00 gauge points outdoors

[Trev]

I have started a 00 gauge outdoors railway which will be a two line oval in DCC. I have thought about joining the two lines with points, but am not sure about how well points would work outside with the dirt etc. has anyone tried points in 00 outside? If so, do they work well and do you have any problems? I am using Peco code 100 lines and could anyone recommend Peco points for outdoor DCC.

Attached is a photo of the current development of the track.

 

Trev

[Oldddudders]

Points are points. They work equally well indoors or out - but be prepared to do a bit more maintenance outdoors, removing garden detritus, oxidised deposits and so on. Sitting in ponded water is also unlikely to help their conductivity in the way you are used to. Elsewhere I know of a lady who has a very large OO layout outdoors and has run it successfully for many years - subject to weather conditions on the day. Peco Electrofrog points are generally recommended for DCC layouts, and these benefit from a bit of modification. This chap's notes at http://www.brian-lambert.co.uk/DCC.htm# are well worth reading and absorbing. He posts on RMWeb, by the way.

[Trev]

Points are points. They work equally well indoors or out - but be prepared to do a bit more maintenance outdoors, removing garden detritus, oxidised deposits and so on. Sitting in ponded water is also unlikely to help their conductivity in the way you are used to. Elsewhere I know of a lady who has a very large OO layout outdoors and has run it successfully for many years - subject to weather conditions on the day. Peco Electrofrog points are generally recommended for DCC layouts, and these benefit from a bit of modification. This chap's notes at http://www.brian-lam....co.uk/DCC.htm# are well worth reading and absorbing. He posts on RMWeb, by the way.

 

Hi Ian

Thanks for your help and I will probably go for the electrofrog points.

Regards

Trev

[johnteal]

Dont have the OO outdoors now but when I did I had quite a few points all peco setrack.

 

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

 

 

With you using DCC it makes life easier as you can solder bridging wires so you dont have to depend on the point blades transfering power into the tracks, everything is live.

 

 

John

[AMJ]

If you have never seen it Google "Don Jones minature New Street" as this layout was built in the back garden in Sutton Coldfield. There were various articles in magazines about this over the years. Unfortunately Don took his last train journey the other year. I think that Jim S-W might have known him. See http://www.hpw-railway.org.uk/news/Newsletters/HPW2009_MAR.pdf

 

He built covers to protect the track from leaves rubbish etc and these would be removed before operating. You need to make covers animal proof or the small furry ones will find it a nice place to live.

[Trev]

Thanks everyone for your help and input.

As recommended, I went for Peco code 100 track and Electrofrog points which work a treat.

The project has developed quite a bit since the last photo.

You can see some video on Youtube at

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QasIoS0nhVI[/media]

 

Hope you enjoy

Trev

[TonyK]

I'm very slowly building an outdoor test track and have had a couple of Peco points down for two years which are worked manually. The blade hold over springs have corroded but they still work as the friction in their movement seems to have increased.

 

Tony

[totonlover]

I'm looking to build a Garden Railway, with the intention of running scale length trains, some neigh on 20feet long

 

It looks like people are using decking wood to lay track on, does anyone know if hardwood is worth the premium of paying the extra for?

 

 I'm looking to run (eventually) a 250ft dog bone layout with runs into my garage. The track will be laid around the perimeter of my long (100 ft x 60 ft) "L" shaped garden.

 

The track will be placed on staggered railway sleepers laid on their sides hopefully showing the rail chair indents to create a "brick effect". The sleepers will be laid 2 high creating a low wall to keep the track out of harms way and creating a boundary round the garden.

 

This will give the wall of sleepers a height of around 20 inches, I then plan to top the sleepers with decking board (not sure if hardwood is worth the premium or softwood will suffice) Then overlay the deck board with roofing felt to weatherproof it.

 

This seems to be how its generally done , but i'm all ears for advice from people who have built Garden Railways.

 

One problem i'm getting stuck with is I'm building a fiddle yard in the garage, its going to be built to one side against the wall to keep its footprint low, 3ft is the maximum reach for comfort, this allows for 15/16 running lines and a table top height of about 1m works well.

 

The problem this gives me is a differential in height between the garage and the running track in the garden, of about 50% or 500mm/20"

 

My only solution is to build a helix in the corner or the garden to get the levels corresponding, this would still be quite a project in itself dropping 500mm on a 5foot radius Helix.

 

I know the layout is Big but even so the difference is too big to make up the difference in levels.

[Jongudmund]

Couldn't you make the fiddle yard adjustable so you can run trains on and off it and then lift it up to do the fiddling? Be easier than a helix.

[Stevelewis]

For  what  it  is  worth  I  had  a  00 garden line  back in the  late  70s  which  lasted   for  4  years  before I found  larger  scales!

 

I used Peco  code 100  fleixible  track & points   which  worked  fine  provided regular  cleaning was  carried  out

 

The line  worked well  except  when  the  weather  was  frosty  or  it  snowed!!

 

I used to  regularly give  the  points a  spray of WD40  especially  when I was not  going to  use the line  for  a  few  days

 

I did use  additional  wiring 'around ' the points  to ensure  good current  continity  and  also fitted manual point levers  not  relying on the  Peco overcentre springs.

 

 

Theres  was  no DCC in those  days  ( we  wont of  course mention  Hornby  Zero 1!!!)    Digital  does  offer  a great advantage in that  you  have  full volts & amps in the  track  constantly

[Jenny Emily]

This thread has reminded me to go out and do some maintenance on the single Peco point that the garden section of my layout has. The Peco points hold up just fine, and the one I have out there has managed several years without any issues. All I do is oil the spring with some spare 5W30 synthetic engine oil that I have around half a gallon of left following mistakenly buying it for my Volvo nearly ten years ago (a note: older engines really don't like this stuff! The Volvo required another oil change within a month, and burnt a worrying amount of its sump contents on the sly, leaving a mess in the PCV system but lived happily ever after with the correct 10W40 oil in the sump). The spring is steel, and will otherwise rust away meaning the point will no longer latch if it fails completely.

 

The point never got motorised, as I was never happy with an adequate way of preventing the weather from getting into and destroying the PL10 motors. When the garden section gets rebuilt over the next few years, I will try and add quite a few extra points and motorise them somehow.

[Dan Griffin]

Sorry for resurrecting the topic, but i plan to use peco points outdoors, without motors. 
 

Can i ask do the wire springs that move with the blade rust at all? 
 

i’m not having point motors outside so need the wire springs to last. 

[faulcon1]

If using Peco points outside whether they be insulfrog or electrofrog the center spring needs to be protected for it's made of steel and easily rusts to the point (no pun intended) where it breaks. Although replacement springs are available from Peco they're an absolute to fit. So a thick grease that's compatible not only with the steel of the spring but also the type of plastic that Peco uses needs to be found to provide protection. But I'd still put a waterproof cover the points when the railway is not in use.    

[RJS1977]

My personal view would be to do everything you can to avoid points outdoors (have all sidings etc in a shed) and just leave the outdoor section for extending the run.

 

Not saying it can't be done, but even indoor points can cause enough problems at times!

[DCB]

The advice to avoid points outside is very sound, however I have some which had been in situ for over 20 years and the springs still worked, I don't think they were new when installed.  Some springs rust like fury others just don't sort of depends what spring steel Peco were able to get hold of cheap at the time,   What the outside points can't do is reliably conduct, I find frog switching essential and the blades need bonding at the pivot if you want to avoid dead blades.  I found the best way to switch the frogs outside was a reed switch and a magnet.     Our outside terminus has a cover, the rabbit hutch, which rarely gets removed and that has microswitches for point frog switching,  One has lasted several years but they do fail every now and again.    Electric point motors are difficult putting them under points outside isn't exactly recommended. by the side can work but I don't use them, the frequency with which we have to clean out the grass and general garden grit and stuff from the gaps between blades and stock rails makes motorising the points a bit pointless.  That is the thing about garden railways, they need a huge amount of maintenance when they get old, even when new a single blade of grass can derail a train or stop a point throwing.   Mine looks great where it runs at ground level but keeping it going is endless toil.