duckdoggerI have been doing HO outside since 2008. I have used both flex ... code 83 track
I have been doing HO outside since 2008. The track is on wood framing just as I have done in basements but with the additional step of priming and a high quality exterior latex paint. I have used both flex and hand laid code 83 track. Likewise I have used hand laid and factory made turnouts.
The challenge for me has been UV which I control with a thin, double sided, radiant heat barrier product available from HD. Weather does not impact the hydrocal and plaster cloth scenery but it does render elaborate hand made trees frustrating. Ballast is adhered with a glue solution but not Elmer's. I use Tite Bond III which dries waterproof.
Needless to say, I move the DCC components and locos inside during rainy weather and I do not operate when the days go above 100 degrees.
Here is a video of a guy who has both O and HO running outdoors.
watch?v=nJLmZEWZLnc
Jim
OOPS wrong year. There is an article on it in the September 1964 issue of MR. You might get a copy and check it out as the author had solved a number of problems.
Good luck
Paul
Many years ago I saw a picture of an outdoor HO layout that was built in the 30's or 40's (possibly early 50's). There was an inside portion in the garage along one wall where the trains were staged / stored when not in use. The out door portion ran on shelf attached to a board fence. There was a loop at the end to turn the trains. I don't know how it was powered or what the ties were made of or how they were painted, treated, etc. But it's doable.
I assume there is some reason for not going with O or G. But I would use one of those if at all possible.
You might want to check out the Garden Railways forum for ideas that might be usable in HO.
I believe Peco of England makes UV resistant HO track for outdoor use, but I know of no one in the U.S. who sells it.
HO rolling stock, as you already mentioned, is very light weight and can easily be blown off the track by a slight gust of wind. Adding weight may help, but also cuts down on how long a train you can pull.
Years ago a friend of my fathers had an HO layout outdoors. Initially the track did not last long outdoors. He overcame the UV and other issues by coating the plastic ties in some sort of clear shellac. At first he spent hours with a paint brush and then he got smart and dipped them in a Shellac bath up to the railheads.
I was young so don't know all the details other than the layout was in the backyard for what seemed to be a number of years.
Another friend had 2' x 4' modules that he stored on the wall of his garage on a rack much the same way you see windshields stored in a Auto Glass shop. He would set as many or as few of the modules up in the garage, house, driveway or backyard as he wanted or could. In the summer with a long stretch of good weather ahead the whole layout went up in the backyard. Plastic painting tarps went over it at night or for the occasional shower.
As far as subroadbed, there are a lot of products out there that one could make use of. I would think forum members will come up with some good ideas.
In the winter he would have a module on a couple of TV tables in front of the couch and work on them while watching Hockey. Sometimes the wife let him have his way with her and he got to run the layout all through their smallish house for a few days at a time. Often a 12' x 8' area in the garage would have a few modules thrown together for the weekend.
If there is a will there is a way. Let us know how it works out.
Good luck.
Brent
"All of the world's problems are the result of the difference between how we think and how the world works."
I have seen pictures of garden RR in the UK that have the track installed on elevated plaforms, just like subroadbed on an inside RR. This would eliminate some of the dirt and weed encroachmnet.
OOH OOH, I just thought of something - you could have an attack of the ants just like in those old low budget movies from the 50s. Just add a bit of sugar and the attacking ants will come
George In Midcoast Maine, 'bout halfway up the Rockland branch
Yes, wind, pollens and other crud getting stuck on your tires and making them go thump-thump, and even water from rain or outright high humidity could take their tolls over time and make it less than fully satisfying. But, if you know all this going in, and running trains is really important to you, don't we all make allowances and....just do it?! The biggest worry is power connectivity, and it sounds like you have a work-around for that with batteries.
As for the ties, I have never seen an authority claiming that HO scale ties are UV resistant, and I highly doubt they are. They are not really meant for outdoor use for 99.99% of all users, so there's no market call for it. However, to get the same effect, I would paint the ties with an exterior grade acrylic of a suitable colour. I would NOT use ballast, not even unglued, because it will quickly become a repository for all the crud that doesn't stay up on the rails...most of which won't. You will want to hose off your rails, literally, once a week to keep them clean. How you'll keep them from moving around is another matter. Perhaps good old track nails on a sealed cookie-cutter style roadbed will have to do.
I would opt for hand-laid turnouts. Those with hinges and over-centre springs will not last long outdoors in my opinion, although they might just last longer than I think they will. No. 8 turnouts with painted PCB ties and longish/unhinged points rails should work fine indefinitely.
Crandell
I think I have to do this due to downsizing and the fact that I like to have long mainline runs. There is some evidence of some outdoor OO (in the UK). I will be running deadrail (Battery powered and radio controlled) to circumvent the difficulties of traditonal power distribution and associated train control. So, beyond the normal garden railroad issue of keeping junk off the rails, I have two primary concerns. One is the weight of rolling stock. Although it is not terribly windy here (usually), it seems like rolling stock should be more heavily weighted to keep them on the rails. Also, I'm led to believe most of the G gauge equipment has UV inhibitors to preserve the plastic. So, I wonder if there is a treatment I can use to protect from UV, or a paint choice that will achieve the same ends.
Mike