dps wrote:
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.

I didn't realize the weight of large scale engines would break through
the corrosion. Nickel silver track is supposed to have a electrically
conductive corrosion layer, but I'm not too sure.


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.

Weed barrier. If I slice it in to strips larger than the roadbed it
should handle most weeds. The others will have to be pulled up young...
very young. (Just like most gardeners recommend.)

*online resources*

Thanks for the links... I googled before I posted and also searched the
trains.com forums. (I saw a guy post here I knew from there.)


Much more, more than I wanted to go through.




I've got HO scale stuff now (and an excess of sectional track due to
past layouts) so to do something like this means I have to spend a
little amount of money. My Bachmann standard series locomotives are
going to be doing most the work... They're quite hard to destroy. My
good stuff stays inside!

Puckdropper
--
www.uncreativelabs.net

Old computers are getting to be a lost art. Here at Uncreative Labs, we
still enjoy using the old computers. Sometimes we want to see how far a
particular system can go, other times we use a stock system to remind
ourselves of what we once had.

To email me directly, send a message to puckdropper (at) fastmail.fm