Family Garden Trains
Discussion Forums

Visit our Affiliated Pages:
Return to Family Garden Trains Home page
Garden Railroading Primer Articles: All about getting a Garden Railroad up and running well
Big Christmas Trains: Directory of Large Scale and O Scale trains with holiday themes
Return to Big Indoor Trains Home page
Building temporary and permanent railroads with big model trains
Best-loved railroad songs and the stories behind them.

It is currently Mon Nov 04, 2024 2:20 pm

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]




Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 
Author Message
PostPosted: Tue May 31, 2022 11:44 am 
Offline
Site Admin
User avatar

Joined: Wed Mar 12, 2014 9:13 am
Posts: 184
A reader writes:

1) I would like to know if I can really leave my trains outside without damage to them. Or do I need to bring them in every night? I would like to be able to leave these trains outside, even when I'm not running them.
2) Can these trains run outside during inclement weather?

------------------------------------------

Thanks for getting in touch. Most Large Scale equipment can run in the rain, but because the track is wet, you have to run very short trains - otherwise the drivers slip too much. I've even had slippage be an issue in late Ohio summer evenings when there is dew on the rails.

But the big question is whether you can leave your trains out when they're not running. The answer is no.
If you're trying to avoid "schlepping" them in and out, you might consider building a "tunnel" or "train shed" or such to run them into between sessions. I built a train shed on the side of my railroad where I can keep very short trains on the track and ready to run at a moment's notice. It's unheated and uninsulated, and the wind blows right through the openings, but it helps a great deal.

Have I tried the alternative? Yes. Because I run trains right up until New Years, I have had trains buried in snow twice, and the results aren't pretty. Most parts of Large Scale trains are immune to rust, but not all of them are. It also seems to speed up the failure of plastic handrails and other small parts.

In addition, UV turns plastic handrails brittle, so the handrails on trains that were left outside all summer may fail in a year or so, when they would otherwise have lasted for years. Worse yet, even though Large Scale trains are all made with UV-resistant plastic or paint, I have seen trains that were significantly lighter on one side than the other.

Even leaving trains outside year-round in my damp train shed is speeding up their aging to some extent.

Don't let this put you off the hobby. Like I said, a dry tunnel or something similar can provide most of the protection you need when the trains aren't running.

Best of luck with your plans. Please keep me posted,

- Paul


Top
 Profile  
 
Display posts from previous:  Sort by  
Post new topic Reply to topic  [ 1 post ] 

All times are UTC - 5 hours [ DST ]


Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 3 guests


You cannot post new topics in this forum
You cannot reply to topics in this forum
You cannot edit your posts in this forum
You cannot delete your posts in this forum
You cannot post attachments in this forum

Search for:
Jump to:  
cron


Click to see sturdy Lionel(r) trains that are perfect for your Christmas tree.


Visit our affiliated sites:
- Trains and Hobbies -
Return to Big Indoor Trains Home page
Return to Family Garden Trains Home page
Big Indoor Trains Primer Articles: All about setting up and displaying indoor display trains and towns. Garden Railroading Primer Articles: All about getting a Garden Railroad up and running well
On30 and O Gauge trains to go with indoor display villages and railroads
Big Christmas Trains: Directory of Large Scale and O Scale trains with holiday themes
Visit Lionel Trains. Free building projects for your vintage railroad or Christmas village. Click to see Thomas Kinkaded-inspired Holiday Trains and Villages. Big Christmas Train Primer: Choosing and using model trains with holiday themes Visit Howard Lamey's glitterhouse gallery, with free project plans, graphics, and instructions. Click to see HO scale trains with your favorite team's colors.
- Family Activities and Crafts -
Click to see reviews of our favorite family-friendly Christmas movies. Free, Family-Friendly Christmas Stories Decorate your tree the old-fashioned way with these kid-friendly projects. Free plans and instructions for starting a hobby building vintage-style cardboard Christmas houses. Click to find free, family-friendly Christmas poems and - in some cases - their stories. Traditional Home-Made Ornaments
- Christmas Memories and Collectibles -
Visit the FamilyChristmasOnline site. Visit Howard Lamey's glitterhouse gallery, with free project plans, graphics, and instructions. Visit Papa Ted Althof's extensive history and collection of putz houses, the largest and most complete such resource on the Internet.. Click to return to the Old Christmas Tree Lights Table of Contents Page Craft and collectibles blog with local news of Croton NY.
Click to visit Fred's Noel-Kat store.
- Music -
Carols of many countries, including music, lyrics, and the story behind the songs Wax recordings from the early 1900s, mostly collected by George Nelson.  Download them all for a 'period' album.
Best-loved railroad songs and the stories behind them.
Heartland-inspired music, history, and acoustic instrument tips. Own a guitar, banjo, or mandolin?  Want to play an instrument?  Tips to save you money and time, and keep your instrument playable. Own a guitar, banjo, or mandolin?  Want to play an instrument?  Tips to save you money and time, and keep your instrument playable.



Click to trains that commemorate your team!

Powered by phpBB® Forum Software © phpBB Group