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Have been hoping to get a backyard O Gauge / Scale garden railway set up this summer. I have some Atlas track good for outdoors that I laid and used last year for the garden railway at a railway park with ride on mini rail trains running through the summer, the track worked well for several months laid on gravel. I also normally use the track each year for quick model railway show set ups and the Polar Express Christmas model train display event. Of course with none of this happening this year the track has been sitting here waiting to use. Was finally able to clear out some dead trees and brush to allow a large loop of track. I had some long skinny plywood sheets and 2x4 bits left over from an estate model railway I had taken down earlier in the year. So used some old left over paint on all the wood as you can see my helper painting. I laid some logs on stumps and screwed the painted wood and plywood on top with my little helpers pushing test trains around the track we managed to get a large loop set up with a loop of Atlas 0-81 track I had. I made sure I had a straight section between each curved piece of track and tried to use some half curve sections and long straights so that all the curves are very gradual. I am hoping to run some of my longer 2 rail scale passenger cars and bigger 2 rail brass steam engines. Perhaps in the future may look for some wider radius track for the 2 rail trains. I have a lot of 3 rail equipment as well and this set up should be good for some long trains to run. The property drops off at the back so elevated over the sections in the back of the bushes. The track as a very gradual slope down at the back of the bushes. My grandson most often likes to push trains not run them with electricity so it makes it easy to put a free rolling train at the top of the hill and give it a push and it rolls down through the more difficult part of the bushes.  After confirming the track set up worked OK, I got some green outdoor fake turf to help everything blend in and trust this will hold the track from shifting to allow it to expand and contract with the hotter or cold days; the track just sits on top to flex do not intend to screw it down. I have it wired to run 2 or 3 rail trains with a portable board with the controls systems mounted to it, just take it out and plug it in to run DC, DCS or TMCC trains.  I am debating if it is worth trying to find a good ballast material that will not wash away in the rain. Here is a shot of the first run with some Sunset RDC's. Will add more photos of some longer trains when I get them out for a run.

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Last edited by kj356
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Here are some more photos from some running today.  A Williams E8 3 rail pulling a CZ K-Line scale length passenger set with 2 rail scale wheels and couplers. A VIA Rail set I  custom painted some time back with a 2 Rail old Atlas dummy F7 A unit and a powered Williams F7B pulling MTH passenger cars. The Williams units are amazing pulling such long trains with only 1 engine up a slight grade to the lawn. I need to take a good run at it for the grade. Looking forward to spending more time relaxing outside running trains through the yard.

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WOW!  Great job!  O scale garden railroading remains very popular in the UK and has been for mamy many years.  A good friend of mine, the late Eddie Chambers (RIP) told me he had set up his Lionel O gauge, using GarGrave track in his mother's flower bed before he converted to HO.  He was a huge Katy fan and modeled the M-K-T on a shelf layout in his folk's garage.  This was about the same time I met him in 1961, when I lived in Farmers Branch, TX at the time, a few miles north of Dallas on I-35E. 

 

Last edited by Trinity River Bottoms Boomer

Here are some videos running trains this weekend. The Canadian Pacific Canadian train 2 powered engines Sunset 3rd Rail set 3 rail. C&O K-Line Locomotive and caboose with a variety of B&O and C&O cars. Rio Grande I custom painted the F9 A unit an old 1970's Atlas model removing the gears and motor and adding LED lights and speaker in a cardboard mailing tube to improve the sound. I used Tamiya spray paints misting on different yellow orange shades of paint till I got it close enough to the B unit. Use pin striping for the 5 stripes really hard to lay them straight and get the nose curves right and created the decals on my computer printing on a laser printer on waterslide decal paper.  Ran wires to the LionChief FT RG B unit was able to just plug into the board for the sound. Some of the freight cars I custom painted as well. 

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The BC Electric railway was a short line railway in the south west corner of British Columbia. It provided Interurban service through the valley and local freight. It later was renamed to BC Hydro Railway and much of the railway still remains now known as SRY Rail Link; Southern Railway of British Columbia. There are still many of the same engines and cabooses still in daily use from the early BC Hydro days of the 1960's. I have been wanting to build the special caboose and add some engines as I recall them and still see them operating. The Canadian Toy Train Association just released a model of the BC Hydro MP 15 engine a custom run through MTH. This in addition to several custom run freight cars they had done in the past for BC Electric makes for a nice train in need of a caboose. The cabooses were a custom design for the railway 7 were built again most still in service. Used for carrying crew at the end of a train for switching industries along the line. 

So to build the caboose I used Styrene sheets and strips, cut to size and windows. For the roof I used Vertical blind material that has a curve about the right shape for the roof. I had to build a jig to accurately make the angle cuts to match the unique cupola design.  The BC Hydro logos are from Microscale HO engine decal sheets.  I also repainted an old Lionel SW900 shell and old wood sided caboose from a resin kit. I took them for a ride on the garden railway.  Click on photos for a larger image.BCHpbcg1bcg2bcg3bcg4bcg5bcg6bcg7bcg8bcg9bcg10bcg11

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Last edited by kj356

Dewman51, I live in NE PA,  and we do have significant snow in the winter. That said, as per some instructions for simple outdoor layouts that I found online, I laid out my initial track plan, marked it and removed the track. I then trenched down about 4 inches, filled it with fine gravel for drainage, and then laid the track back in place. Once down, I ballasted the track with fine gravel. I placed flagstone blocks, partially buried near the tracks for station and building support. It’s been about five years now, and in the spring, I just reconnect track feeders, clean the track with alcohol and a light emory cloth and again with a clean cloth. It’s just like real railroad maintenance!
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My layout in the backyard is plywood sheets painted as shown and then fake grass on top. It is stacked on painted wood blocks and logs around the backyard. It is Atlas track connections stay together well has survived the winter a tiny bit of snow and lots of rain. Just sweep off the track and then occasionally need to run a track eraser over it then wipe with a clean cloth. Track works well.

@Artie-DL&W posted:

Dewman51, I live in NE PA,  and we do have significant snow in the winter. That said, as per some instructions for simple outdoor layouts that I found online, I laid out my initial track plan, marked it and removed the track. I then trenched down about 4 inches, filled it with fine gravel for drainage, and then laid the track back in place. Once down, I ballasted the track with fine gravel. I placed flagstone blocks, partially buried near the tracks for station and building support. It’s been about five years now, and in the spring, I just reconnect track feeders, clean the track with alcohol and a light emory cloth and again with a clean cloth. It’s just like real railroad maintenance!
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Very impressive!

In the photos above I show the yellow with red striped engines I painted for BC Hydro and the custom caboose.

I was thinking with the ice storms bringing down power lines in winter, and wind storms taking out power lines it would be good to have an emergency response train to quickly repair power lines. There are rail lines throughout B.C., in real life B.C. Hydro looks after power and power lines throughout the province. The BC Rail line runs a 1000 miles from south to north and CP and CN lines cover west to east. And the power lines and most cities are near the rail lines. So here is my fantasy creation of a B.C. Hydro emergency power line repair train.

The 3 powered engines represent most of the main types of engines that the railway has and can provide head end power for the passenger cars, a crew needs somewhere to travel and live in so I custom painted a diner and sleeper car for the crew, a flat car with power poles, gondola with cable reels of wire, some flat cars with trucks; carrying backhoe and tractor for lifting poles, trucks to carry poles and cable rolls, trucks to drill holes with screw drills and bucket trucks, some flagger trucks and trailers with warning lights, signs and cones, a emergency first aid response truck and caboose. I have a tank car I plan to paint up to carry fuel for the trucks and trains. Had  lots of fun building this fantasy train!

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OGR Publishing, Inc., 1310 Eastside Centre Ct, Suite 6, Mountain Home, AR 72653
800-980-OGRR (6477)
www.ogaugerr.com

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