Is it possible to set up a garden Railroad in HO scale and if so where could I obtain information on how to set this up?
Tony Koester wrote in an article about an HO garden rr in England
Its possible, but you will need to handlay your track, since HO ties are not UV resistant.
Dags
why not try the garden railways site they might b able to help
Gav
The only comment I will make is that having a garden railroad in the back yard (regular G) and HO in the basement, I think it would be very difficult to maintain an HO layout in the backyard. Size, plastics especially untreated for the rays of the sun, critters that crawl in the night and day, heavy rains, etc. are all factors that negate HO outdoors, including the already mentioned track not being treated either. I could see an HO layout outdoors on a patio perhaps that could be covered when not running, but I really don’t think it is worth the effort.
Bob
Try your question on Classic Toy Trains. There was/is a poster by the name of FJ&G (Dave) who was doing that very thing in the summer of 2006 if I recall correctly. If you pop in there and ask for him, you are likely to get some good pointers.
Actually you might want to try the Garden Railways site, or visit the AristoCraft forum at their website. I have seen the question raised there a few times over the last couple of years, and I believe the general thoughts were, “it would be more trouble than worth”. On the other hand, if you are interested in garden railroading, look at the Aristo and USA diesels and cars. They are quite well done, and the size of G gauge is easy to work with, even if a little clumsy at first.
But I still contend, after having had a garden railroad out back since 1989, that HO is just not practical for operation. O gauge is better suited. Power to the track is another consideration. I ended up using radio control with battery packs on board the diesels, something HO can’t support at this time.
Bob
This topic came up a couple of times last year on the Garden Railways forum, so you might try snooping around over there. The major problem is that HO scale track, rolling stock, and locomotives are not weatherproof or UV resistant, so nothing can be left outdoors.
If you’d like to see what can happen to an HO scale piece of rolling stock, take something you don’t cherish and put it outside in the sun for a month or so and see what’s left of it.
Some modelers in England have HO outdoors, but they also use a special (very expensive here) Peco track that has UV resistant plastic crossties (they call them ‘sleepers’).
I know some people in California that run O scale outdoors, but here again they have special track that is treated against sun and weather damage, and track is the only thing that is left outdoors when they are not operating.
Spray painting ties could offer some UV protection; (or paint with UV resistant paint.
However, I’d use thicker (deeper) wood ties (handlay track, code 100) and embedd in concrete. Atop this while concrete still wet put siften crusher fines from a quarry for your ballast.
Biggest problem would be ballast near rails derailing trains and when it rains, the ballast or dust settling on rails; the concrete would in effect give you a good weatherproof roadbed on which to place the HO tracks.
You can use electric or small R/C in locomotive or trailing battery car.
Most questions can be answered on garden RR forum
When I first moved to the dessicated desert I, too, had visions of building an HO empire in the walled-in back yard. As an experiment, I plunked a short length of Atlas code 100 flex on a 2x4 and stood a toy train set baby blue RI box car (yard sale refugee) on it, then set it on the 36" high retaining wall across the yard. That was on 21 July.
By 1 September, I had made the following observations:
- The paint was no longer blue on the sides exposed to the sun.
- The wind (which occasionally blows gale force) had blown the car over or off the end of the track several times.
- The flex was no longer in gauge since the ties had curled up in places.
- the 2x4, which had been straight (and was not new from the lumber yard) had bowed and twisted.
- The one time it rained, the drops hit with a force equivalent to a scale 500 pound bomb.
At that point I beat a strategic retreat to one stall of the 2-car garage. Later, my wife gave me her stall as well. My pickup and her RAV4 are a lot better able to handle raw nature than the trains are.
Chuck (modeling Central Japan in September, 1964 - indoors)
Could you tell me where to find this article?
See MR Sept 1964, page 42, “Outdoor HO? Why Not?” by James Sherrard.
You will probably need to contact MR Customer Service or the NMRA Library to get a copy made.
Have fun
I remmeber a while back in MR (some months), a guy in Australia(?) wrote in about his HO outdoor RR in the Railway Post Office section or something like that.