How to go about railways in the Garden?

[Hrw-Amen]

Hello,

I am new to this forum and I have been reading several threads concerning railways in the garden.

I have come back to LEGO after many years away, (I had the old railway with blue tracks many years ago.) and wanted to get a train set. I see that nowadays they are remote control which seems like a good idea.

My problem is that I live in a small and already full house with no room for a layout even to be put up for a limited time. I have a small garden, (Very small.) and wondered if I could put a track around the outer wall. It is quite high (About 6 feet.) and brick built, I figured I could run a shelf along it just above ground level to put the track on.

However I see that in the sets there is not really that much track and it seems difficult to get hold of seperately unless I am looking in the wrong place? I was also wondering how the LEGO track holds up to the weather and what people do to protect it especially in winter? I would not keep the rolling stock outside except when I was using it, but it would be a real nuisance to have to keep taking up and relaying the track every time I wanted it.

I am living in the south of the UK. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Is there another manufacturer of track of the same gauage that people use which is more resilient to the out of doors climate in southern England?

Also, does anyone know what range the current LEGO remote controls have? My garden in only about 20 feet long by 15 feet wide so would they cover that area or is that too far?

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Edited April 10, 2011 by Hrw-Amen

[mikka says]

okay,

lego track is not too hard to find, but i do think a trip to ebay or bricklink to be nesscessary in your case.

with trains around outside...im not too sure, from what i can tell none of the track in production would be able to last outside for a definitive amount of time. so if you would like to run trains, your best bet would be to make your own wheatherproof track. apart from that, the trains should run just fine...

in response to your last comment, making a track layout is something that can be done time and time again but does become a little irritating. maybe even a ceiling layout. from what ive heard, these are brilliant for running trains..

hope this helps

Mikka

[greenmtvince]

Well here's someone who went about doing a LEGO garden railway: http://outsidebricks.blogspot.com/

Many Garden Railway enthusiasts handlay their own track. You could buy your rails, ties, and spikes and gauge it to LEGO wheelsets.

You could use ME models new aluminum rails. The ties are still ABS, so they're not sun durable though.

Alternately, if space is at a premium, have you considered doing a small/micro layout? When I was in Afghanistan, I did a 2x4' layout based on a real world location. The idea is doing switching (shunting where you are) rather than running trains around loops. An Inglenook Setup especially if you're doing small european frieght carriages would fit into a small space and provide a lot of fun.

[Dan-147]

If you really want to leave your track outside, you might as well use garden railway supplies. Code 250 rail is almost the same size as LEGO track. FREELug uses the aluminium track for their LGV (Ligne a Grande Vitesse) track where they run TGV models as fast as they can. See this article in French

Oversized image removed

Gauge 1 or G gauge is about 1,75 inches compared to LEGO's more or less 1,5 inches so you could not use G-gauge track sections or flex-track but you could hand-lay your track on treated wood ties (sleepers). That way, you could keep your LEGO track for a small indoor switching layout and/or for club layouts. Left outside, the aluminium track might not be the best option if you want to power your train from the track but it certainly wont be worse that LEGO plastic track. If you use Power Functions its a non issue.

If you choose to hand-lay your track, I would recommend a rail bender to make the curves

A nice side feature about the rail bender is that you won't be limited by LEGO's incredibly tight curves!!

These two pictures are from Sunset Valley Railroad's web site. You can order from their site but I don't know if they ship to the UK.

Edited August 8, 2011 by TheBrickster

[Brickimad]

If you leave even plastic track outside, not only does the winter degrade the plastic, the plastic is not fully UV stabilized. What would happen is that the plastic would crack and split in the sun, over a period of time. Probably it would be safe for a short time.

[Sir E Fullner]

Well, I am an expert on the Power Functions and RC range of trains. As long as your garden layout has no tunnels, I'd say that you're on the clear.

[JopieK]

Well, I am an expert on the Power Functions and RC range of trains. As long as your garden layout has no tunnels, I'd say that you're on the clear.

Oohw, but since you are an expert on it, you could also mention that it has a limited range, but... you could make IR extenders in tunnels etc.

[Legoless]

I think the instability of ABS in sunlight is overstated perhaps. ABS is used for vehicle bumpers (fenders in US-Speak) and mirror housings, as well as for other minor trim. I have had a succession of old cars that have been around the 15-year-old age range, and most of them have had unpainted or exposed areas of ABS trim parts.

Yes, unpainted ABS will certainly discolour in time. Black ABS will tend to go grey. However, although it does become increasingly brittle, it usually takes a hefty knock to crack ageing ABS. The only ABS part I've replaced in years was a Vauxhall Astra (aka Opel Kadett) wing mirror, which being a cheap-and-nasty General Motors product was fixed- wheras every other car on the market has spring-loaded mirrors to deflect on impact.

Since Lego track laid in the garden is not likely to suffer heavy impact (unless you drop something on it), I would expect it to last for maybe a couple of decades. You can always bring back the colour of ABS with a vehicle valetting product such as 'Back to Black'. And if you have (as you say) a brick wall round your garden you could always rotate the track pieces around so that it all ages at the same rate (ie moving track from sunny areas to shady).

More problematic would be protecting any external wiring (if any) as you don't want it being gnawed on by rodents!

[Pingles]

I am probably a year away from actually building my backyard layout but am definitely interested in hearing about people's experiences with outdoor tracks.

I have a nice expanse to work with and my yard is lined on one side with a chainlink fence along a river walkway, so I hope to make it elaborate enough to catch people's eyes as they walk.

Right now I am planning on standard Lego PF track but if it does not survive the elements well then I will start planning around that.

I live in Santa Cruz, CA (very few freezes, very few 85+ days) and my backyard receives a great deal of sunshine so sun-wear is an issue.

[Brickimad]

[quote name='

I have a nice expanse to work with and my yard is lined on one side with a chainlink fence along a river walkway, so I hope to make it elaborate enough to catch people's eyes as they walk.

Probably find some of your track missing, as people walk by, nicking it and all...

[roamingstop]

I found this whilst browsing

Lego trains in the garden.

[Snapshot]

Hello,

I am living in the south of the UK. Does anyone have any ideas or suggestions? Is there another manufacturer of track of the same gauage that people use which is more resilient to the out of doors climate in southern England?

Also, does anyone know what range the current LEGO remote controls have? My garden in only about 20 feet long by 15 feet wide so would they cover that area or is that too far?

Any suggestions would be welcome.

Which bit of the south? Hampshire is a hotbed of Lego train activity under the Brickish banner and, of course, we have the annual extravagnaza at the steam museum in Swindon.

I know from bitter experience that the range of the PF controller outside the home is at most a few feet. At shows, we're almost chasing the train to get it to respond to commands. PF is designed for indoor use where the signal bounces off walls and ceilings. Away from that environment it struggles.

Jonathan

[AussieJimbo]

The issue of poor IR performance outside is an interesting one. People report similar problems in big exhibition rooms. One of the guys at BrickExpo said he needed to be right on top of the train to get it to respond.

Given you can control trains from metres away in smaller interior locations, the signal itself must be able to travel several metres, particularly if it is bouncing off the wall before it gets to the receiver. I'm guessing the standard controller sends out signal all over the place by design to maximise the chance of reflections getting to the receiver.

Perhaps a solution for outdoor/exhibition rooms would be to scavenge a reflector from an old torch (flashlight) and fit this to the controller. This will produce a beam of IR light which might overcome the range issue at the cost of having to aim directly at the receiver.

:classic:

[Snapshot]

I believe part of the problem may be that the receiver is swamped by high ambient light so loses sensitivity. The friend who made the repeaters for my NXT-controlled train was confident that they'd cover the whole layout but they had a maximum range of a metre in the display area. Lets be honest - we're trying to stretch the use of IR control far beyond what it was designed for so we must expect some problems.

[Sokratesz]

I believe part of the problem may be that the receiver is swamped by high ambient light so loses sensitivity. The friend who made the repeaters for my NXT-controlled train was confident that they'd cover the whole layout but they had a maximum range of a metre in the display area. Lets be honest - we're trying to stretch the use of IR control far beyond what it was designed for so we must expect some problems.

I wish LEGO had foreseen this and used RF instead >.<

[I am Lego]

I wish LEGO had foreseen this and used RF instead >.<

That's all good and well in theory. But if you had a stronger signal (as in RF) at shows how would you stop interference from other clubs? I do realize that there are umpteen rf channels to use but i doubt that lego would have provided 200 of them for us. One must remember the target market they are aiming at .

[Snapshot]

That's all good and well in theory. But if you had a stronger signal (as in RF) at shows how would you stop interference from other clubs? I do realize that there are umpteen rf channels to use but i doubt that lego would have provided 200 of them for us. One must remember the target market they are aiming at .

Model aircraft clubs used to (may still) manage it by having a peg board - if you didn't have the peg for the frequency you were using you couldn't turn your transmitter on. These days many sets use the 2.4GHz band and auto-switch at high speed between frequencies which allegedly removes interference. Similarly, I have a camera remote control that works the same way, cost about £30 for receiver and transmitter and has a range of 100 metres. Autoswitching on 2.4GHz is the way to go IMHO.

[FelixTheCat]

Well, I am an expert on the Power Functions and RC range of trains. As long as your garden layout has no tunnels, I'd say that you're on the clear.

Don't the PF trains only require a signal to change what they are doing? ie, if they are running they will happily run anywhere, although you won't be able to speed it up or slow it down until it's within range of the transmitter.

[peterab]

One of the guys at BrickExpo said he needed to be right on top of the train to get it to respond.

That was probably me as I was the one most often running PF at BrickExpo. I was the long haired scruffy looking one :-). There was another guy running RC a bit though.

I've found one meter to be the limit for reliably getting a response from PF, though it will sometime respond up to a couple of meters away. A lot depends on the height of the ceilings.

[Hrw-Amen]

Which bit of the south? Hampshire is a hotbed of Lego train activity under the Brickish banner and, of course, we have the annual extravagnaza at the steam museum in Swindon.

I know from bitter experience that the range of the PF controller outside the home is at most a few feet. At shows, we're almost chasing the train to get it to respond to commands. PF is designed for indoor use where the signal bounces off walls and ceilings. Away from that environment it struggles.

Jonathan

I am in Dorset so not too far from Hampshire although I don't get over that way too much. Maybe a couple of times a year to Southampton.

I am not sure how the PF stuff will work, my garden is not that big and it is surrounded by a wall about 7 feet high on three sides and the house on the other. Generally it only about the size of my living room and kitchen combined so quite small and enclosed. Having said that obviously it does not have a ceiling.

Can I ask though, do the trains keep going once you have set them off, or do they reuire a constant signal to keep themselves powered? I mean if I set one going at a slowish speed would it just run around the circuit and come back to me or would it stop if it gets out of range?

I have just ordered my first train which I am going to put aside as something exciting for Christmas, so nothing is likely to happen until next spring/summer anyway, but I'd like to build my knowledge a little before embarking on anything.

Thanks.

[AndyC]

Can I ask though, do the trains keep going once you have set them off, or do they reuire a constant signal to keep themselves powered? I mean if I set one going at a slowish speed would it just run around the circuit and come back to me or would it stop if it gets out of range?

The trains will keep running at whatever speed you have it set to, the remote is only used to send a signal to change it's speed.

[Snapshot]

I am in Dorset so not too far from Hampshire although I don't get over that way too much. Maybe a couple of times a year to Southampton.

Thanks.

You must take a day to visit STEAM in Swindon on 1st or 2nd October for the Brickish annual show.

[Hrw-Amen]

You must take a day to visit STEAM in Swindon on 1st or 2nd October for the Brickish annual show.

Where actually is it, I could not see it mentioned on the website?

I am not sure that I can get to Swindon easily as I have some mobility issues and driving that distance would be hard going. Is there ever anything in Dorset itself.

[Snapshot]

It's here. Scroll down to 'The Great Western LEGO Show'.

I'm not aware of any Dorset-based events but there's always room for a new one.

Edited August 14, 2011 by Snapshot