The end of an era

[GWR_fan]

After having my railway outdoors for over ten years a second short circuit today has left me convinced to dismantle the track. I just do not have the enthusiasm to suss out the problem. A house move in about two years means the track has to be dismantled at some time in the near future, so this setback has set my mind to crack on with the destruction. This afternoon I removed about one-third of the track, with the rest over the next few days. The difficult part will be re-establishing the yard back to something that a home buyer may want.

If interested my You-Tube account is Gscalenut.

[Lancastrian]

Such a shame but I do understand. Maybe after you have moved you can start again.

[GWR_fan]

My interest these days is in something more manageable ('OO' scale), plus indoors. The outdoor environment is very harsh on equipment. I had all stainless steel track plus quality wiring, but alas, time and the changing environment has interfered with the wiring. This is only the second time in ten years that an actual wiring issue has caused any problems. Last year a growing tree crushed the wiring loom causing a short circuit. This time all visible wiring seems intact but the wiring insulation may have broken down over time.

[Bigglesof266]

I feel like that about gliding these days Tim. I was recently enticed to think about buying and operating another sailplane, but decided = too much effort required versus my enthusiasm and energy now. Been there done that, so that bucket list item is well checked. I'll just trek off to Narromine for an 'all care no responsibility' much more more satisfying intense annual fix if the urge overtakes me.

OTOH, it's just nice to walk just a few steps to my train room, turn on the power and watch my trains circulate whilst I wake up with an espresso ristretto in one hand and my wi-fi NCE ProCab in the other. "For everything there is a season, a time for every activity under heaven..."

[Emettman]

This is only the second time in ten years that an actual wiring issue has caused any problems.

Yes it's not a bad way to go... I've never had wiring problems that were impossibly severe or frequent.

But if starting again today I'd seriously look at giving up on track power and going for battery power with radio control.
Both battery capacity and radio control technology have come a long way in the last ten years.


Chris

[GWR_fan]

Keiron and Chris,
yes, it was fun while it lasted but I am over it now. The railway has seen less and less usage over the past couple of years and its time has now come.

[GWR_fan]

After a hard two day slog all the track is up. The track will be onsold hopefully to both a friend and on evilbay. I hope to get about 10% of what I initially spent. G scale stainless steel track was not cheap and a limited market to onsell.

The hardest part will be removing all the track support infrastructure and then reclaiming the backyard to a saleable condition. I would rather get an early start than leaving it to the last minute in a year or so.

[Emettman]

After a hard two day slog all the track is up. The track will be onsold hopefully to both a friend and on evilbay. I hope to get about 10% of what I initially spent. G scale stainless steel track was not cheap and a limited market to onsell.

The hardest part will be removing all the track support infrastructure and then reclaiming the backyard to a saleable condition. I would rather get an early start than leaving it to the last minute in a year or so.

Well done.
If you ever go in the garden again, even for just a loop round a rockery or pond, I've twice used lightweight and easily removable substructure: low fuss to lay or remove.

Chris

[Bigglesof266]

Tim I've often toyed with the idea of an outdoor railway, but common sense always wins the internal debate. Endlessly battling the elements and Australian sun in saline coastal sub-tropical SEQ would render the occasional moments of visual splendour and joy moot.

[GWR_fan]

Keiron,
it was enjoyable the times that I used it but I just had to face the reality that a new home buyer would most likely not want to have an outdoor railway in their new yard. When I constructed it I used the best of materials to suit the outdoors, but even those over time deteriorate. The timber that has held up well I purchased as clear cedar. Clear indicating knot free timber. Basically western red cedar without knots that would weaken the timber. Treated pine just did not do the job, nor did the marine ply that had copious lashings of preservative followed by several coats of outdoor paint. The outdoors is a very, very hostile environment.

[fourtytwo]

I realize this is an old post, I hope you sold your home ok. Regarding short circuits, this is one reason I sectionalise a layout. I wonder what caused you short circuit, the most common cause I have is the mechanical point setting is not the same as the frog switch although in the larger gauges this is normally avoided by having the frog isolated from the switch blades. One reason I am commenting here is I am seriously thinking of large gauge outdoors and following several sadly deceased friends in that direction (so i do have some 2nd hand experience), another possibility is using modern electronics and building an analogue hall sensor probe to follow the current to locate the short
Sad you denuded yourself of garden running but as you say removing the infrastructure and restoring the yard to saleable quality had to take precedence.

[fourtytwo]

But if starting again today I'd seriously look at giving up on track power and going for battery power with radio control. Both battery capacity and radio control technology have come a long way in the last ten years.

Sorry I have to comment on that too particularly "battery capacity" as recent news stories have shown this has been at the expense of safety. I looked at this and in the end decided I did not want to risk destroying my models far less my shed and possible the house while they recharged inevitably untended.

Secondly radio control without considerable extra complexity makes automatic interlocking of points and signals very complex if one is so inclined. I don't want to emphasize the negative but these are two points I considered serious enough to scrap the idea of volt free tracks however initially attractive.

[End2end]

Sorry I have to comment on that too particularly "battery capacity" as recent news stories have shown this has been at the expense of safety.

I conur. A friend has got into the drone hobby and he has shown me some horrific videos of the volatile batteries exploding.

As for a garden railway......I wish
Thanks

[Emettman]

Sorry I have to comment on that too particularly "battery capacity" as recent news stories have shown this has been at the expense of safety.
.

I'm not ready to go to Lithium technology yes, and no need to if working in G scale with small trains...
(American length tracks and trains would be something else.

Secondly radio control without considerable extra complexity makes automatic interlocking of points and signals very complex if one is so inclined..

My entire layout is eleven points, only four of which need active control, the rest being spring-loaded.
That's proven to be enough to keep either one or two operators quite occupied.

Chris.

[fourtytwo]

Sorry I have to comment on that too particularly "battery capacity" as recent news stories have shown this has been at the expense of safety.
.

I'm not ready to go to Lithium technology yes, and no need to if working in G scale with small trains...
(American length tracks and trains would be something else.

Secondly radio control without considerable extra complexity makes automatic interlocking of points and signals very complex if one is so inclined..

My entire layout is eleven points, only four of which need active control, the rest being spring-loaded.
That's proven to be enough to keep either one or two operators quite occupied.

Chris.

Well of course the whole thing is rather comical because the next step up is real FIRE meaning STEAM! but as well all know I think when you turn off the burner it goes out...pop and thats it, 10 minutes later and its cold, no fire risk.......

Well Chris I was thinking of automatic block signalling (several trains following one another). I know sounds crazy in larger scales but I have seen it working in gauge 1 over several acres and implemented it in O gauge in an acre.