GARDEN RAILWAY CONSTRUCTION: TOP FIVE MYTHS EXPOSED ABOUT ELECTRIC POWER OUTDOOR

metzbahner

metzbahner

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TOP FIVE MYTHS EXPOSED ABOUT ELECTRIC TRAINS WHEN CREATING A GARDEN RAILWAY....

M#1. Electric Powered Trains need extensive track cleaning and expensive, time-consuming maintenance.

Answer: Wrong!

You can run digital or analog trains in the garden without spending over the amount you would run battery power engines. The solution is to use brass or stainless steel rail-clamps. If you are installing a permanent set up, take your rail joiners OFF your tracks. The rail joiner traps the most non-conducive particles that will make dead sections. The rail joiner was made to connect sectional tracks indoors for short-term only. If you don't plan to remove your tracks for some time, remove the rail joiners and rail clamp the sections together with a set of brass or stainless steel rail clamps. There are many, low-cost clamps on the market and you'll rarely if ever have to deal wtih dead sections once installed.

M#2: Metal wheels are required on rolling stock when running electric trains outside for any extended period.

Answer: Wrong!

Again, rail clamps will keep the current flowing through the rails. The MYTHS about plastic wheels stopping your engines is bunk - unless your plastic wheels are covered in car grease or the temperatures hit 130 degrees. The myth was based on using metal wheels on rolling stock while the railway had rail joiner connected sectional pieces. In sectional track set ups with rail joiners, yes, the metal wheels may in the short term prolong the conductivity. But, if you are making a permanent set up, using rail clamps will negate the need for metal wheels to help keep the track clean. With rail clamps, your track can be very dirty and the trains will not become jerky and jutting.

M#3: I need to buy an expensive track cleaning attachment or locomotive if I desire electric powered or MTS/Digital outside.

Answer: Wrong!

Sorry to repeat myself, but rail clamps will solve the issue. Especially if you remove your rail joiners and install the clamps directly on the rail. The less sectional pieces will also help the transfer of digital signals, but rail clamps can be mounted so tightly the transfer between sections is 98%.

M#4: I need to solder jumpers to the rails to get great reliability with electric powered trains outside.

Answer: Wrong! ....see above.

M#5: If I use rail clamps, the sun's intensive rays will cause the entire railroad to get out of sync and track kinks will result in damage.

Answer: Wrong!

Even if you are in Texas or Arizona, a tightly clamped LGB sectional set of rails only expands or contracts modestly, and you can either buy a small sectional "stretch / expand" pieces of track, or when you clamp the rail clamps, leave 2mm/3mm space between the rails. Leaving space between the rails in the rail clamps will solve most heat issues in most states.


Top Five Reasons To Run Electric Outdoors:

1. No time-consuming and expensive mods to Factory purchased engines
2. Quick set up and minimal maintenance - Two motor battery engines run only 1-2 hours on charge
3. Engine resale value remains high - R/C equipment may become obsolete
4. With rail clamps electric conductivity very reliable - run Digital in the garden with automated signals and track controls
5. Many DCC and Analog products from various manufacturers compatible

Was this helpful? Feedback appreciated. No, I don't sell rail clamps...LOL....but I LOVE THEM! They REALLY WORK!!!
 
I don't see how leaving a 2/3 mm gap in the rails at a rail clamp will help with expansion - as it suggests, the rail is clamped - it will not move - if this gap is left at a normal rail joiner then yes, the rail will expand/contract within the joiner. My track has been down now for 8 years plus with no problems with conductivity. Graphite paste is used at all joints. Rail clamps are great in their own right however. I use them on a section of track at a bridge so it can be lifted out easily if required and I also use them at all points/switches for easy removal if maintenance is required.
 
While it is welcome that aspects of this hobby are demystified it is not helpful when this sort or absolutist stuff is posted >:( Bitter experience has taught me a lot of what is said above might in principal be true but in practice is not.

For starters you forgot the bit where you need to apply a dab of graphite paste/copper grease on all (clean/cleaned) mating electrical surfaces, including those clamped, otherwise the whole electrical conductivity thing goes out of the window fairly quickly. Speaks one with 50% of his line in full shade running 50/50 DC/live steam and a battery loco..

I think others will be along shortly to take on other points that have been listed . Max.
 
maxi-model said:
While it is welcome that aspects of this hobby are demystified it is not helpful when this sort or absolutist stuff is posted. Bitter experience has taught me a lot of what is said above might in principal be true but in practice is not.
Click to expand...

Agreed.

I have noticed that several digital outdoor layouts I have visited appear to run well even when the track is moderately tarnished. However my analogue, railclamp fitted line needs squeaky clean track, especially for shunting and general slow running.
I assume the full voltage present whenever a digital system is in use helps. In my case I'm convinced the following don't help!
Trees in my neighbours gardens overhang my layout so it is plagued with fallen leaves and sap. I live near a granite quarry, a very fine layer of dust can settle over time despite their best efforts to control it. Also the River Trent isn't far away, this is known by some as megawatt valley for the considerable number of coal fired power stations along its banks. Again emissions have reduced but not totally eliminated.
 
I made a really quick and very easy to use track cleaner for mine. Take a pair of old slippers with rubber soles and superglue a pad of velcro (furry) to the sole of one then use a velcro attached trimmed down sanding disc (very fine emery) and simply walk around the line sliding the sanding foot lightly along the track then walk around again and rub the plain rubber other foot along for a highly polished rail top.
Obviously it's only practical on ground level tracks which mine is, also if the track is basically clean and only suffering from light tarnish or sap, just sliding the rubber sole along the rail removes it. Cost...virtually nothing as it uses worn out sanding discs good for nothing else, and slippers scheduled for the bin.

As a 'newby' to garden railways, a lot of the initial post seems logical, but fitting rail clamps to every join on both rails of even my small layout is too costly. A glob of copperslip inside each joiner should last years and if any joints become troublesome I'll jumper them as and when needed.
 
I'm in general agreement with your argument, except that I've yet to go to the trouble, and cost, of clamps. The LGB joiners, properly greased, and fastened to clean rail, works for me outside. Has done for 15 years. :)

I let the trains clean the track by putting a few drops of 3 in 1 oil on in a few places.... I never use abrasives, once you start that, you leave scratches in the rail, and that allows dirt to build up.
 
I know many swear by railclamps, but in my own experience, a small amount of Copperslip in each joiner does the job?

I also used the plastic 'dogbone' joiners in the sleepers on curves.

I was fortunate enough not to have tree sap problems, and my track worked well on DC before I changed over to DCC, which did improve the running.

All I will say is that if works for you, then that's fine....
 
Mmmmmm

I certainly do not agree with the statement that clamps do away with the need for cleaners.
Whilst clamps do their work of ensuring that the electricity flows through the rail, they do nothing for the conductivity quality from the railhead to the wheels.
Stainless steel track is much better as far as the lack of necessary cleaning is concerned but even that will need crud (bird poo, sap, arcing carbon etc) being cleaned off.

As to the statement that the track does not expand/contract much in different temperatures.....
Well it all depends on the tolerances that your track has.
If it is on an elevated layout and you want to make scenery that comes right up to the edge of the elevated trackbed, then you may be surprised how much it will move with the heat (there is a member, who used to post on this forum, who has an elevated line and the track was moving side to side at the curves on one section, quite a bit as the temperature changed...maybe he has cured that now)
Also if your track is firmly cemented, screwed or glued to the ballast etc, then you might need a little amount of 'play' along the length to allow for expansion if it is exposed to the sun.

I use a lot of over-joiner clamps as my line is down and the scenery is placed and ballast laid so I do not want to lift it to take off the joiners (yes I know that I could 'cut' the joiners and plier them off but I can be lazy sometimes :o ) so the over joiners work fine for installing in situ.
I tend to install them when the joiner conduction consistency begins to break down (after eight years there are a few LGB ones that exhibit this tendency).
Aristo track is better as they have the bolting joiners.
 
M#1,2,3,4,5 Rail clamps are the answer to all your track power electrical conductivity problems.

Answer: wrong!

Sorry, but it's just not the case. They're very useful for minimising high resistance and voltage loss at joints, and also for easy removal of points etc., but there is no substitute for proper cleaning and maintenance of the track, wheels, skates, pickups etc. to remove build-up of crud. It's important for small scale indoors layouts, and even more so for outdoors. It also encourages you to examine and correct loose track joints and bumps, remove stones, fix broken bits on your stock etc. Regular maintenance is a part of running a model railway.
 
Been in Garden Railways since late 70s

Never used rail clamps

In the analogue days cleaning required but not a big issue

Digital days, cleaning very infrequent, OBVIOUS REALLY as with Digital you have full volts & AMPS CONSTANTLY in the track!!

Tip: never fix track down rigidly wherever possible, if it floats in ballast, internal joiner cleaning is enhanced by the slight movment as heavy trains run

One of my lines was in situ for many years close on 15 for part of it, never had any problems with running.
 
If battery Power is such a waste of money why is that converting locos to battery power is booming?

1. Is the OP saying that they have all been conned by battery power vested interests?
2. Why is it that so many DCC fans are scrabbling around looking for battery R/C conversions of track powered DCC.

To each his own. ;)

My sig shows my vested interest.
 
every garden railwayer, has the right asnwers, for his or her line.. and sometimes for others advice to follow, or not
welcome to the fourm
 
Here are some things rail clamps are good for:
  • Holding the track in alignment.
  • reducing resistance at joints (particularly when the original joiner is removed)
  • Providing easy connection places for wires.
  • Easy removal of track sections such as points

As has been said before they do nothing to keep the rail head clean and so cleaning/maintenance is always still required.

Plastic wheels tend to leave a thin coating of plastic on the track that obviously metal wheels do not.

I'm glad, metzbahner, that you are happy with your rail clamps, as I am with mine.
 


"Ain't Got No (I Got Life)"

I ain't got no track, ain't got no clamps
Ain't got no joiners, ain't got no wires
Ain't got no graphite, ain't got no paste
Ain't got no battery, ain't got no gas
Ain't got no mind

Ain't got no Massoth, ain't got no coal
Ain't got no Bachmann, ain't got no Kiss
Ain't got no turnouts, ain't got no curves
Ain't got no Piko, ain't got no Regna
Ain't got no God

And what have I got?
Why am I alive anyway?
Yeah, what have I got
Nobody can take away?

Got my hair, got my head
Got my brains, got my ears
Got my eyes, got my nose
Got my mouth, I got my smile
I got my tongue, got my chin
Got my neck, got my (m)boobs
Got my heart, got my soul
Got my back, I got my sex

I got my arms, got my hands
Got my fingers, got my legs
Got my feet, got my toes
Got my liver, got my blood

I've got life, I've got my freedom
I've got the life

I've got the life
And I'm gonna keep it
I've got the life
And nobody's gonna take it away
I've got the life
​


David (with appologies to Nina Simone)
 
Tony Walsham said:
If battery Power is such a waste of money why is that converting locos to battery power is booming?

1. Is the OP saying that they have all been conned by battery power vested interests?
2. Why is it that so many DCC fans are scrabbling around looking for battery R/C conversions of track powered DCC.

To each his own. ;)

My sig shows my vested interest.
Click to expand...

I know of around 10 locally Digitally controlled Garden lines most of which have run succesfully for years, No one has ever mentioned converting to Battery Power, and i have not seen the owners scrabbling around seeking R/C conversions.

I dont know of any Garden lines which use Battery power.
 
When I read your post, I knew you were in for some less than positive feedback. I won't belabor the issue with the exception of one point you make about track expansion. If you leave a 2 or 3 mm gap between rail sections, you're going to have alot of clickity clack. 2 or 3 mm is quite large and does not leave much left for the clamp to grab.
 
Tony Walsham said:
..........
2. Why is it that so many DCC fans are scrabbling around looking for battery R/C conversions of track powered DCC...........
Click to expand...

Well I can't speak for others on here Tony, but in my case it's so I can have just one or two battery-powered locos with full DCC sound functions to take around to friends' lines, open days etc where DCC track power is not necessarily available... for my own home line, track powered DCC will still be the order of the day. Coming back on-topic, all my track (which I hope to start laying very soon) will be either clamped or using Aristo screw fishplates, LGB graphite paste will be used throughout - but I still expect to have to do some cleaning before most running sessions, either by hand or with the LGB track cleaner loco. As several posters have said here already, no matter how good the electrical continuity is round the line you still need to keep the rails clear of debris and clean of crud! ;)

Jon.
 
For those that don't believe there any DCC fans looking for direct R/C of DCC decoders. Battery powered even. ;)

https://www.gscalecentral.net/index.php?topic=299347.0
 
stevelewis said:
I dont know of any Garden lines which use Battery power.
Click to expand...
It's becoming quite common for live steam operators to have or consider to start including a battery powered loco or two (usually diesel outline) amongst their fleet. Why battery ? Most live steamers' lines are 32 mm (represented by a society with 4,500 members) and were never configured for track power and even if it were an "0" gauge Class 37 might look a little incongruous chugging around with all the 16 mm and 7/8 ths stuff ;)

Having said that there are a lot of us increasingly coming round to live steam who have come from a 45 mm/DC start and having a battery loco is an easier proposition when incorporating with or converting our "start up" stock. I have a GRS L&B 2-6-2 Exe converted to battery for those lazy days when I just want to bung something on and just watch it run.......after the obligatory minor track debris removal session. It's amazing what little stones and presents the members of the crow family and their pidgeon friends will chuck around here. Max.
 
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