Hello all!
I know this may be a crazy idea, but hear me out. A few months ago I moved into a house where livable space is maximized, and I have no place for a layout, coming from a house with an unused sunroom where I had a small tabletop layout of American Flyer S Gauge and modern HO Gauge trains. One thing my current house does have, is a small but well landscaped yard. Now, I would love to build a garden railroad, but I don’t have the money to even begin investing in G Gauge trains and track. My question is, would there be anything special I would need to modify on my Flyer trains/track to make garden railroading with them even possible? My main concerns are with Flyer tinplate track holding up to the elements (I do live in SoCal so the weather is on the sunny, dry side with rain in the winter), and what kind of infrastructure I would need to make this kind of project possible.
Any advice would be appreciated.
I also live in SoCal. Where we are the air can be damp in the morning. I have seen an S gauge outdoor layout, basically all track, no buildings. The track was elevated off the ground. I cannot recommend Gilbert steel track for outdoor use, technically it is not tinplate. I would only use GarGraves stainless steel track for outdoors. American Models would probably work. Neither SHS nor Lionel S gauge FasTrack are suitable for outdoors.
All the equipment would need to be kept indoors.
Hi AVTrainz,
this question comes up from time to time, and for Lionel 0 gauge also. Many things are POSSIBLE, it could be done, However…you will expend much time and energy to adapt indoor trains to an outdoor environment. I looked into it, but being basically lazy, I decided to stay with the G, which is made for use outdoors.
Factors to consider:
UV from the sun, which can make some plastics crumble and fade
Moisture
Organic debris, which can get into exposed gears
On the other hand, Many have made it work. On You Tube, there is a poster with an outdoor elevated track with multiple gauges on it. One video shows an American Flyer 312 SIT and train running in the garden. Not impossible, but much more work than using G gauge trains and track.
Paul
I was originally thinking Gargraves too, as I would want flextrack anyway rather than sectional. I definitely would store all rolling stock indoors, and may try to come up with a way to have transformers shielded up in our patio.
@Road_Foreman_of_Engi, I agree on the UV issue, especially here. Maybe Gargraves would hold up, as Tom suggested? The issue of maintenance shouldn’t be too bad, I work on my trains frequently. Mainly I would try to make shields for exposed gears where possible.
Thanks for the tips guys!
Check the Gargraves website. Last year I was considering 3 rail 0 gauge outdoors, and I seem to recall Gargraves had some track with UV resistant ties. Not sure about S gauge. You could also hand lay track without too much trouble. I am here in SoCal also, UV is a big consideration. On my G gauge, the transformers are on a portable stand, and I just take the stand outside to operate.
Paul
The only GarGraves S gauge SS flex is #402. The SS sectional also is only made with wood ties. It would be simple to soak the ties with a preservative.
I’ll look into it. This project is still in the ideas phase, so I want to do all my research.
Tony, you should have felt that 5.2 below Julian. We felt it up here in Laguna Niguel.
I did. I’m in Fallbrook, so we’re an hour or so away. That was the biggest I’ve felt since I was a little kid. Anyone else here live close enough to feel it?
The Elsinore fault does not normally make the news. Good you had no damage.
It is. Thankfully God is good and we didn’t even have anything fall over in the house, and surprisingly in my exact location it was a 6.7!
Here’s an overview of my yard. Property lines are in blue. I I’m spitballing some ideas for a main line, and I drew out one idea in red. I don’t know exactly what I would do, because the yard slopes down from the back of the house to the dining area you can see in the back. Maybe have the line on the ground up front with the landscaping and then elevate it a bit where the ground drops (probably an embankment)? My goal would be continuous running with sidings and maybe a branch loop in the back yard.
I am just one person here and am not always right. If that were my lot and I was determined to do the Red Track Lines RR, I would retain a professional outdoor layout builder to design and install it. There is a lot of work involved and some key decisions on layout height, supports, drainage, wiring and voltage drop to be made.
If I had to build it myself I would design a simple oval that fits on the side yard with a few sidings. Then rent a post hole digger and put in posts to support the track plan at +2’ above the highest ground point. The width of the track boards on the posts can be varied to accommodate more parallel tracks. It looks to me that loop would be 90’ of track. I would then run it for a year to see what works prior to a phase 2 expansion into the back yard.
This brings up the turnout issue. No way Gilbert turnouts can be used outdoors. Fortunately GarGraves makes manual turnouts with SS rails. Track pins cannot be relied upon outdoors unless they are all soldered.
This approach would get the layout up and running with a managable amount of work and provide some key information about what works outdoors in S gauge.
That does sound like a good idea to me. I see what you’re saying about a loop in the side yard first, as that would be the easiest to build and maintain, as its level and wouldn’t need a boatload of work to make usable. Thanks for the advice Tom. This is all still in the paper phase, so I’m definitely not making anything firm yet. Just testing the waters.
I’m going to second that motion! Start small with an eye towards expanding. The Triple O is effectively two loops and some sidings, and it is all I can do to keep it in running order and presentable!
Eric