garden DC or DCC

[wales01man]

Hi,
Im thinking of a garden railway in oo for the next house the track lengh would be about 80 to 100 feet long continuous any opinions on which to use and any other advice .

tHanks in advance

[flying scotsman123]

I'd recommend DCC, for a start it would probably be more reliable as you have full power on all the time, so if the track was a little dirty it would be a bit more forgiving. points and trains could all be controlled from a walkabout controller or sat in a lounging chair. Beore you go any further though, have you considered G scale? it is designed to be more weather resistant and doesn't look quite so "lost" in full scale gardens IMO. British outline can be had providing you aren't averse to a little repainting and taking faces off of thomas the tank engine stock by Bachmann. If you do go for OO, whatever you do DO NOT buy the older steel rail, it's bad enough keeping it clean indoors, outdoors it will rust away pretty quickly!

[wales01man]

Thanks for reply I would love g scale but er indoors would kill me if I suggested spending that sort of money OO I
it would have to be and I got tons of it all nickel silver traik

[flying scotsman123]

Thanks for reply I would love g scale but er indoors would kill me if I suggested spending that sort of money OO I
it would have to be and I got tons of it all nickel silver traik

Ahh fair enough, loco wise it's not actually that different any more, but track definitely costs a bomb! I look forward to hearing about it in the future then?

[wales01man]

Will be starting next year on outside work I will make panels with track on that can be lifted and stored over winter I think external ply covered with a torched on roofing felt can be up to 8ft long got lots of ideas any more would be useful if you or anyone has any.

[Emettman]

Will be starting next year on outside work I will make panels with track on that can be lifted and stored over winter I think external ply covered with a torched on roofing felt can be up to 8ft long got lots of ideas any more would be useful if you or anyone has any.

Is this going to be ground or near-ground level, or raised, (a bit like a conventional layout with boards and legs, only outdoors?

I wouldn't have thought plain track sections would need to be lifted, though having lift-out sections for pointwork might be a different matter.
(Not least for posture if they need attention!)

Two materials that can be very economical and low maintenance: twinwall polycarbonate sheet, and square section drainpipe.
Here are both in use in the construction of my (cheapish) garden railway in G.
It's been an effective technique for 10 years in a previous garden and six in this one, compared to some more conventional approaches.



Chris.

[wales01man]

It will be raised running through a rockery I hope to have removable sections for easy safe storage my idea is to have a track bed onto which the sections will be placed .
maybe a channel shaped to match the line of the track filed with pea shingle onto which the boards lay the boards the track sit on are open to suggestions

[Emettman]

It will be raised running through a rockery I hope to have removable sections for easy safe storage my idea is to have a track bed onto which the sections will be placed .
maybe a channel shaped to match the line of the track filed with pea shingle onto which the boards lay the boards the track sit on are open to suggestions

We are talking a double-track line, principally?

In which case I'd definitely recommend the square downpipes as the lower stratum. It produces even gradients, or none, very quickly and easily.
(By putting the line in first, looking like a low viaduct, then raising the rockery up to it and around it. Levelling and truing that 12ft straight section of embankment trackbed in the photo took about fifteen minutes.minutes.)

Cosmetically, if just for winter, the brown colour pipes won't show much, or they can be given loose gravel for the winter, (Dysoned for re-use at the start of the season?) or maybe have strips of wheelie bin cover vinyl stickers of plants applied! (probably cheaper than gravel.)

I don't think out of the box so much as completely out of the asylum.
But my madness is remarkably sane. Honest.
Chris

[Mountain]

Rather then spending money buying plastic drainpipes, ask your local builders as they are always throwing the things when they replace them for new, and there seems to be nothing wrong with the old ones!

[Bufferstop]

Be careful of reclaimed plastic drain pipe, it looses its plasticity and becomes brittle.

[Tom@Crewe]

Or Radio Controlled

[Mountain]

I wouldn't use DCC in the garden. I would want to run trains in all weathers and damp DCC decoders are not a good plan.

[End2end]

Or Radio Controlled

This was my first thought but is this even possible in 00 gauge?
Thanks
End2end

[Buelligan]

Or Radio Controlled

This was my first thought but is this even possible in 00 gauge?
Thanks
End2end

Yes, I'm looking into it to make a track cleaning train for a garden layout. I've found a website that does RC stuff specifically for trains.

[Tom@Crewe]

http://www.micronradiocontrol.co.uk/rc_model_rail.html

https://www.hornby.com/us-en/forum/new-radio-control/?p=1

Have a look here