Big train Hymek in the garden

[18B]

Hi,

 

Possibly the wrong forum to ask this, (Admin please move to where appropriate if needed)

 

some where lost in the back of the garage are some "Big Train" track pieces, Hymek and carriages, my wondering is,

 

what is the radius of the curves they do and what's durability like when exposed to the ravages of British Weather, perhaps merely over the summer period before being taken up over the winter?

 

It's mainly an idea for the children in the garden, but would be nice for me too  

 

Edited 15 hours ago by 18B

 

[coronach]

I was brought up on a garden railway populated by Triang Big Big Train Hymeks !  The rolling stock is very robust - the main problem was wearing down of the plastic gears.

 

The curved track is about 2ft 6 radius I think.  We didn't use it in the garden.  It gets brittle after a time and the rail ends break.  The Y points are quite delicate.

[Ryde-on-time]

As above, my experience from using the track as a child was that it soon deteriorated when exposed to sunlight.

 

You could probably leave it out during winter but it would be best to protect it from the sun when not in use

[Sturminster_Newton]

The answer is to buy some of Mr. PECO's best smerty two set-track as the Hymek/Flyer is probably to coarse standards and the flanges will rattle on the ordinary fine scale set-track.

 

As for the Hymek put some 3-link couplers on it and paint it in two-tone green and you can drag a selection of Dapol O-gauge stock around quite comfortably for a few hours.

 

At stand off distances i.e across the garden the relative lack of fine detail is not an issue and won't get knocked off by handling at the end of playtime.