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Posted: Sun Nov 7th, 2010 09:05 pm |
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1st Post |
kcn hogger
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this is for the guys outside, what is the choice of scenery materials for outdoor railroads? this is where the Kansas City Clinton & Springfield road will have to be, I'm modeling in O scale and I live in a Mobile home, Ahh but I do have a small garage and shop, for the yard and some small part of the road the rest will have to go out doors don't you know, any help will be appreciated thanks JR I'm at jarman@kc.rr.com
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Posted: Sun Nov 7th, 2010 10:19 pm |
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2nd Post |
Paladin
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Joined: | Tue Jan 24th, 2006 |
Location: | Berwick, Australia |
Posts: | 2403 |
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This sounds like a job for Woodie.
____________________ Don McL
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Posted: Sun Nov 7th, 2010 11:05 pm |
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3rd Post |
W C Greene
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JR-what do you want to know? You just have to make EVERYTHING hell-for-stout and use waterproof glues, water seal on wood, stay away from thin plastic, and of course....run with radio control. The rest is up to you. A lot of what I have done is considered impossible or impractical by those with closed minds so be ready for some "discouraging words"...you can forget all that stuff when you are running trains and they ain't!
Woodie
____________________ It doesn't matter if you win or lose, its' how you rig the game.
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Posted: Mon Nov 8th, 2010 12:49 am |
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4th Post |
Herb Kephart
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JR-One thing to be aware of with the great outdoors, is that the plastic used in the ties of ready made O scale track probably isn't UV resistant- so if you don't lay your own on wood ties (and why don't you?) you would be smart to give any track two coats of paint. The first coat should be silver, as the aluminum pigment is the best at blocking UV rays, and then a coat of brown to give the ties and rail a realistic color.
This would be before ballasting, of course. Some of the early G scale track was not resistant and after a while the ties got crisp, and the molded on spike heads would break off and the rail would be free to move. Later the problem was corrected with UV resistant plastic.
Herb 
____________________ Fix it again, Mr Gates--it still works!"
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Posted: Mon Nov 8th, 2010 02:06 am |
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5th Post |
kcn hogger
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I was thinking of gargraves, do'n the Aluminum paint trick and the the brown paint over that, and pull the middle rail out, I'm not sure of the longevity of this track, but used gargraves is dirt cheap, but the main thing is the land scape material, use mortar mix or plaster with lacquer paint over it or what, this is where I'm at a lost, and besides we get some real bad weather here in Old KC, like blizzards and freezing rain and blistering heat so any ideas. thanks JR
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Posted: Mon Nov 8th, 2010 04:17 am |
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6th Post |
Herb Kephart
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Mortar mix over the wire mesh they use under stucco. Plaster isn't waterproof.
Herb 
____________________ Fix it again, Mr Gates--it still works!"
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Posted: Mon Nov 8th, 2010 10:11 pm |
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7th Post |
W C Greene
Moderator

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Not knowing how much of your layout will be outside, or the scenery you want, it is hard to tell you what to do. My entire layout is made of 2" blue styrofoam, the scenery included. The track is all handlaid on basswood ties and after laying track, I saturate it with Thompson's Water Seal. Of course, like real track, it takes pretty much constant maintainence but I don't mind. I could write a book about what I have done, but again, many would believe it is fiction and like some I have heard from...everybody knows more than I do about all this. Yep, as they sit in a chair at a computer inside a house and have no layout...they want to tell me how to do it! You need to consider how to cover the outside portion when it gets nasty and have stuff on it that can withstand the abuse. When the weather is nice (I personally love hot sunny weather), you can be outside soaking up rays. I am fortunate that Texas weather is fairly nice, except for those pesky tornados, but if one hits, I got more to worry about than this silly train layout. It's all a matter of what you want to do and just get after it. You will learn what works and what don't, it's an adventure every day.

Here's a photo of some of my layout under about 6" of snow. Of course, it was covered nicely with 6MIL plastic sheet so nothing was damaged. As you can see, the whole thing sits atop camera tripods which has really worked out well.

And here is a photo taken in the nice sun of the right hand side in the snow photo showing that nothing was disturbed and trains ran as usual...just a few days after the snow melted.
Woodie
*****looking at the green grass growing, this photo may have been taken in the spring..but things would be the same-green or brown grass!*********Last edited on Mon Nov 8th, 2010 11:24 pm by W C Greene
____________________ It doesn't matter if you win or lose, its' how you rig the game.
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Posted: Tue Nov 9th, 2010 06:31 pm |
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8th Post |
mopman
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Joined: | Wed Aug 15th, 2007 |
Location: | Dallas, Texas USA |
Posts: | 194 |
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I have had the pleasure of operating on Woodie's layout for several years now and besides the problems that Woodie has alluded to is rail expansion and contraction and stuff that falls from the sky (leaves, bird droppings etc). Other than that it's great. You can work on your tan while switching the mines and dumping the loads at the smelter then go to the Bloated Goat for a cold one when the shift is over. Since I am married, I try to stay away from the Gila Hotel.
____________________ If it's trains....it's all good
Van Buren Sub pics...http://www.trainboard.com/railimages/showgallery.php/cat/500/ppuser/5214
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Posted: Tue Nov 9th, 2010 10:40 pm |
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9th Post |
kcn hogger
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Woodie the blue board sounds like a good idea, what was used to cover the blue board. also I'm thinking CCA ties, what kind of rail ? nickel silver, brass, aluminum, they all run in hot weather what works better,I like you, will be using RC so electrical contact is not a problem thanks JR
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Posted: Wed Nov 10th, 2010 01:16 am |
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10th Post |
W C Greene
Moderator

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JR-go to my Mogollon Railway thread and look, all the info is there..you will have to search for answers. There is more info there than I could ever relate in a single post. Also, look at the Gila Tramway thread in micro layouts, there is info on using the blue styrofoam.
In short: rail-code 83 MIcro Engineering nickel silver. Ties-hand cut basswood. Scenery-real dirt & rocks glued with waterproof glue. What you are doing is different, so you will have to adjust things a bit. Let us know how things are going.
Woodie
____________________ It doesn't matter if you win or lose, its' how you rig the game.
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