HO in the Garden

[metroman]

Hi,
I have had a 45mm gauge garden railway for over two years now. I have the bright idea of building an HO layout in the Garden, using Peco Nickel Silver track, and controlled from the garden shed. Has anyone ever done this? and what problems there may be. Thanks.
Martin

[MTA]

Hello Martin,

Firstly, welcome to the forum.

Many people have built OO/HO lines in their gardens.

One thing though is that they really tend to be 'fair weather' railways as rain and the wind in scale terms would be hurricanes and tsunamis to such a small line! Another problem is keeping the track clean and keeping it clear of leaves.

There is an issue of Model Rail which describes the construction of a OO garden line, I'll see if I can track down the issue number for you

All the Best,
Si

[SillyBilly]

http://gardenrails.myfreeforum.org/about710.html
This member is a 00 Garden modeller, it would be worth going on his website.

[MuzTrem]

If you want to run 16.5mm gauge in the garden, Paul Barnard would be a good person to talk to. He has an extensive 00 garden layout which was featured on The Railway Monthly. He's a professional garden railway builder (he built the MVR!), so I'm sure you'll be able to find his contact details somewhere...if you can't, drop me a PM and I'll see if I can help.

[ptlrcecil]

First off welcome to the forum.
second off. I would imagine that small bits off debris that the larger scales dont notice would become an issue in point work. Also the track cleaning would probably become an issue and a chore.

[mhlr]

Yeah, it would get rather tedious I would imagine clearing it all everytime you want a run... but I suppose if you have it in a area without many trees bushes etc it may be ok.

[ian]

As I model 00 in the garden I can forsee problems. Mainly leaves and any other debri that fall across the line, as this normally causes derailments. Cleaning the track can be a bother but if you run everyday (weather permitting) then there is not a problem. The weather this year has not been kind to those who model in 00/H0 in the garden so speaking from personal experience I have done about 8 hours running outside throught the whole of this year and I won't be running anymore this year outside. Too cold wet and windy for me.

Ian