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Hello from Scotland


Moo
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Hello All..

I'm from Ayrshire in the West of Scotland.

Looking at constructing a garden railway but had thought about O gauge or G gauge however O is quite pricey and G i think will be too big for my size of garden.

I have quite a lot of OO gauge however it is from a time when Hornby's zero 1 was being introduced!! So I havnt been near model railways for a long time.

Now to the main issues do users on this forum think that I could achieve an outside layout bearing in mind my lack of experience?

And will a OO gauge stand up to a scottish summer or generally a summer tsunami ?

Martin 

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Hi Martin, good to hear from you.

Most members here had little or no prior experience when they started their own garden railway so I wouldn't let that deter you from doing so. There are lots of tips here on the best ways of going about it and lots of stories of things that went wrong. There are no hard and fast rules really, it all comes down to what you want and what suits you best.

I've had some really enjoyable times with my own garden railways and I'm still enjoying it after almost 11 years. I was warned that OO was too small for an outdoor layout but I would certainly disagree. If you get the build right to begin with then there's nothing stopping you running OO gauge outdoors successfully and reliably. It's taken me a few attempts but I do feel as if I'm getting there now!

The weather is a consideration of course and in your part of the UK, as beautiful as it is you're going to see higher annual rainfall than we do further south but lets face it, if it's raining then you're not going to be running O gauge or even G outdoors either. If you want to see lengthy trains meandering through the garden then OO is the way to go but if you're looking for something less expansive then perhaps a larger scale might suit you better. Again, you'll have an idea of what you want to do.

2 hours ago, Moo said:

...And will a OO gauge stand up to a scottish summer or generally a summer tsunami ?..

Build it right and it will stand up to the worst the weather can throw at it. You don't have to worry about the track but make sure that what you place the track on can withstand the extremes.

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Just now, mick said:

Hi Martin, good to hear from you.

Most members here had little or no prior experience when they started their own garden railway so I wouldn't let that deter you from doing so. There are lots of tips here on the best ways of going about it and lots of stories of things that went wrong. There are no hard and fast rules really, it all comes down to what you want and what suits you best.

I've had some really enjoyable times with my own garden railways and I'm still enjoying it after almost 11 years. I was warned that OO was too small for an outdoor layout but I would certainly disagree. If you get the build right to begin with then there's nothing stopping you running OO gauge outdoors successfully and reliably. It's taken me a few attempts but I do feel as if I'm getting there now!

The weather is a consideration of course and in your part of the UK, as beautiful as it is you're going to see higher annual rainfall than we do further south but lets face it, if it's raining then you're not going to be running O gauge or even G outdoors either. If you want to see lengthy trains meandering through the garden then OO is the way to go but if you're looking for something less expansive then perhaps a larger scale might suit you better. Again, you'll have an idea of what you want to do.

Build it right and it will stand up to the worst the weather can throw at it. You don't have to worry about the track but make sure that what you place the track on can withstand the extremes.

Cheers Mick...

Will take my time deciding on a layout and then will hopefully get on with it in the spring.

M

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Hi Martin,

Welcome. I have three pieces of advice.

First, find a railway on here that you like the look of and shamelessly copy it. If the member is still active, ask them questions on how they went about things. That will save you a lot of time as you try and workout how to waterproof, power etc.

Second. Start with a shed, as big as you can get away with. Having somewhere to run trains out of is very convenient.

Third. Recognise that nearly every thing you build in the first year will probably be ripped up and rebuilt by the end of year 4. Even copying others you will still be learning a huge amount as you go. Your techniques will improve with experience and you figure out what survives outside and what doesn't. Don't worry about this. In fact try and use it as motivation to crack on and get it done rather than procrastinating over getting it perfect. You can't do perfect outside.

Anyway. Here's a photo of the network rail train on Amblethorpe the day the track was lifted to allow original baseboard to be totally replaced. That board lasted 3 years. The boards I installed in year 2 are still strong and sturdy 8 years later.

IMG_0182.thumb.jpeg.018aa9986e35f0b06872a4efb21a89f8.jpeg

cheers

chris

 

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  • 1 year later...

@MooHow did it go?! I see it's been 18 months now... can't believe Covid-19 has been around this long.

Anyway, I'm just up the road from you in sunny Neilston/Uplawmoor, and am considering the same. I see a lot of the layouts are from further south, and the weather is a worry for me. I'm on a hillside and can see Ailsa Craig, the East end of Glasgow, and Tinto Hill all from the same window - so you can imagine how windswept it is here.

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