Easier to build 00 or g guage garden railway ?

gnerman · Post by **gnerman** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 5:56 pm

Totally new to this concept, ive got the videos and the magazines but im totally undecided which gauge to go for ?
The space available isnt a large space but one i could build either scale. Ive looked at 00 and i reckon depending on the models ( looking to use BR as my railway) im favouring this rather than G Gauge which i know doesnt cover the BR rolling stock. Can anyone point me in the right direction which would be the better gauge please

gnerman · Post by **gnerman** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 6:03 pm

Just following on,im pretty sure 00 is cheaper to purchase with all the accessories available,but wether its easier to construct i dont know
....

Sir Clothem Cap · Post by **Sir Clothem Cap** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 7:32 pm

oo in the garden has a few running problems. The track will need cleaning every running session and the smallest twig or leaf or creepy crawly may derail a train with ease. why not take the middle ground and consider O gauge 32mm. The peco sm32 flexi track is often available 2nd hand on ebay and there are many cheap battery engines as well as rolling stock in a gauge and a scale that compliments the garden.

If you forget track power as the only source and go for battery or even live steam it is hard to go back to "electric mice."

benchmark · Post by **benchmark** » Tue Aug 07, 2012 9:59 pm

I have both 00 gauge , G gauge and O gauges . Even though 00 gauge is possible outdoors, i will not recommend it for the reasons mentioned above amongst others. Gauge 1, G or O gauge are better sited for outdoors and leave 00 for indoors.

Pendo Pilot · Post by **Pendo Pilot** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 1:01 am

Agree with above, I did ground level 00 & it was a right pain. The smallest thing derailed stuff, wind blew stuff off & construction was a pain getting it all level & having to solder wire on every track joint as the fishplate electrical connection was not enough on it's own.

gnerman · Post by **gnerman** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 7:17 am

Thanks for the advice guys, i will stay clear of 00, just now trying to decide wether its g or 0 gauge....cant see much second hand on 0 scale online ...again many thanks

benchmark · Post by **benchmark** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 12:18 pm

gnerman:73620 wrote:Thanks for the advice guys, i will stay clear of 00, just now trying to decide wether its g or 0 gauge....cant see much second hand on 0 scale online ...again many thanks

Many locos are regaugable between O gauge (32mm) and G gauge (45mm) . The building for line side are more or less the same.

I can recommend Peco flexitrak code 200 which can be bought in both gauges.

sstjc · Post by **sstjc** » Wed Aug 08, 2012 12:27 pm

Just my couple of pence worth but quite a few people use standard 0 gauge track for 16mm. I think i'm right in saying (i'll be corrected if i'm wrong no doubt...) that many 16mm steam engines and much of the battery electric stuff will run on this. If that is the case you will have the choice of experimenting with both standard and narrow gauge stock.....

blue mountains · Post by **blue mountains** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 3:47 am

I have a high level line in OO and have found OO to be ok for outdoor operation. I use DCC radio throttles by NCE. I've constructed heavy duty baseboards out of treat pine and structural plywood and it's all painted. The post are 4x4 treat pine attached to galvanised steel stirrups which themselves are concreted into 600mm deep holes.
I use Peco code 100 streamline and set track straights.
All rail joints are bonded with 1mm solid copper wire.
On extremely windy days I don't operate, nor do I operate in the rain or when the temperature is over 35 degrees Celsius. For our very hot summers I've fitted hinged covers painted white so when the days get to 44-47 degrees the heat is repelled and the track is only warm. I've had great problems with parrot birds which chew anything and the covers help with that too.
I have found that people sometimes tend to use larger scale building techniques when building a OO scale line.
In this small scale you HAVE to build solid outside as it will save you a lot of heartache not to mention your bank balance.

bazzer42 · Post by **bazzer42** » Sun Mar 02, 2014 9:06 am

My experiences to date start with oo and then graduating to LGB 45mm outside. Even at that size the electrics can be temperamental so I have ended up moving to radio control electrics and live steam. I became increasingly dissatisfied with the european look of lgb and have discovered a whole range of British outline stock is actually available. I thought I was a diesel man but live steam is actually one of the best things you can do with your clothes on.
if I had my time again I would go 32mm running outside right from day one. There is a fantastic range of entry level stock that can be improved upon at your leisure and the cost can be cheaper than oo. I think it is how much imagination you have that matters not how much garden.

Si · Post by Si » Thu Mar 20, 2014 9:17 am

My 2p's worth - remember that OO doesn't have to be track powered. It is possible to do simple battery power, or battery and rc (a bit more expensive). You may have to mount the bats in the wagon or coach next to smaller locos.

The extension to my 14mm:ft (32mm) is going to be in Gn15 - so 16.5 mm track but with bigger bodied rolling stock so you can have more weight in it for better running.

As for the comment upthread - that you can run 16mm scale on O track, yep that's what I have (well 14mm rather than 16mm but virtually the same thing). I don't find that the 16mm flanges have any problems with the rail chairs although the point frogs needed a little fettling. But if you go for fine scale O wheelsets you need to get the track very flat on the bends!

andymctractor · Post by **andymctractor** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 10:41 am

bazzer42:97186 wrote:.
if I had my time again I would go 32mm running outside right from day one. There is a fantastic range of entry level stock that can be improved upon at your leisure and the cost can be cheaper than oo. I think it is how much imagination you have that matters not how much garden.

Take a look at 16mm/ft (1:19 ish scale), 32mm gauge track with either or both live steam or battery powered locos. OK this is tends to be narrow gauge. The price of locos and stock can be much more than OO but you get much more fun per axle.
Is that a new engineering/mathematical term? fun/axle

Good luck.

laurence703 · Post by **laurence703** » Thu Mar 20, 2014 6:56 pm

If you're going for G scale, take a look at the Thomas the Tank range that Bachmann do as they're making british outline stock. Wagons, Brake vans, coaches etc and there have been and are available, guides to convert them in to realistic models in the Garden rail mags.

doublecee · Post by **doublecee** » Fri Jun 27, 2014 9:35 am

I love my OO in the garden. I have no experience of the other scales, so I cant say anything either way about them.

A track clean isnt that big a drag, and twigs and insects are never an issue.

Heres some of my videos of OO in action.

http://vimeopro.com/palitoy/garden-railway

IrishPeter · Post by **IrishPeter** » Fri Jun 27, 2014 5:19 pm

I would tend to favour O gauge for standard gauge railways in the garden, especially if you are doing the BR diesel era, as the equipment can be quite large. Most six-axle diesel locomotives will be about 15"-18" long in 1:43, and the 64' BR Mk 1 carriages will be about 18" long. You will also probably need to rig up a bus wire for the track current if you go with track power.

To my mind, OO is just too light and too affected by the great outdoors to be anything other than a royal PITA unless you are in a very sheltered spot, and don't have a load of vegetable matter overhanging the proposed site of the railway. I find the trees in our yard drop a quite remark amount of detritus on the railway, and that said detritus is capable of derailing a 5lb, self-propelled, Ga.1 kettle if I forget to employ a leaf rake before running! However, what really kills OO in the garden for me is all those soldered joints!

However, if you want to run standard gauge outline live steam, I personally would advocate Ga. 1, though it probably more fun if you go coarse scale rather than fine scale. Fine scale, by definition, attracts rivet counters like flies to a fresh dog turd on a warm day. In Ga.1/1:32 scale the carriages can get pretty big - a BR Mk II is going to be 25"/636mm long. On the other hand, a 10' wheelbase goods wagon is going to be about 8" long in 1:32, and the old second or third string bogie carriages used on branch lines in the 1950s will be about 20" long.

Cheers,
Peter in AZ

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Easier to build 00 or g guage garden railway ?

Easier to build 00 or g guage garden railway ?

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