Temporary/Removable OO Gauge Garden Railway?

[Binky]

I'm considering building something in OO gauge for my rear courtyard and due to the shape of the courtyard, location of doors and shrubs, and the fact that most of it is concreted I'm thinking some kind of modular system that can be laid on the concrete and packed away in the garage could be the answer.

 

Has anyone done something similar to this? Any ideas or advice?

Thanks

[RJS1977]

Are you thinking of something that gets put out in the morning of a nice day, and put away later in the day (effectively an indoor layout set up outdoors?), or something a little more weatherproof that can be left out for days or even weeks at a time but isn't a permanent fixture?

 

[Binky]

13 hours ago, RJS1977 said:

Are you thinking of something that gets put out in the morning of a nice day, and put away later in the day (effectively an indoor layout set up outdoors?), or something a little more weatherproof that can be left out for days or even weeks at a time but isn't a permanent fixture?

 

I'm thinking of something that can be put out on the morning of a nice day and maybe left out during good weather, but rather than an indoor layout that can be moved and set up outdoors (like an exhibition layout) I was thinking of maybe a series of planks/scaffold boards or similarly shaped baseboards with track on them which can be joined together to make a large circuit around the courtyard. Not as scenic and complex as an exhibition style modular layout, just lengths of track on 6" wide planks or similar, some straight sections and some angled at the ends to make curves for each corner.

 

My main concerns are the robustness of OO gauge track and fishplates on a system that might be assembled and put away again several times over a summer, and how it may work on a ground surface that I can't guarantee is 100% flat to the millimetre. These would both probably be less of an issue in a larger scale and gauge but as I already have stock in OO, O-16.5 and Gn15 I'd like to build something I can run my current collection on rather than starting from scratch in another gauge.

[stewartingram]

Much the same as our club test track then, a big circle with 5 tracks, complete with legs. Stored in a shed and brought in;  Admittedly the clubroom but could go outside, and quickly erected. No fishplates, just track soldered down at baseboard edges, and inter-baseboard plugs & sockets.

Edited June 22, 2023 by stewartingram

[Steven B]

13 hours ago, Binky said:

My main concerns are the robustness of OO gauge track and fishplates on a system that might be assembled and put away again several times over a summer, and how it may work on a ground surface that I can't guarantee is 100% flat to the millimetre.

 

Have a look at Kato Unitrack. Whilst most common in N Gauge, Kato does a range in OO/HO - think Peco  or Hornby set-track but with a molded ballast base and more robust track joiners. It's designed to be put together and taken appart on a regular basis.

 

Bachmann EZ Track, Fleischmann Profi-track and Roco Geoline are all the same but different.

 

 

Steven B

[DCB]

Scaffolding planks sounds good, something really solid.  My garden branch, high level, approx 4ft from the ground with solid boards around 1" thick and 6" approx wide laid flat, might be 8" I haven't measured, anyway primed, painted etc new timber from Wickes/ B&Q / Homebase maybe 12 years old now and this summer they have twisted out of stra9ght, out of flat and have a series of 1 in 20 ups and downs and the track displaced 30mm sideways, Its has been getting worse for years but this is truly exceptional.
Scaffolding planks sounds great.  I would not join the tracks over the joints with fishplates, I would overlap the board ends so one drops onto the other, like a lifting flap landing.  rather than butting together. Car to trailer sockets are cheapish , quickly detachable and very readily available  for contact. The ground moves, as you will find so the supports need to be adjustable to retain alignment.   If scaffold boards are too heavy drill loads of lightening holes in them, It will need significant time to set up if its a decent size, less if its ground level, but probably prohibitively lengthy if trestles are used,   Mark every piece so the right part can be assembled in th right order.    I have built Triang Super 4 layouts on the patio at a holiday let, 30 foot by 10 ish, which is fun ,  an hour to set up 15 minutes to dismantle, the robust Triang track is ideal for this.

The previous garden line is built on dry stone walls and under the garden in water pipes and across paths on the level by chipping out a trench laying the track and cementing it in place.   Its great but the cement short circuits the track so the locos have to be battery powered.....   
There is an old April  Railway Modeller with an article about a long straight model railway laid on a beach to replicate the line across the Nullabor Plain in Australia.  April.   Still it might provide inspiration if you could fins a copy.  the track cleaning vacuum cleaner idescribed is just like Dapol produced 30 years later.. 

[dave75]

I've had a go , I wanted to test DCC in the garden. I use this product Metsa Gravel Board Green Wood Fence Board 2.4m (22 x 150 x 2400mm. They cost about £12 each.

 

I've built two sections as run round loops, cut one of the boards at 45 degrees to give me curves. My construction skills are not great so I use fishplates on the joints to keep the track in line and my idea was each section could be fastened to each other but it's not turned out like that. I will put some photos up next time it comes out of the garage. 

I choose the boards as they do have some protection against moisture so could be left outside for longer periods, they are rather splintery. 

I'm working on what connectors  I will use to feed power from one end to the other.

 

I've built a DCC setup to control it from an Arduino and a laptop computer.

 

 

Edited June 23, 2023 by dave75
Spelling

[RJS1977]

15 hours ago, DCB said:

There is an old April  Railway Modeller with an article about a long straight model railway laid on a beach to replicate the line across the Nullabor Plain in Australia.  April.   Still it might provide inspiration if you could fins a copy.  the track cleaning vacuum cleaner idescribed is just like Dapol produced 30 years later.. 

 

I cannot over emphasise that it was the April issue....

[Phil Parker]

If you are signed up to the World-of-Railways Newsletter, inspiration would have been found in yesterdays Garden Rail special - https://www.world-of-railways.co.uk/Techniques/build-a-railway-in-a-hole?postId=73b622b0-7e8c-4ebd-96b6-1912b490a529&utm_campaign=762837_GDR Newsletter Eshot 20 Jun 23&utm_medium=email&utm_source=dotdigital&dm_i=73DL,GCLX,ZUL2Y,21KMW,1

[Binky]

Thanks for all the replies, everyone.

I think rails soldered to a large, screwed down "sleeper" at each end and connecting plugs/sockets might be the way to go as per stewartingram's reply. Although I might think about building a couple of radio controlled locos especially for garden use and not power the track.

I have a while to think about it as the rear courtyard still needs to be transformed into a useable space. Unlike those shows on the television I doubt we'll be able to get it done in a weekend!

[dave75]

Here you go. Has another plank with a run round loop. The permanent way team need to realign in places but it's a start.

[Binky]

On 28/06/2023 at 17:19, dave75 said:

Here you go. Has another plank with a run round loop. The permanent way team need to realign in places but it's a start.

 

This is very much the sort of solution I was thinking of. Thanks for sharing the photos.