The white stuff

[TommyDodd]

Over the last few years, we haven't had that many really snowy winters, though it feels rather ironic typing that right now. For me, the opportunity to run and take photos in the snow is a rare treat and one to be taken full advantage of. I'd always been jealous of those of my fellow 16-millers organised enough to have built working ploughs in time to use them. Last christmas I finally managed it, had tremendous fun clearing the track the old-fashioned way and look forward to doing the same again this winter (score so far, 40 yards cleared, numerous derailments and 1 broken coupling). I just wondered what everyone else thought and did.

 

[Edited to correct a spelling mistake]

[James Hilton]

This is one of the things I'm looking forward to - and I love to look at others photos of garden railways in the snow. I hope to be able to build a line that has some photogenic sections designed specifically for enjoying taking photographs and cameos - so in the snow this will be loads of fun!

Got any to share yourself this time?

[chriswright03]

Well if you have as much snow there as we do in Caistor then you must have some really heavy duty stuff to move it all. I recall the last time we had snow as bad as this was in 1979 and I was in Gainsborough then. I agree with James though pictures we need pictures.

[DaveF]

Mine is not a garden railway but I couldn't resist the temptation to get a couple of 40+ year old 00 gauge models out of the loft and into the garden this afternoon. They are beginning to show their age though.

 

 

Somewhere on the Midland Railway

 

 

David

[DavidB-AU]

Just so what the prototype does!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ymA53JTom8

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbE0K6KEcY4

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqTeMCIR8_w

 

Cheers

David

[Pete Piszczek]

It has been a few years and my children aren't as keen to run trains in the snow as they once were...

 

The snow blowing train-

 

 

The turbo blower, an idea borrowed from the Great Western. Since I didn't have a smallish Rolls Royce jet engine I settled on commercial marine bilge blower with a nozzle, the jet of air is quite powerful, the flat car is capable of reaching escape velocities if not coupled to a locomotive.

 

[Talltim]

Any sort of plough would have just created a tunnel in the 2 foot of snow in my garden!

[brian daniels]

The garden line had a nice little covering of snow this morning, not too deep, just enough that it did not overpower the models. The diesels are all Heljan with the WD being an ex Jim Harris kit (or does he still do it?) The snow ploughs are etched kits from PRMRP.

[johnteal]

I ran last year

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=STKNLfh4E-s

 

 

But this year I left it too late and before I new it, the snow was too deep and I would have been tunnelling, not ploughing.

 

 

I have also found a standard plough is not so good after the snow has been down for a couple of days and frozen hard.

 

John

[Black Sheep]

Has anyone found any damage to the loco from running in the snow?

 

any rust or anything like that?

 

Thinking I might one day build a garden railway in 00 as i'm never going to have enough space to build an indoor layout.

[andyrush]

I don't run in the snow, but I do take photos. One usually ends up on my Christmas Card.

 

The first one has had the trees in the background deleted. The second has had some 'snow' added to the left of the railcar.

 

All the best for Christmes and the New Year.

 

Andy

[Pete Piszczek]

Has anyone found any damage to the loco from running in the snow?

 

any rust or anything like that?

 

Thinking I might one day build a garden railway in 00 as i'm never going to have enough space to build an indoor layout.

 

 

 

The springs Aristocraft uses on their older freight car bogies will rust. The locomotives from Aristo and USA Trains don't seem too bothered by the snow, especially if you are on battery power.

 

OO is too small to play in the snow with, IMO. Not enough mass to overcome the white stuff, part of the fun is pushing it aside...

 

 

[Wolf27]

00 will run in the snow

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WqjKiBTUrdo

 

cheers

 

Shane

[Welly]

Pardon me for reviving this old thread but I found this German video of a (Gauge 1?) garden railway in the snow and had to find somewhere to share it!. The snow was just the right depth and his locos has fitted sound!

 

http://youtu.be/1z7sBBMj0ik?list=UUCLkmUUDISGcOg8suH6k4hQ

[New Haven Neil]

As the man said - Chaaaarge!!

 

 

 

All cleared by steam power alone - no brushes of helping hands!

 

 

 

[PeterR]

Hi,

 

 

Here are a couple of photos , the first is my first scratchbuilt loco - number 69 and coach at the depot, and the second is the village with snow cover,  Brrr!

 

Yours peter.

 

 

 

 

[Satan's Goldfish]

Has anyone found any damage to the loco from running in the snow?

 

any rust or anything like that?

 

Thinking I might one day build a garden railway in 00 as i'm never going to have enough space to build an indoor layout.

 

7 years later with a reply....

 

No loco damage from when i've run in the snow (must have been 2010 last time that happened!), but it did damage an LGB carriage wheel, seperating the metal wheel from the plastic insulating part purely from the force of pulling the carriage through snow still between the tracks and the flange wanting to pull itself towards the centre of the track.

[artfull dodger]

Haven't built up the mount for my LGB butterfly plow yet.  But we get more "dusting" type snow along with brutal cold.  So when we get those dustings of snow that looks like a scale snow fall on the railway, out comes the live steam.  Cold weather running is magical, the plume just hangs above the train. Of coarse having a live steamer that will run well in the cold helps.  My Merlin Major with the gas tank directly above the boiler in the cab does just fine in cold weather.  I normally raise steam on the kitchen counter, then carry the engine to the railway and waiting train with oven mitts once ready.   Now only if I could tollerate the cold better!     Mike

[Titan]

7 years later with a reply....

 

No loco damage from when i've run in the snow (must have been 2010 last time that happened!), but it did damage an LGB carriage wheel, seperating the metal wheel from the plastic insulating part purely from the force of pulling the carriage through snow still between the tracks and the flange wanting to pull itself towards the centre of the track.

 

Did have some minor and unusual 'damage' - or at least a rather important bit fall off which could not possibly have happened in other circumstances. Meccano snowplow fitted to mamod flat wagon with a brick on it to keep it on the track.

 

Apologies for the aspect ratio being wrong - was alright until I uploaded it...

 

https://youtu.be/kKHpEKV6XFY?list=UUxm2edymrxeAyS9JAcFa3SQ

[Killian keane]

CHAARRGGEE!!! Two locos back to back, plough on each end, let the snow stop that!!!

[Dorkingian]

Here in the Dorking Rockies we don't actually run in the snow, just take pics:

 

 

Edited May 11, 2017 by Dorkingian

[Chris M]

 

https://youtu.be/mYFm3KOFmVA"]

Edited December 8, 2017 by Chris M

[Owd Bob]

Glad i'm not the only one who likes the White stuff and reverts back to childhood and likes to play in it every time it arrives.   Thanks for sharing. Cheers Mark.

[Chris M]

More playing today. Apologies for the choice of loco. Thomas was easily available and is quite tough and so suitable for this type of weather.

 

Edited December 9, 2017 by Chris M

[Phil Parker]

You know, a couple of pages on snow clearance would be nice in a future Garden Rail. Photos and words to phil.parker@warnersgroup.co.uk (Hint!)

 

Oh, and fitting sound in Thomas would be interesting as well.

Edited December 10, 2017 by Phil Parker