Hello from Sarnia
- Thread starter TTaannggss
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Have a look at Melbourne Sparks track as well. Curves not tricky and no need to bring track in no matter what the weather, that can be a real chore every year.
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Ya. I looked up Mayo....I am Irish Italian decent. I have been to Italy. Including Afrigola...where my late grand father is from. Next time I see reasonable flights to Ireland I want to go. My mom says Sligo is where her late grand father came from. Ya.
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I am 8 km from a Wallmart in USA. I live in Canada close to Port Huron Michigan Border and price of track is even worse there. That is us funds so I can add another 30 percent using a credit card plus duty? And I think that is only a foot of track. Looked up Melbourne Sparks and nothing..that tells me probably not available here.
Here is the link to his line build, he uses a mixture of bought and ally strip scratch built track with some quite complex pointwork.
Eltham South Electric Tramway
Apologies for all the broken images in the earlier pages of this thread, I'm lazy and haven't rehosted them. Skip ahead for working images! After a very extended period of procrastination I finally got a start on building a garden tramway late last year. It's been running for about six...
www.gscalecentral.net
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Well made it to 2 big box hardware stores. Stainless steal is not an option from a b b store. So looking at Aluminum track. So aluminum oxidizes. Just means I will have to clean in more often. If I have to scrape or sand paper it often that might not be an option. I can do 8 feet of aluminum for around 20 can. As a rough guess. I plan on using low grade concrete as a blast ...so with aluminum just lay the concrete. Measure and insert the aluminum rods and let dry. They also have galvinived steal at BB store. Platinum??Here is the link to his line build, he uses a mixture of bought and ally strip scratch built track with some quite complex pointwork.
Eltham South Electric Tramway
Apologies for all the broken images in the earlier pages of this thread, I'm lazy and haven't rehosted them. Skip ahead for working images! After a very extended period of procrastination I finally got a start on building a garden tramway late last year. It's been running for about six...
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so aluminum will oxidize, and will require frequent sanding. There is someone in Australia that does this, but it's a much more arid climate than yours.
you won't find stainless steel strips in a big box store, you need a metal supply house, worth looking.
No, you won't be able to control gauge well enough by setting in concrete, you just take wood ties, and cut 2 slots in them and probably use glue.
You should REALLY read this thread, from a person who has tried a lot of things and learned a lot and succeeded.
www.gscalecentral.net
It's a long thread, but it takes time to learn what what works and what doesn't.
Greg
you won't find stainless steel strips in a big box store, you need a metal supply house, worth looking.
No, you won't be able to control gauge well enough by setting in concrete, you just take wood ties, and cut 2 slots in them and probably use glue.
You should REALLY read this thread, from a person who has tried a lot of things and learned a lot and succeeded.
Track making/making tracks: the good, the bad and the ugly, advice and thoughts wanted, explanation is giving(incl mistakes)
For all new readers: I changed the topic title because: total wooden tracks are a JOKE, i learned a lot and this forum, and they give me the knowledge to make some decent tracks, read upon my mistakes to your advance and make your own tracks in your own capabilities/wallet. Good evening you...
www.gscalecentral.net
It's a long thread, but it takes time to learn what what works and what doesn't.
Greg
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Thanks Greg. Platinum is conductive...does not oxidize but is very soft. Another option is to make the wood Ties then pour concrete over them for track stability. . I will read what you sent me. Thanks againso aluminum will oxidize, and will require frequent sanding. There is someone in Australia that does this, but it's a much more arid climate than yours.
you won't find stainless steel strips in a big box store, you need a metal supply house, worth looking.
No, you won't be able to control gauge well enough by setting in concrete, you just take wood ties, and cut 2 slots in them and probably use glue.
You should REALLY read this thread, from a person who has tried a lot of things and learned a lot and succeeded.
Track making/making tracks: the good, the bad and the ugly, advice and thoughts wanted, explanation is giving(incl mistakes)
For all new readers: I changed the topic title because: total wooden tracks are a JOKE, i learned a lot and this forum, and they give me the knowledge to make some decent tracks, read upon my mistakes to your advance and make your own tracks in your own capabilities/wallet. Good evening you...
It's a long thread, but it takes time to learn what what works and what doesn't.
Greg
so aluminum will oxidize, and will require frequent sanding. There is someone in Australia that does this, but it's a much more arid climate than yours.
you won't find stainless steel strips in a big box store, you need a metal supply house, worth looking.
No, you won't be able to control gauge well enough by setting in concrete, you just take wood ties, and cut 2 slots in them and probably use glue.
You should REALLY read this thread, from a person who has tried a lot of things and learned a lot and succeeded.
Track making/making tracks: the good, the bad and the ugly, advice and thoughts wanted, explanation is giving(incl mistakes)
For all new readers: I changed the topic title because: total wooden tracks are a JOKE, i learned a lot and this forum, and they give me the knowledge to make some decent tracks, read upon my mistakes to your advance and make your own tracks in your own capabilities/wallet. Good evening you...
It's a long thread, but it takes time to learn what what works and what doesn't.
Greg
This is someone in Australia that used aluminium bar but is moving away from it due to the oxidisation problems.
Making Track-The Sandstone & Termite Railway
Main page for G gauge garden railway. Description of the construction of the line.
www.members.optusnet.com.au
The climate is not real arid he has cold wet winters (no snow) and hot summers with rain.
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Yes. I would really like track power. I like to increase and decrease speed. Stop the train using the controler. I was looking at iron at the big box stores. If I only get surface rust to wipe off now and then that is ok. With my climate it is very variable from day to day. This winter seems to be a bit colder than normal. From what I remember Sarnia Downtown winters will go down to minus 7 c then up to plus 3 c during the day. July and August are high 20s c low of 20 c at night as a guess ab dry. Other than than that anything goes. Lol. It depends on the jet stream. We have very cold arctic air above us and hot G. O. Mexico air to the south. Thanks to all that have spent the time trying to help me out. The train engine I ordered off E bay will be here in 2 weeks. Yaaa
This is way overpriced! If you are seriously interested in brass track look around more. I just did a search on "G scale trains Canada". Look at G-scale. They have the PIKO (#35209) equivalent of this for C$ 28.96. Greg's reference to Igor's post on track is a good place to start if you want to build your own track and Greg's own website has a chart comparing track materials (click on the link in his sig.) Take advantage of the collective experience on this forum. Several posts in the Track and Track Laying forum will point you to what others have found does or doesn't work. It will probably be overwhelming at first, but you should eventually have a pretty good idea of what you want and where to buy it. Enjoy your railway!
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I'm a very strong track power advocate, I could not afford battery power given I need remote control and desire the best sound and long run times.
You might be able to run steel strap, but you would need a thin preservative coat of a very light oil/solvent, like kerosene. It has been done.
One thing might be to make a small test oval and try a few things out. The climate makes a big difference.
Another item: you don't need to fix rails/ties so they cannot move, it turns out that causes more problems. The easiest is letting the track "float" in ballast like the real railroads do. the only difference is you need larger size ballast (hint: a real raindrop scales to about 8 inches on our models). So the coarser ballast says put and does not wash away as easily with rain.
Lots of ideas here.
Greg
You might be able to run steel strap, but you would need a thin preservative coat of a very light oil/solvent, like kerosene. It has been done.
One thing might be to make a small test oval and try a few things out. The climate makes a big difference.
Another item: you don't need to fix rails/ties so they cannot move, it turns out that causes more problems. The easiest is letting the track "float" in ballast like the real railroads do. the only difference is you need larger size ballast (hint: a real raindrop scales to about 8 inches on our models). So the coarser ballast says put and does not wash away as easily with rain.
Lots of ideas here.
Greg
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I did Fing galvenized steal. Has any body tried platinum? Thing is it is soft. I went to g scale trains Canada. It is Etsy...
Thanks for the info All. G trains Canada is Etsy from what I saw. So for 3.95 I can get a foot of Bachman I assume new track. I assume it would be hollow and could not be left outside from October to June when the temps can go below freezing. Plus tax and shipping. ...I did see something I liked. It would look good with my NYC f unit. Even if I convert it to cn it would still look good. Lionel though. I have been to the Lionel factory in Detroit on a tour many years ago. If I do order one it would be only 1 at first. I just find some of their stuff to look not too authentic. I did have a short lived ho garden railway. Squirrels destroyed a big plastic Trussell bridge going over my pond. And concrete crumbled over time. In my climate I get a lot of heating and freezing......Jim
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Bachmann track is hollow tin plated steel, so fragile, bends easily, does not connect to other track and rusts easily.
Do not buy it for outside.
greg
Do not buy it for outside.
greg