Starting a Garden Railroad - Planning, Laying Track, and Running Trains in G (Fn3) Scale!

[@theventuracountyrailfan]

As someone who built my own garden railroad to operate standard gauge, my biggest advice is RADIUS! I would say 5 feet at minimum. Tighter any you run into tons of issues.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I agree. That's why I went with the biggest curves I could fit. I have the room, so there's no need to use super tight curves. My SP 4-6-0 doesn't like sharp curves. Thanks for watching!

[@CharlieH65]

It's an excellent start, that's not up for debate. Now the question we all face with any railroad, how much time and money do throw at it to make it as wonderful as we dream it to be!

[@DanielCortopassi]

Large scale is definitely more expensive in many ways, especially the track. The initial outlay to build this loop was a little steep. From now on we plan to add to it more slowly over time. It'll be an adventure, but I think we'll have fun making it cool and improving our yard at the same time. Thanks for watching!

[@Torquewrench1]

Awesome work Dan! Can’t wait for the next update.

[@DanielCortopassi]

We're glad you liked it. Thanks for watching!

[@conrailfan6277]

Nice work Dan and Nicole, I've seen more and more videos on outdoor layouts using radio control, it's seems to be the best way to go and frees you up to run trains and not clean track!!! 👍👍👍👍👍👍

[@DanielCortopassi]

I have some friends who had a garden railroad that originally had track power, and they switched over to batteries because it was just too troublesome. That definitely influenced my decision to go the same way. Thanks for watching!

[@Trains-With-Shane]

How fun! I totally agree with your decision to run battery powered equipment in this case. DC, unlike AC, tends to not like long distance runs so voltage drop would be a real issue requiring a bit buss system to be set up. And that, combined with having to make sure the track is super clean, just makes for a poor experience. Also I would suggest possibly using small removable DC battery packs to light your buildings as well. LED lighting will run for a very long time on battery power. You could either have a pack for each structure making the placement of those structures very easy and modular. Or have a central buss. Although for me a central buss would work just as well being wired in with a dedicated transformer. However then you'd lose the ability to easily move structures around. Or bring them in during inclimate weather as easily. If you're looking for ideas for the next video i'd be interested to see how you handle track cleanup since you have to deal with fallen leaves, etc.

[@DanielCortopassi]

That's a great idea for structures. I hadn't really thought of that, but it makes sense. So far the only permanent structure we have is a little depot but we want to add more as time goes on. We do have some trees that make messes. I couldn't even see parts of the track in the fall. I grabbed most of them up by hand because they were also wet. We got a lot of rain this year, but it's looking like the weather is improving so I'm hoping to get back to the railroad soon. The next projects will be completing the wye and adding some spur tracks inside the loop. Some cleanup videos could be good, too. Thanks for the ideas and for watching!

[@markhayes6407]

The locomotive sounds realistic. Great video and already having a rock area for the base is half the battle.

[@DanielCortopassi]

It has a LokSound XL decoder and a big speaker. Being able to use large speakers in this scale makes a big different. I'm glad you liked the video. Thanks for watching!

[@amba8664]

The extension-cord culvert is a clever idea. If/when I ever do a layout, I will definitely be including that in the plans.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm glad you found that helpful. It was pretty easy to make, too. Thanks for watching!

[@struck2soon]

Great project, I look forward to further updates!

[@DanielCortopassi]

We're having fun with it. We're glad you're enjoying it so far. Thanks for watching!

[@paulkirkmanMYTRAINS]

Look good. I like the way you did the gravel under the tracks. Look nice !!!!!

[@DanielCortopassi]

I like the way it looks, too, and so far it's been working pretty well. Thanks for watching!

[@Roboticus_Prime_RC]

My loco is battery. It's perfect for large scale. Though, I didn't use any of those decoder things. I spend like $80 on amazon for a plane transmitter/receiver combo, an ESC for an RC car, and some light controllers. I don't have sound yet, but I either find a 2.4ghz compatible sound card with preloaded steam sounds, or I figure out how to add them to one of the programmable RC car sound cards. Another upgrade I plan to do is add servos to work the release pins on the couplers. They can just plug right into the receiver.

[@DanielCortopassi]

That's a totally different approach, but I could see it working well. I have a couple RC cars but I haven't tried using any of that for trains. Battery is great for outdoors. Thanks for the info and for watching!

[@lonewolfe31619]

really awesome work Dan keep up the great work on your videos.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for watching!

[@TheGrundyRailfan]

That's so cool!

[@DanielCortopassi]

I'm glad you liked it. Thanks for watching!

[@avlisk]

I had an "A" scale, USATrains layout in Phoenix for 10 years. I learned the hard way that DC was a mistake, and battery is the way to go. I used Aristo Craft, USATrains, Piko, and LGB track. One of them (I can't remember which), didn't hold up and the ties deteriorated in the sun, so watch for that. Piko turnouts are great. 10' diameter is minimum for 1:29 scale. Keep the track floating on the roadbed and don't fasten it down. Body-mounted couplers aren't the norm. I had to do lots of Kadee conversions. Having a raised area (a foot or two) to put rolling stock on and off the track is a great benefit, especially as you get older. . .trust me! I hope that helps or is interesting.

[@VestedUTuber]

"10' diameter is minimum for 1:29 scale" Really depends on the model, honestly. Piko makes some 1:29th scale models that can handle everything down to LGB R1 (4ft), however they're generally pretty small and/or make compromises (models of mallets using meyer articulation, for example).

[@avlisk]

Point taken. I should have been more clear. I run "standard gauge" USATrains and try to make them look as prototypical as possible. I found that the 10' diameter curves was the limit without too much obvious overhang. It's like in HO scale where big diesels can usually navigate 22" or even 18" radius, but you wouldn't want to do it if you cared about how it looked.@@VestedUTuber

[@DanielCortopassi]

Most of the track on this layout is LGB, except for some from USA Trains. I set up a smaller Halloween display loop in 2022 and the track has been outside ever since and seems to be holding up well so far. The brass even weathered a little so it looks more brown, which is cool since that looks more realistic. My SP No. 8 model is my most fussy engine, and doesn't like curves sharper than 8' diameter. I used bigger curves since we have the space and I think it looks better. The track is floating in the ballast and so far has held up, even through all the rain we've had this year. I can see your point about having it raised up a little higher. I didn't do that in this area but I might think about it when we expand the layout. My knees have never been great and they like bending down even less now. Thanks for the suggestions and for watching!

[@crockett11000]

You thinking of trying the New G scale Sound Traxx Bluenami?

[@DanielCortopassi]

No, I've pretty much standardized on LokSound for everything so I'll probably stick with that. Thanks for watching!

[@traindad77]

You need Z scale and T Gauge layouts too!

[@DanielCortopassi]

Does Nn3 count? I have the N / Nn3 Siren Creek layout. I don't have an T, though I've seen pictures. Super tiny. Thanks for watching!

[@paulsturtz7638]

Please provide details of the SP #8 locomotive. It's very cool!

[@DanielCortopassi]

It's an Accucraft brass model that I've had for probably 10 years or more. I got it used off eBay and converted it to battery power with DCC and sound. It's based on the SP narrow gauge locomotives that were once used in the California desert. I really like it, though the pilot truck has a tendency to derail and I haven't quite figured out why. Now that I have my own track to run it on, I hope to be able to take care of that issue. The real No. 8 survived and is on display in Sparks, Nevada. Thanks for watching!

[@eifionjones559]

you mean you actually plan ? me I simply had a vague idea and it sort of took on a life of it,s own, live steam and some battery, much more fun that way.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I have a vague plan for the outside. I have not mapped it out in detail the way I often do for indoor layouts. Letting it grow organically will be fun, I hope. We'll see. I have not worked on it much since I made this video, but I have a couple things I want to do before it's time for our Halloween display again. Thanks for watching!

[@Yotaman77]

What about mulch glue to lock the pea gravel just like gluing the ballast on HO.

[@DanielCortopassi]

I might look into something like that if the ballast doesn't hold up on its own. So far it seems to be holding its shape, even after all the rain we've had this winter. Thanks for the suggestion and for watching!