IMHO HO is too small for outdoor work. I don't run any trains, but as I
recall, the tracks are brass or some similar metal that will corrode if
exposed to a lot of nasty weather. This makes electrical trouble for
trains that don't have enough weight on the wheels to break through the
corrosion layer on the tracks. You might be able to avoid this problem
if you run a train with some internal power source (batteries in the
drawn cars) and maybe radio control.

Just an estimate, to use the track as an electrical source you would do
better with something with a gauge of around a foot rather than an inch.
The weight would be enough to make better contact with the rails and the
wheel size would be large enough to compete more effectively with weeds.
(How *do* you weed between the tracks on HO gauge?) Most people don't
run that sort of model and I suspect they would be pricey (but they're
getting to the level that you can ride on them). Of course at that size
you could run an internal gasoline engine or a car battery.

Out of curiosity I Googled garden railroad and found a several (~2
million) sites, including people who have them, people who sell them,
magazines and e-zines, etc. e.g.:

http://www.railsusa.com/gardenrr.shtml
http://www.largescale.com/
http://www.tttrains.com/sjrp/ "radio control is essential for operation
in the garden"

Much more, more than I wanted to go through.



Puckdropper wrote:
I'm thinking about putting an HO Scale railroad in the garden when I
plant it this spring. I'm posting here because I need advice on what I
can lay track ON that would be sturdy and not harm my tomatoes,
strawberries, watermelon, carrots, green beans (or whatever else I plant.)...