I’m thinking of building a patio layout with O-scale because I’m having so much fun with my Lionel Christmas layout and I want something for all year long. I don’t really want a garden train, mainly because of the cost and size of it and the patio is the only place I have room for a decent o-scale layout.
I plan on using tubular track and painting it with a good primer and then scrape off only enough to make a good electrical contact. I mentioned earlier in another thread that my Fastrack rusts in storage every year and I’m just amazed at how well it cleans up. I live in the desert so I’m not talking about the same kind of rust you get on the East Coast. This is very mild rust and if I paint it, the majority of the track will not rust.
The reason that I plan on doing it in tubular is because of the sand and dust that is always blowing through and since my patio is open to everything on 3 sides. I thought it would be better if the sand just fell through to the floor. Instead of the normal plywood platform, I’m going to cut ¼” plywood strips and mount two strips parallel on its side so that I can bend it to the curve of the track. This way the bottom will be open and everything will fall through the track. I have to sweep the patio every day anyway. It would be too hard to clean up if I were to use Fastrack.
Anyway, has any one painted their tubular track before?
It's fairly common to paint the center rail black, to make it less noticeable. There's no reason why you shouldn't be able to paint all the rails. Just remember to wipe the paint off the railheads before it dries. You don't want to have to sand or scrape it off, because that will take off the tin plating too.
Bob Nelson
lionelsoni Just remember to wipe the paint off the railheads before it dries. You don't want to have to sand or scrape it off, because that will take off the tin plating too.
Just remember to wipe the paint off the railheads before it dries. You don't want to have to sand or scrape it off, because that will take off the tin plating too.
Ok thanks, sounds like good advise. i forgot about the tin plating.
This probably doesn't help much, but I was curious to see what would happen when I put some MTH Realtrax outside in the Ohio elements. I only had it out there for 5 months. The plastic looks the same as a new piece. The rail has slightly tarnished. More of a dullness than anything else. Not sure what would happen after a year in the desert sun. I don't believe that the MTH solid rail can rust, so you should be able to clean up the rail pretty easy if it becomes a conductivity issue. The bottom of the rail looked stock with no tarnish. Hope that helps in your quest.
Wes
Wes Whitmore This probably doesn't help much, but I was curious to see what would happen when I put some MTH Realtrax outside in the Ohio elements. I only had it out there for 5 months. The plastic looks the same as a new piece. The rail has slightly tarnished. More of a dullness than anything else. Not sure what would happen after a year in the desert sun. I don't believe that the MTH solid rail can rust, so you should be able to clean up the rail pretty easy if it becomes a conductivity issue. The bottom of the rail looked stock with no tarnish. Hope that helps in your quest. Wes
The sun is brutal here. It rots away tires, windshield wipers and anything plastic or rubber. in fact you have to paint PVC and ABS pipe to keep it from damaging. Supposedly ABS tends to crack in freezing temps and warp in high temps, so I’m going to stick with steel for now, but I do want to know how well your track holds up in the cold. I see pickup trucks with those ABS toolboxes bent in half in the summer from the heat and I don’t see any in the winter. I always wondered if they just busted up into little pieces.
Fortunately I will have it protected from direct sun, but I still have to worry about reflected sun light. Tonight it will be in the 30’s and it gets up to 115˚F in the summer.
Anyway keep us posted as to how well your track holds up. Is it exposed to snow?
There are a number of outdoor O Guage railroads that use the Atlas 21st Century Nickle Silver track. I would have to see if I can find their weblinks, but to my knowledge no one has mentioned any problems with the track holding up to the elements. If you check out their site you will see that they even state that the track system is designed for outdoor use. http://www.atlaso.com/Also, have you considered installing screen panels? They too can reduce UV exposure.
lionroar88 There are a number of outdoor O Guage railroads that use the Atlas 21st Century Nickle Silver track. I would have to see if I can find their weblinks, but to my knowledge no one has mentioned any problems with the track holding up to the elements. If you check out their site you will see that they even state that the track system is designed for outdoor use. http://www.atlaso.com/Also, have you considered installing screen panels? They too can reduce UV exposure.
I need to take a drive someplace where I can actually see it up close. I’ve only seen photo of it.
Wes mentioned “solid rail” and I’ve been thinking about that. I will be fighting sand on the tracks and if there’s any oil, it’s going to stick causing the track to wear faster. I don’t know how long before I’ll have to replace the track, but it’s something to think about.
As far as the screen panels go, the wife and I have been thinking of buying those drop down patio shades for awhile now. We never got around to it because the patio is 15 x 30 and we have a lot of high wind to deal with. If I enclose it then it becomes another room and my taxes will go up.
Well its time for me to go to work, I’m going to have to pay for all this some how.
Building codes everywhere require exposed PVC plumbing to be painted for protection from ultraviolet light. The gray PVC used for electrical conduit is treated to resist ultraviolet light.
SleeperN06 lionroar88 There are a number of outdoor O Guage railroads that use the Atlas 21st Century Nickle Silver track. I would have to see if I can find their weblinks, but to my knowledge no one has mentioned any problems with the track holding up to the elements. If you check out their site you will see that they even state that the track system is designed for outdoor use. http://www.atlaso.com/Also, have you considered installing screen panels? They too can reduce UV exposure. I need to take a drive someplace where I can actually see it up close. I’ve only seen photo of it. Wes mentioned “solid rail” and I’ve been thinking about that. I will be fighting sand on the tracks and if there’s any oil, it’s going to stick causing the track to wear faster. I don’t know how long before I’ll have to replace the track, but it’s something to think about. As far as the screen panels go, the wife and I have been thinking of buying those drop down patio shades for awhile now. We never got around to it because the patio is 15 x 30 and we have a lot of high wind to deal with. If I enclose it then it becomes another room and my taxes will go up. Well its time for me to go to work, I’m going to have to pay for all this some how.
I bought one of those Atlas tracks and left it outside in the Florida sun and rain for about a year. It still looked good to me. Was thinking of doing an outdoors pike but it would have required too many lizard crossings.
Was wondering if the Lionel tubular has the same metal properties after all these years. Some of the old stuff is still in great condition.
lionroar88Not sure about CA, but here in MD a screened porch is just that and is not considered an extra room. So you may want to check your local tax authority to see about that.The Atlas track is solid rail. If you think you are going to have replace the track then I would highly recommend investing in a track cleaning car! You could put one as part of every train and you would never have to worry about a clean track...
When I bought my house, it came with a covered patio, but for shade only. The only problem was that the builder used 2x2 slats running from east to west, which gave me full sun all day long. A big waste of time and money.
The 1st thing I did was have a real roof installed over it. When I did this the question came up of screening it in and I was told that I needed to be careful, because there was a fine line between enclosed and open patio. I don’t remember the exact details and I could be mistaken, but I believe that at least 2 sides had to be completely open for it to be an open patio. Walls, doors, windows, and including screen panels were considered closed walls. After that, it was considered livable space and added to the sq. footage. Anyway I don’t know for sure, but that was what I was told.
Its not really a problem using the 6’ wide shades, I just have to remember to roll them up when the wind picks up.
hrin Was thinking of doing an outdoors pike but it would have required too many lizard crossings.
Was thinking of doing an outdoors pike but it would have required too many lizard crossings.
That’s really funny, last year I was thinking of building an oval track around my pond with a bridge crossing in front of my waterfall, then I started thinking about those fish jumping out of the water after mosquito’s and the birds getting water from the water fall. All could think about was bird crap all over my train and a fish landing on my tender.
Even indoor, some of us need to worry about wildlife. My layout is in the attic, and I have an occaisional visit from an O scale B-2 bomber - otherwise known as a brown bat.
Assuming you have a hi-rail layout if that bat is indeed to scale. Sorry but we will need the measurements of that B-2 Bomber.
8ntruck Even indoor, some of us need to worry about wildlife. My layout is in the attic, and I have an occaisional visit from an O scale B-2 bomber - otherwise known as a brown bat.
A few years back someone had a photo of a mouse building a nest in one of his Gondolas. The mouse jumped out when the train started to move.
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