I am starting a garden railroad in the summer and have been planing all winter and now I’m starting to think about what transformer/power pack to get. I have a Lionel transformer that came with a Thomas the tank train set I got when I was a kid and a few old bachmann transformers, which will obviously not be enough power. My railroad is rather small, at about 75 feet. I am not running DCC, mainly because of the combined cost of the DCC controller and the engines. Although I have of course fantasied about a fancy DCC setup which of course is way out of my price range. I am planning to extend the railroad in the future. Will probably double the length it is now. Thanks.
-Model Trains And Railfanning
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCJ9BLPXTEpi785ppPX7yLuQ
You'll probably find more knowledgeable folks on the Kalmbach forum devoted specifically to garden railroading:
http://cs.trains.com/grw/f/91.aspx
Layout Design GalleryLayout Design Special Interest Group
Count yourself lucky if that power pack from the Lionel Thomas still works. I got that for my oldest son when he was 4, and within a couple of days it literally melted into the floor. Luckily Thomas doesn;t draw much power so I had others to use.
The nice thing about large scale is it's plenty big enough to use on-board battery power, which is great since you don't have to worry about cleaning the track. The garden railroading forum here that Byron mentioned will most likely be of much more help in this venture.
--Randy
Modeling the Reading Railroad in the 1950's
Visit my web site at www.readingeastpenn.com for construction updates, DCC Info, and more.
As previously mentioned, you will get more knowledgeable responses on the garden railways forum. However, things move quite slow over there, it isn’t as active as the MR forums, so expect to have to wait a while for a response.
Battery power may be something you want to look into. Outdoor railroads get dirty very quickly, and cleaning them is very difficult. Battery will also make it very easy to expand, no wiring necessary.
Regards, Isaac
I model my railroad and you model yours! I model my way and you model yours!
Here are some links to look through. One should be about a power pack for Garden Railroads.
Remember, DCC requirers perfect clean track. Slightes interuption and the decoder resets. Nature of the beast.
https://familygardentrains.com/primer/budget.htm
[ur]https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garden_railway[/url]
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoPLJpAklb4
https://kalmbachhobbystore.com/catalog/garden-railroading
Rich
If you ever fall over in public, pick yourself up and say “sorry it’s been a while since I inhabited a body.” And just walk away.
We've played with the idea of a "garden" railroad. If it ever happens, it will be powered by something other than power from the track.
I haven't looked at, or researched anything, yet.
Mike.
My You Tube
There are many You Tube videos to play with. Battery power seems to be the way to go. Batteries are evolving.