outdoor railway in northern climate

Get yourself a large supply of garden railroad magazines. I subscribed to them for a year and was very happy, as they in depth discussed battery or electric power, as well as great hints for maintaining your outdoor layout. Depending on location, how your track is laid, the kind of track, and the environment, (track on ground or elevated, under trees or direct sun etc) you should be able to make a very educated choice, possibly preventing buyers remorse of your outdoor set. I have often thought of an elevated O loop outside, but our mosquitos have carried away small children, so our's is not an ideal area...

http://personalweb.donet.com/~...tro2construction.htm

This is a link to an on line tutorial on getting started in garden railroading. I would not recommend using pressure treated wood as a base. It is made from yellow pine, and is subject to warping.

Battery power would be the best way to operate outdoors, for your stated reasons. This topic has been discussed on the forum several times, and there are several members who can guide you if that's the direction you go.

I am planning an O gauge layout in the back yard, and hopefully it will come to fruition in the spring. I too live in the northeast, and will be dealing with climate changes.

Good luck,

Don

If you decide to go with electrified track I highly recommend stainless steel track for ease of maintenance. More costly that brass but less issues. If you are going to run DCS, stay away from Aristocraft's switches. Unless modified, they have a deteriorating effect on the DCS signal.

I laid my track on directly on a bed of pea gravel about 11 years ago and do not have releveling issues. I'm in Northern Illinois....gets pretty cold out here!

joe

I set up a temporary loop when running outside. both loops took about 30 minutes to set up. when I am done, it gets put back in the box, weather is not an issue.

Love the layout John.  The skill in placing the scenery and other items is extraordinary! 

strategically placed coolers, never know when that thirst will kick in

Thanks for the replies. Rail, the link you suggested has some good ideas that I will consider. I am tending to wooden or steel posts, or maybe 6" gravel with a deck block on top, with a 2x3 holding the 2x6 stringer. I can then use cedar shims to level the stringers if there is movement over the winter. There will be at least 100ft of track on the layout. I may use cedar instead of pressure treated wood. I will have to do more research to see which holds up the best.

thanks: Joe K

I'd strongly second the recommendation of using stainless steel track. My son had a G gauge set-up in our yard on Long Island which consisted of a yard area and a 90' loop across the back of the yard.

Some thoughts:

Brass track tarnishes and must be cleaned frequently, a real pain if you are using track power.

Keep the layout away from tall trees and shrubs or you will spend hours picking up leaves 

If using track power, have lots of power drops. Solder wires. We used wire nuts and moisture got into them.

Have an adequate power supply.

Use buildings designed for outdoor use. In a year or two Mother Nature will take care of the weathering process.

We laid most of the track on gravel (crusher fines which we bought very inexpensively and carted in large pails) and there was some levelling in spring, but really not much. Metal rails screwed to wood which expands and contracts at a different rate didn't seem like a great idea over long distances.

Not pushing rails completely flush (1/16 inch gap at rail joints) allows for expansion in summer without kinking or raising rails.

As this will be an outdoor RR, expect that there will be more maintenance than with an indoor layout.

After a winter buried under snow and leaves the brass track was so dirty that the initial spring clean up often involved a light cleaning with a belt sander using a fine belt.

Once everything was cleaned up in spring, we enjoyed watching the trains run along the back of the yard beneath a tree and shrub canopy.

Joe K.

Here is a link to the G&O story on this forum that you may find helpful.  The G&O uses Atlas track for the 3-rail O gauge.  Most of the G gauge track is LGB brass.  

The O gauge uses Legacy, TMCC, DCS and conventional for control.  The G gauge is strictly DC conventional control and battery control.  Most of our G gauge people use track power.  

Link:  https://ogrforum.com/t.../the-gandamp-o-story

Joe

Joe:

It depends what you are looking for in an outdoor layout. If you are looking for just operation and keeping the frame work simple as I did or a full blown layout "outside".

I used PVC pipe for the uprights, a spline made from plastic lumber and pink foam insulation for the roadbed base. The track is just held in place with finishing nails. To me battery power is the only way to go. Yes you have to covert your engines over to batteries, but it is a lot easier then wiring a layout and maintaining it. It all depends what you want.

Operational layout:    

Or a full blown layout.

Ken