Outside trains: Bad idea?

I have done it before using. As long as the weather stay nice everything should be ok. And don't leave it out overnight.

Nice video, John. So what did your wife have to say about converting the deck to a train room? 

Bill

Not bad at all, in a few years when we get to landscaping our back yard I plan to add a loop of track around the garden to run some trains.  Just haven't decided if I will go O gauge or G scale.  

"G" gauge would be better for outside applications. The rolling stock and track is built for the humid conditions and there is room for it. I have seen "O" gauge layouts built outside but you will need to use stainless steal track or perhaps nickle-silver or you will end up with a rusted mess. In addition our equipment is not built for it what with all the steal wheels and other metal parts. Yes I know you would only run them when the weather is good but you can be suprised how humid it can be at ground level on a nice day.

 

Al

Some further ideas on the topic are here

http://www.btcomm.com/trains/p.../o_gauge_outside.htm

Bill,
If you use care and I know you will it'll be alright. shame to have such a nice day and not be able to at least run something. Long as you bring the stuff in at night it'll be fine . Have fun.
David

For me: YES!

BANDOB,

Why not mount some track on a 4' X 8' sheet of plywood? That way it would be easy to move out of the elements at night.

God Bless,

Pappy

TCA TTOS

Bear in mind that the plastics used in O gauge trains are not UV-resistant like those found in most G gauge products.

Why not!?!  I'd pickup a couple arm loads of track and start layin.The Atlas nickle-silver holds up just fine - and I got a couple Williams engines that love the feel of a wide open straight-away!

 

I have a pretty sizeable deck ("L" shaped, 50x16 on the long leg, and 28x12 on the short) and every Fourth of July I set up enough track to run the whole distance. Got a great nephew who mans the controls - then its bbq ribs and fireworks.

 

Has he run it off the rails? Once or twice. Did it skin it up a bit? Just a smudge. And its all oiled up and ready again for this year.

As a teenager I had a 4x8 sheet of plywood with the track and switches screwed down.  It was a figure 8 and was a lot of fun.  When I wanted to run, I set it up on a couple of saw horses in the back yard, wired up the transformer, placed my train and other "layout stuff" and I was good to go.  When I was done, I boxed everything up that wasn't screwed down and either leaned the layout against a tree or slid it into the garage.  I think that is a great way to enjoy your trains.

 

Regards,

Eric S.

Saline, MI

Nice video John, looked like a lot of fun

 

THANKS,ALEX

We live in a 1926 Bungalow with a large covered front porch (it covers the whole front of the house and has a concrete floor).  I've swept it off well before and set up a loop of fastrack on it and ran some trains.  It is fun to do, and there's less chance of getting stuff sucked into the mechanism than if you were setting it up on grass or something like that.

Absolutely......before I had an indoor layout, I would pull the ping pong table outside and run!

 

Peter

 

When I was growing up the kid next store had a couple of F units and we had track.  In the summer time we would set up on our driveway and run all summer.  Great fun!  Great memories!  Old tube track needed some maint! Both dads would park in the other driveway.  Russ

funny that you posted that up, i was working my way down reading the post and was going to post that link. you beat me to it. some Great infromation on their, from what kind of track works best, to keeping your plastics from fading. i must of spent an hour or two just looking though there...

 

i'm lucky enough to have a small room for my trains.... no layout just a ceiling loop... dont think i could convince my wife to set up a garden layout...

I've run a battery remote "G" set in a flowerbed for 7 years, and the plastic track has stayed outside though 6 PA winters. With battery sets you have no electrical considerations to worry about. My current train is a Lionel Hogwarts set that I got at York for $45.

In the early 1990's, I had a permanent Standard Gauge garden railroad.  Absolutely not problems running outdoors.

 

All of the trains did come in at night, though (as did the buildings and signals).

 

I do miss that railroad!

Two coolers of beer..............nice!

In the 60's My brother and I often laid about a hundred feet of track in the yard and ran trains for days.  Where we lived it rarely rained and we could leave the track out. We had track circling the entire house and a small yard as well. all manual switches back then. 2 engines, a Scout and the Santa Fe classic. I preferred the Steamer, he preferred the Diesel.

We powered the track from the uphill side (a  3 or 4 % grade) so there was enough voltage on the far side (downhill) to keep going at good speed.

 

So I say ! GO FOR IT.

I just wish I had enough yard to bother.

The decks spoken about in this thread are bigger than my yard...