How To Lay Track on a Garden Railroad

[@LlagasCreekRailways]

Great video Dale! I did want to mention that the Nickel Silver metal (Copper Alloy C752) has a very low linear expansion coefficient of 0.000009 . When that is plugged into the linear expansion formula with a rail length of 72in and a starting temp of 23deg F and ending temp of 175deg F (the temp swing we see in your video)... the rail will expand/contract by 0.0985in, so an 1/8" gap is typically fine for Nickel Silver when laying the track in moderate to low temps. You are correct that the narrow gauge tie strips being a bit tight on the rail leads to some more irregular shifting of the rail in one direction or the other. This is less of a problem with the little looser grip of the standard gauge style tie strips. -Mike

[@ToyManTelevision]

Super!! The aluminum rail.. well.. on the ground with the joint’s clamped, the track moved all over the place. When I staked the ties to the ground it ripped apart badly. The broken tie would often end up about 1/4” from where it originally was. Mostly vertical movement!! The ground really swells and shrinks. And ends up different than the starting point. Several of the stakes were pushed up by about 1/2”!! Disaster. But when I just laid it on the dirt it looked great. Seen in the pictures. But moved all over the place. But not a problem and when it needed to be relayed easy. I attempted to use the aluminum rail screwed to the bench with non clamped joints. Rail was clamped to the wire at the very center of every rail. Worked fine. Except the expansion meant I need a gap of about 1/8”. Or more. And still ended with curved rail on hot days. The nickel is great! We had -30° just up the mountain in Logan. I’m guessing the gaps would still be negligible. But even here we are getting over 150° variation and no problems!!

[@ToyManTelevision]

Ps. I’ve been working on the indoor trestle in the cold. And the Jiminy Christmas Mine which I took outside. But built in the WARM shop. But as it warms up I want to build the small outdoor trestle using your long ties and tie plates. I think I now have a handle on building a trestle!!

[@IowaTrainGay]

Omg your ground-level railway is giving Colorado Southern vibes! 😍

[@ToyManTelevision]

Thanks!!

[@robertweldon7909]

So, for those who wish to build a "Garden" railroad, there is much more to consider than a track plan and where to put any plants. Dale, is what we would call a "Master Modeler", and even he is experimenting, failing, trying again, and maybe succeeding,(with something new). This series of step by step videos is in fact a clinic, designed to give YOU ideas, methods and options, so that You can, one day, also be a master modeler. ;-)

[@ToyManTelevision]

Thanks Robert! I mostly love the experimenting. What if I do this? Oops… okay better! What if I.. and so on. It’s the building stuff that gets me outa bed in the morning. Oh.. and needing to pee.

[@robertweldon7909]

@@ToyManTelevision Amen to having to pee

[@alannewman85]

Well presented. Interesting to listen to you.

[@ToyManTelevision]

Thanks!!!

[@robertemmons2260]

Your Garden Track series has been a joy to watch. When I finally get a bigger house I'll be making a benchtop railway. My theme of interest is the Dragon Railroad/Uintah Railway and using the old ghost town of Dragon Utah for my town. I see that you have the Baldwin No. 50 in your fleet. That or one of the old Shays will be my locomotive of choice.

[@ToyManTelevision]

Hi Robert. Thanks!!!

[@stevemellin5806]

Thank you for the information.looking forward to seeing more run time.

[@ToyManTelevision]

Thanks for watching!!! Soon. Spring is springing! Somewhere… to paraphrase the old expression, it’s spring somewhere.

[@tomas5376]

I’m trackin’ the track and learning a lot!🚂🚂🚂

[@ToyManTelevision]

Hi again!!!! Glad you are enjoying and getting something from it! Stay safe. It’s a dangerous world out there.. well.. sometimes.

[@loispadgett6306]

I like how you share what doesn't work and what does work this is how we learn. So enjoy all that you show and teach. GOD BLESS 🚂💖🚂💖🚂💖

[@ToyManTelevision]

Thanks!!!!! It’s the mistakes that are the most interesting I think. As long as the ego doesn’t get in the way. Life is about learning. Not succeeding. In the end all we have is memories of life. So collect all you can.

[@jimkammerer5240]

ALWAYS AWESOME WORK THANK YOU BOTH 😊 🙏 😀

[@ToyManTelevision]

Hi Jim!

[@everettthepetractionguy4222]

It's really interesting to see how garden railroads work in the outdoors and how they deal with the elements. You're very knowledgeable and experienced in this area of model railroading. I found it all interesting even though I will NEVER build a garden railroad. I like the way everything turned out so far. It's fun watching your how-to videos! Once again, can't wait to see the finished product. Looking forward to seeing more videos like this. I wish you lots of success with your garden railroad! 🚂 😊

[@ToyManTelevision]

Thanks!! I do love building the indoor railroad. But love running outside when it’s not to cold or hot. So… 5 days per year? Anyway summer evenings are great for running trains.

[@growclipbonsaiforseniors1951]

This is an excellent tutorial on what you did making this elevated railroad. Simply Superb!!!

[@ToyManTelevision]

Hi and as always thanks a lot!!!!

[@dakotajanes9600]

I too have each piece of track connected to the bus line. Mine just happens to be a n-scale layout, but I'm happy I'm not the only one who does this.

[@ToyManTelevision]

Our group has always done that. Steve’s railroads all had that. I wired out huge club railroad at MRS hobby shop. And every single rail had a drop. And was black inside red outside of the loop color scheme. And never ever an electrical problem.

[@kenshores9900]

Dale: Really liked seeing your old track plan. You gave me new ideas. Have always trued figuring out how to have a wye in my layout. Love that double dog bone. Great ideas. Thanks. Cheers and rail on!

[@ToyManTelevision]

The dog bone is generally the best layout. I want to do a series on track planning. Where the 4x8 oval is the most common plan, it’s generally the worst design.

[@kenshores9900]

@@ToyManTelevision I agree. That is why I have been frustrated.

[@ToyManTelevision]

@@kenshores9900 when people say they can’t fit in a layout I say sure you can! Perhaps not the one you want or dream about. But a layout for sure! May need to be a 18” x 72” shelf. But OMG. Boy can you create and run a layout in that space. Add a 40” dog bone at either end in the room corners and you have a great layout.

[@gardenrailroading]

It is really looking Great!

[@ToyManTelevision]

Thanks!!!

[@bernardc2553]

Boy you've made some Great progress Turns out that 90# was a good choice for the underlayment . OH you know of any up coming train shows over in your Neck of the Woods?

[@ToyManTelevision]

Ogden is back!!! And Evanston is always great but more dealers coming to both! Covid is… well… the fear is past. And train shows are back!! Ogden March 3 to 5th. Evanston not sure.. nothing on line. First weekend in August usually.

[@ToyManTelevision]

Oh March 11. The great train show. Back at the fairgrounds! And intermountain train expo in Davis county usually in November.

[@ToyManTelevision]

Kanab. This weekend.

[@bernardc2553]

@@ToyManTelevision WOW that's GREAT NEWS unfortunately Kanab is out Ogden tho If I start planning today Just got my 1st Brass WP Caboose well its in route

[@bernardc2553]

Long Live the Fallen Flags of NV. well & UT LOL WP SP and D & RG plus our Narrow Gauge Roads

[@jimkammerer5240]

VERY GOOD VIDEO LOTS OF ACTION AND INFORMATIVE AS WELL THANK YOU BOTH I APPRECIATE BOTH OF YOU PLEASE BE SAFE AND CAREFUL HAVE A GOOD DAY TODAY. JIM KAMMERER OF PHILADELPHIA PA 👌 😀

[@adamwimunc5568]

Sometime this year come back to Illinois railway museum and see the Frisco 1630 along with there shay that they restored.

[@caseyvillemodelrailroad3877]

Great video D&K, good advice on both types of garden railroading. As to expansion control with fastrack I use side screws lose and on the curves attached tension spring's pulling in, works great. Thanks for the morning coffee...

[@growclipbonsaiforseniors1951]

Do you remember the tv show: Tales of Wells Fargo? Now they had a couple of great looking locomotives at the beginning of the show. Your old garden railroad engines reminded me of the show.

[@ToyManTelevision]

And Death Valley Days!! We did a fun show on that fun show.

[@chuchuchip]

Using extension cord helps prevent line drop. This is when the length of the wire starts to become a resistor. In this case the larger diameter of the wire in the cable is very large for the voltage & amperage being carried in the wire, well below what the cable is rated. Soldering wires should be on the outside of the rail. This prevents any interference the wheels must to deal with. Most outdoor rr's I know convert all their engines to battery/rc operation so as not to clean the rail top to reliably conduct electricity. Also eliminates reverse loop & switched sidings wiring. FYI: Even with DCC reverse loop wiring must be considered (reverse loop module to prevent shorts). I recommend you plan your RR with the biggest curves you need for your largest engine you plan to by. Diesel & big steam engines have curve restrictions. Planning for the largest engine will solve this headache & shorter engines look more graceful around curves.

[@jimkammerer5240]

AWESOME GOOD VIDEO THANK YOU FOR SHARING THIS WITH ME JIM K FROM PHILLY WAY YOU BOTH ARE TRUE CRAFTSMAN AND I APPRECIATE IT AND YOU BOTH AWESOME GOOD VIDEO YOU BOTH ARE THE BEST 👌 👍 BE SAFE AND CAREFUL PLEASE MASK UP WHEN YOU NEED TO PLEASE LIVE THE GOLDEN RULE TREAT OTHERS LIKE THE WAY YOU WANT TO BE TREATED JIM KAMMERER OF PHILADELPHIA PA NORFOLK SOUTHERN RULES MY RAILS 👌

[@ToyManTelevision]

Hi Jim! Indeed. We have been “off camera” because we have RSV. At our age just an inconvenience. But can’t do on camera stuff so we build. And edit. Stay safe as well!

[@garyjones9023]

Very clever laying the rail on a hot summer day, then allowing it to contract as it wants during the night and in winter. During the day the rail is capturing extra heat from the direct sunlight, so it exceeds the air temp. But at night there is only the ambient temperature and eventually the rail temp returns to the ambient temp.

[@ToyManTelevision]

It’s seems the rail is much cooler than ambient. Just because it’s so good at pulling heat. Which is why it gets so hot. So when you touch it on a cold day it really feels colder than the air. But it’s not. It’s just pulling the heat from your hand. So… don’t lick the rail!!

[@foordman1]

Your videos always have very useful information, I am building a benchtop garden railroad in g scale . Off topic question, what is an inexpensive hotel in Ely Nevada to stay at, going there in April.

[@ToyManTelevision]

Hi. Well in Ely they generally are either crappy or expensive. The prospector is perhaps the cheapest decent place

[@foordman1]

@@ToyManTelevision Thanks for the information I will look into it.

[@royreynolds108]

One of my tasks where I use to work was to evaluate a proposed railroad to be built in Saudi Arabia not far south of the Iraqi border from the port on the Arabian Gulf. Besides suggesting using rebuilt locos instead of new, I changed the track to CWR to lower the cost. Almost immediately there was a question about sun kinks, etc. I pointed out that the temperature differential there is about 32*F (0 C) to about 135* to 140*F. Since the rail may get to about 40*F over ambient temperature that would be a swing of 140 + 40 = 180 - 32 or 150*F. There are places in the US that have CWR where the temperature swings from -30*F to 120*F and with the addition of rail temperature of maybe 40*F that would be [120 + 40]- (-30) = 160 + 30 = 190*F or 40*F more swing than should be expected for the proposed railroad. CWR is laid at the median temperature (or expected temperature) of the rail then the rail would need to be adjusted for the higher median temperature for CWR to be successful. No problem.

[@ToyManTelevision]

And depending on grade you may get more movement down the grade than any temperature swing! I imagine in Saudi Arabia the grade issue isn’t a problem…

[@royreynolds108]

@@ToyManTelevision The proposed railroad was to be about 200 miles long to serve a new military city. I proposed the use of a welding machine at the east end, just off the dock, to weld strings of rail for the yard and the main line. The rail strings would be run out of the welder onto holding rolls for loading onto a rail train for delivery to the end-of-track. I also envisioned using prestressed concrete ties. Instead of using box cars, I suggested using containers very similar to the use of container trains now; this was in 1977. For hauling fuel, there would be tank-car trains of 15 to 20 tank cars to be loaded and unloaded from each end instead of each car. In other words, use what works here, there with only about 200 employees instead of the number the report had suggested. I also suggested a future possibility of connecting the eastern end with the existing railroad further south.

[@vincenttolve9756]

Great lesson. Questions: What sort of clipper do you use to cut the rail? How did you do the brickwork on the shop on your old railroad? Thanks from a grateful, but incompetent , student.

[@ToyManTelevision]

Hello! A battery powered Dremel tool with a cut off wheel. Only way to cut large rail. And I use it on all rail because it works great!! The outside shop was an interesting project. As always a “clever idea” that sort of worked and sort of failed. At some point I need to rebuild that.. anyway I first built it from clear sheet acrylic! A large clear box! With a pitched roof! Hum… this should be a Tuesday show! Anyway a huge clear “plexiglass” building with two arched doors. Then I bought a brick wall casting. Pola? I don’t remember. Was around in the 90’s. Then I made a mold from Space Shuttle Dow rubber. Long story there. Anyway it worked great! Then I cast about ten of these walls in urethane. Two part tan indestructible, casting stuff. There’s a bunch of products on line. Anyway, that gave me a whole bunch of wall sections that were approximately 12 inches tall and 18 inches wide. No I needed to find someway to glue urethane to acrylic sheet. That’s when the project went badly. I could not find a glue that would do that. Had I done my original castings in two part polymer, that clear stuff that they sell in the craft stores, it would’ve been simple anyway, it’s very difficult to find any glue. It will attach urethane to sheet acrylic. Anyway, I cut out the windows and doors and everything into the brick castings glued that as best I could to the clear box and then went in with Plastruct and evergreen plastic strips to make the windows and doors gluing them to the acrylic “box”. The roof is actually made out of that stuff they sell at party stores, it’s sort of like a plastic version of the old crêpe paper streamers. Anyway, it’s a corrugated plastic that you string around in a room before throwing a birthday party. A bunch of paint and weathering, rust on the party, streamer roof, and there it is! Except the castings cracked in a bunch of places because they weren’t really well attached to the acrylic box. Like I said, that was the failure in the project such as it was.

[@vincenttolve9756]

@@ToyManTelevision Thanks very much. All good ideas but beyond my present "skills." I'll try though and see what happens.

[@timothyboles6457]

Good stuff. I don't think that putting drops on every section of rail is overkill, I think it's nessecity for good signal for the DCC. By the way, I used to take the 30 bus too!! Lol Aluminum and brass rail are way to dimensionally unstable to use in your neck of the woods(or desert as it may be) The stainless steel rail is more expensive but worth it for less headaches. The smaller code 250 looks much better and shouldn't cause what expansion you will get to be that bad as you showed.

[@ToyManTelevision]

Check the top comment on the nickel silver. I had no idea! No wonder it’s working so well! Not too expensive either.

[@timothyboles6457]

@@ToyManTelevision I was at a friend's house in Tracy CA. And we set up some track on the ground one day. It was early summer. And I brought a #6 code 332 brass switch. So no big deal running our trains around. And when I was packing up to go home, I tried putting the switch in the box. And it was to long!! By almost an 1/8"! I couldn't figure out at first why it didn't fit!! I drove back home to the east bay area and low and behold, the switch fit the box again. It was 25 or 30 degrees color at my house! And the thing shrank!! Lesson learned

[@wcarlhepker4806]

Can you run a lead engine and a mid-train DPU on your garden railroad, or do they get out of sync with each other? Should the mid-train DPU actually be unpowered if I am simulating a DPU?

[@ToyManTelevision]

Sure can! But I used to run ABBA FA1s. Two motors each. 8 total motors. On the 4% grade it was pulling about 8 Amps. And that was a real problem. I could pull the train with two locomotives. 4 amps. More traction power than all 4 locomotives! Too much voltage drop through the 14 or 16 gauge extension cords.. one reason I’ve gone to 10 gauge. But also I’m only running steam.. much less amperage. No matter. I would say you may be better off with a dummy locomotive. But not as much fun. So… it depends I guess.

[@michaelmorgan7893]

Ironically enough, the Santa Fe had 50 Alco locomotives called "Alligators" back in 1959-1975. They were called that because of their long, low nose on the front of the cab. (Alco RSD 15)

[@ToyManTelevision]

I love alligators. No not the lizard but the locomotives

[@Redwagon2012]

0:08 is that D&RGW 346?

[@ToyManTelevision]

Yup!!

[@yourlocalidiot23432]

im the 40th like

[@ToyManTelevision]

Hi. Thanks!!

[@FunAtDisney]

What ever happened to your old ground layout?

[@ToyManTelevision]

Well I moved outa state. I still have the track. Lookin for a buyer… like 500 feet of aluminum rail on LGB and Micro Engineering ties.

[@frankhellman6879]

Step 1: Wait for snow.

[@ToyManTelevision]

Step 2. Drink hot rum.