderful refinments even the most avid supporter of analogue layouts, battery and remore control are admitting that i certainly have something special now.

So if you wi***o go MTS, decide as early as you can, thus avoiding buying stuff you may not be bothered using later on.


Rgds Ian

[John Busby]

Hi matthew
Any chance of a drawing of your guards van and little halt[:D].
I asume your railway is nominaly 16mm scale
regards John

[Anonymous]

John, pics in an Email that you should have seen by now.

My railway is indeed 16mm to the foot. Now doesn't that sound funny metric to imp.!

I go by the 1:19 scale as a general benchmark, though I'm not all that bothered a few mil either way. Some of my figures are a bit taller than others, with big heads. They look fine to me though.

Matthew.[bow]

[Anonymous]

hackmo

I am starting out with garden trains as well - my progress so far is a little 1/32 0-4-0 and a Bachmann 4-4-0 that I bought on eBay (I am waiting for it to arrive)

I have a O scale (ON30) railroad in the back room I would think you would lose O scale trains in the garden - but it can be used in one of the graden Railroad mags a guy had his O scale layout running through a garden in a greenhouse/patio garden...

my general advice is think about whether you like running trains and making layouts (indoor or outdoor) or whether you want to build an accurate prototype railroad. If the latter then scale really shouldn't matter ie - today I am running a 1:29 diesel - tomorrow a 1:22 steam - obviously track gauge does matter....45mm is what a lot of outdoor trains run on.

If you want a prototypical layout - find a manufacturer who makes the prototype you like and then you can stick with that scale......

Me I just like running trains -
for instance I mainly run ON30 indoors but I also have a couple of HO trains for my son (they run on the same track and cost less $$) and my brother gave me an N scale Japanese Bullet Train so I also have a loop of N track - - if I like a locomotive (and I have the $$) I will buy it....in terms of scale I am building my indoor layout to 1:48 scale for buildings and bridges etc...I guess on some days the local "Miniature Railroad Group" (HO trains) has right of way -

For outdoors I have a 1:20.3 and 1:32 locos
I will probably go for somewhere around 1:24 as there seems to be alot of stuff available in this scale for Dolls Houses. Or I will just go with what looks right at the time...

can't help with track power - I have looked at it myself - and have way up the expense of batteries versus the convenience - hard to know the $$ for battery set up could be spent on more track or roolng stock...then I read an article where someone is using remote control from cheap toy R/C cars to run his trains so...more research needed : )

have fun with

cheers
David

[Anonymous]

Cool photos.

[Anonymous]

I am also just getting my garden line up and running again. My motive power is a Hartland 4-4-0, which is just plain beautifull if you like pre 1900 colorful trains, which were prototypical back then. While I would love to have one of the Bachmann scale 4-4-0's in the Eureka and Palisides colors, my garden railway will not allow the curve radius that these locomotives require, so the shorter Hartland one will suffice. It still looks good as long as you match the cars to the locomotive. There are so many different scales that make up G scale its mind bogling. Even one manufacture can have two different scales within thier own line, Aristcraft is one, they have their standard stuff, the diesels and the Mikado, but then they have thier old timer stuff, ie C-16 and the reissue delton stuff. The old delton stuff, kalamazoo stuff and of coarse the Hartland trains stuff all fit my scale. Model whatever you like and what makes you happy. Thats whats important. Cheers Mike

[Anonymous]

Yes of course consider hte space available and how you are going to have your layout as certain rolling stock may not run it too well.

Rgds ian

[Anonymous]

Hi Go for LGB track its the best R3 curves as a min big loco`s do not run on R1 Have your points electric and controlled this saves running all over the garden As to how you wi***o control your locos I use the Crest train engr

[Anonymous]

John mate;

You have no idea what your talking about when you said LGB track is the best, why do you say that?

I reckon Aristo is better than LGB but our club track is the best i have used. they are better because they have better alloy content than LGB. ie more zinc and less copper, making them harder and less liable to oxidise. Something is lost in conductivity but not enough to be noticed.

However i do not like Aristo joiners, the idea of a little screw looks good at first but as you go down the track the joiners get dirt in them and develop a high resistance joint. They have to be removed and cleaned out and when this happens i remove then altogether and clean the rail thoroughly and using an LGB joiner i then solder the whole thning and bingo no more trouble.


Rgds Ian

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by John Busby

Hi matthew
Any chance of a drawing of your guards van and little halt[:D].
I asume your railway is nominaly 16mm scale
regards John

[Anonymous]

[Hi Dave (dmp99 6 May 2006)

I notice you are building a garden railway in 1:48 scale because there are dollshouse accessories in this scale. I'm living in United Kindom and am building 1:24 and 1:48 dollshouses, the latter I beleive is very popular in USA. I'm trying to locate a supplier/suppliers of indoor and outdoor 1:48 accessories. If you have any contacts will you please let me know?

Good luck with your garden railway. You obviously have the perfect weather for it. Here in Northern ireland it tries to rain 366 days a year!

Many thanks,

Shane (www.hylandparkminiatures.com due online in June 2006)

[Tom The Brat]

The screws aren't a problem. You just have to stand on your head, look through the wrong part of your glasses, hold your breath, learn a new vocabulary... [:-,]

[Anonymous]

You got that right, Tom. The ol' eyes ain't what they used to be. [|)]

In searching through the archived posts, however, I happened on some recommendations about using a little petroleum jelly to get the screw to stick to the little screwdriver until you can get it into the hole in the track. That and a magnifying glass made things MUCH easier, a lot quicker, and a whole lot less frustrating! [:)] I also liked the super glue idea but I don't have enough screwdrivers yet to make it practical.

Dan

[Tom The Brat]

I like a school glue stick[;)]

[Anonymous]

Hmmm. It DOES taste like the old first grade paste.

[Tom The Brat]

And it's like a "Pushup" instead of a bowl of ice cream[:D]