New forum area

[johnteal]

Ah found more pictures, thank you, I see this set pre-dates the "turtle" incident !

 

I like the rubber rule too, I think in larger scales you can get away with a bit more but also there seems to be less stress about slight inaccuracies amongst garden railway owners, probably down to the acceptance rugged and resiliant is sometimes a more important feature of rolling stock ?

[Martino]

I agree - it seems (to me at least) that it's getting an impression of a scene rather than a completely accurate diorama. A fine scale indoor model (or even course scale) one is able to control the scenery, lighting, - everything in fact to create the model. Outdoors, you have to cope with out of scale scenery, weather, lighting, - everything (not to mention turtles) so it's the overall impression.

 

It doesn't matter if one train is running on metre guage (or three foot) and the next is on 2' , and the one after that on 4' 8½"- because the surroundings will adapt to either. It's your railway, so you can run what you like of course!

 

Rugged and resilient is of course also important - back to turtles again!

 

More photos on the turtle thread.....

[Gwiwer]

Some superb images starting to appear now in this topic which is a real pleasure to see. I concur with the opinion that rugged and reliable beats rivet-perfect precision outside but that said I have been amazed at just how well standard "indoor" items have coped outdoors on my layout.

 

I use Peco Streamline code 100 track which has never given a significant problem other than of my own making. Two minor heat buckles only occurred because the earlier lengths were pinned at wide intervals. Despite recording rail-head temperatures above 50C trains continue to run. One junction is exposed to full sunlight for a couple of hours a day in summer which does cause occasional reliability problems when changing the route due to the high expansion involved. The Peco expansion joint track sections work exactly as the real thing does and do the job superbly.

 

I use Metcalfe, Vollmer and Faller card for structures which are all on wood frames but which generally give few problems. Some fading on some print runs is evident however that will occur indoors as well though perhaps not as quickly. Differential expansion of the card against the wood has given rise to some large gaps in summer but few have required remedial attention once the weather cools down. The main controller is an Australian-model Morley Vortrak which has an inbuilt cooling fan and has performed faultlessly. For powering accessories including platform lighting I use a couple of cheap Hornby controllers which are only in use for an hour or so at a time and usually after dark so heat isn't an issue.

 

I run trains in all weather conditions which have ranged from tropical intensity storms to the heat of summer when the air can be 45C in the shade. The track gets dirty much faster than it would indoors but being on DC I am able to use the ultrasonic Gaugemaster cleaning units along with the regular travels of the Dapol track cleaner and wiping as required with Isopropyl Alcohol. In general trains run well though there have always been some low power spots and for which I have never determined a cause let alone a solution. I find that the better the model the better it runs; Bachmann, Heljan and recent Hornby usually run very smoothly but Lima and older Hornby can be rather reluctant. That seems to be related to the back-to-back dimensions of the wheels rather than the location.

 

The layout was started five years ago with the major construction over the period 2007-8 and is still very much "in progress". A few weather-related modifications have been needed along with some replacement of the greenery but on the whole everything is standing up extremely well in the outdoor environment.

[johnteal]

Well its took us a couple of months but there seems to be a fair bit of interesting posting going on here in the outdoor corner of the forum, although I havent got an active thread as such within the Outdoor section I have been active in the garden. Being an RMWeb blogger I tend to do all my updates there rather than create duplication.

 

http://www.rmweb.co.uk/community/index.php?app=blog&module=display&section=blog&blogid=323&

 

Mainly stock building with some videos of outdoor action like this one

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bdHw8zKYqMw

 

 

John

[James Hilton]

I hope to share progress on my 'little' big project in the new year I'm starting out with LGB with a freelance nature but hoping to capture some of the character of the Welshpool and Llanfair Electric via the track to start with (what I'm used to with OO). Should be fun (and expensive!)

[andyrush]

Is 1930's ish fairly freelance Swiss metre gauge allowed ?

[James Hilton]

Lovely Andy - where can we see more?

[andyrush]

A seasonal view, slightly photoshopped (last years Christmas card!)

 

Plenty of pics to be found at:

http://ftp.uktrainsim.com/viewtopic.php?f=115&t=94179

http://ronfisher2.fotopic.net/c1752182.html

[James Hilton]

Andy that is truly incredible - absolutely breath taking - some would strive for his indoors and this is in the garden! I can't begin to imagine how long you've been working on this project but if I can achieve anywhere this level of atmosphere I'll be chuffed to bits! Thanks for sharing! I've passed the links on to my father - as our project is a last 'father son' (and granddaughter if my 3 year old comes along for the ride) project!

[andyrush]

James

 

Thank you for your kind comments. My co-builder, John Dunford, and I started the layout in 2004 and it was substantially complete by the summer of 2005. Since then there have been a few additions (dummy overhead wiring, air operated signalling etc) as well as the inevitable maintenance inherent in an outdoor model railway - but it beats gardening! Next spring will see a revamp of the garden terminus, Carolstadt, involving the provision of a loco depot and a gravel loading plant.

 

We run regular Operating Days from roughly the end of April through to the end of September and you would be welcome to come along if you wanted to make the trek from Macclesfield. There is a fairly regularly updated thread on the 'G Scale Central' site which gives details of the dates and other chit chat, or you could drop me an email and I'll put you on the Ruschbahn circulation list. The same goes for anyone else who is interested in playing with big trains....

 

Now it's back to fitting Cobalt point motors to the 'winter' model railway!

 

Andy

rush_andy@hotmail.com

[PeterR]

Hi All,

 

I am the builder of my outdoor railroad - which is of the 1880's Colorado Narrow gauge, or my version of it!

 

I used to model EM gauge (c.1910) but with the increasing march of Anno Domini, and a new and larger garden + retirement, it was decided that the garden could be be utilized for it, and then Sycamore Creek division of the DSP&PRR (totally ficticious) has taken a good deal of my time ever since..

 

Most of it is scratch built (bar some locos) but some locos have been built both on commercial chassis, with the latest being a scratch built chassis.

 

The first loco I built in FN3 scale (15mm to the foot) was a Denver South Park & Pacific RR mogul on a modified Bachmann 4 6 0 chassis, whilst I was waiting for bits from the USA, for my favourite loco, which is a Mason Bogie; that was finally built is I have attached a photo of it. The web was crucial to this (and some others) loco as the designer lives in Australia, many parts are from the USA. and bits for China, and encouragement from the world in general! Now a larger version (a 2 8 6T) is being built between making some buildings and rolling stock as well.

 

As I am retired I have plenty of time which is utilized!

 

Here is a photo of the first Mason Bogie ' number 12 - Como, and a second photo of a couple of my buildings - they still need transfers which is what the temporary lettering is for! For the buildings I use both plastic corrugated sheet or PVC solid foam sheet and they stay out in the winter, this winter managed to virtually cover them with snow!

 

 

 

 

Yours Peter.

[Happy Hippo]

I suppose I ought to show what I've done so far.

 

The layout is an ex exhibition layout I built with a friend that is now slowly rotting away outside in it's retirement.

 

The scale is 1:13.7 (7/8"=1')

 

 

Regards

 

Richard

[James Hilton]

Chaps - all lovely layouts... can I ask anyone interested to join the 'Outdoors' group now, and also consider starting a stand alone thread for your layout or sending me a link to an external forum thread, blog or website. I'm trying to put together a directory of railways to help entice new-comers that stumble upon this section of the forum.