Garden Railway

[Masboroughlad]

IF...if I was to buy a house where a garden railway was a possibility.....

Never had a layout outside, only indoor baseboard layouts. Hope to have a garden where I can build a layout.

Where do you start with an outdoor layout? What track / underlay do you use? How do you stop the weather affecting it?

No idea where to begin, but keen to!

 

[142094]

Not sure if you can buy special track for the outdoors, otherwise I'd be using the cheapest track I could find as no doubt it will rust or tarnish.

 

[Newshy37]

I have built several "G scale" outdoor layouts (45mm track) which is designed for outdoor. Were you looking at "oo"?

I guess the infastucture would be the same though. I used Marine ply cut so shape and fastend to tanalised pegs driven into the ground, the scenery was then built back up to it. Some people use a concrete bed/ blocks and some people will just lay directly onto ballast (usually in a trough)

If you use top quality marine ply it will last 20yrs+, well, some of mine has. Have a look here http://www.gscalecentral.co.uk/ Tons of piccys and stuff to see for the hard of thinking.

 

[CC 72100]

Maybe this series on YouTube could come in handy? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qcMe1QKuEyQ

 

[CarltonA]

There is a specialist garden railway shop in Princes Risborough near the station. The track on sale appeared to use aluminium rails. Sorry, I don't have any of their contact details.

 

[fsmr]

my G scale LGB garden railway uses brass rails which dont corode. However nickel siler rail for 00 should last outside as well, but i would probably use DCC as the constant 15v ac will be more reliable than analogue 0-12vdc. Note however that whereas LGB locos are designed for some outside damp conditions, your prestine 00 bachman may not approve of it
On the subject of base board, you can buy concrete panel board such as Aqua board from wickes http://www.wickes.co.uk/invt/220561 etc designed for wet room floors and walls which can be cut to strips, screwed onto pegs in the ground and give a firm flat strong rotproof base for rails to be laid on or scenary
Marine ply as suggested is also good

 

[DXMachina]

I'd say outdoors OO calls for older stock - old triang, lima and wrenn/dublo locos (rewheeled if necessary, and repainting certainly will be) are far more resilient to poor conditions than i imagine modern stuff is.

 

[102 fan]

What scale are you thinking of using? I'm a 16MM NG modeller, any track for this scale, 32 or 45 MM is OK for outdoor use.