# Elevated railway: Kit or Piece by Piece?



## kwschin (Dec 24, 2010)

Might be redundant, but I'm going to ask for input any way. 
Have a 14 by 16 free standing sun room that I want o run an elevated, single-loop railway above the door and windows. Have to admit I'm not doing this for the sake of model railroading (too many other hobbies and toys), but for something to enjoy running around while I'm in the hot tub, lounging or building models. 

Bought a New Bright Christmas set this past year and realized that it's not the best four out in the tub, plus I want to run it around the tree, so I'm looking at going with a set and buying extra track or going piece by piece. Want to run early USA steam type locos, so I've looked at some of the Bachmann sets. Unfortunately I can't tell how many feet of track the power pack with work with (Looking at 60 feet). Didn't know about RC controls and other new stuff since I did some N scale with my son in the early '90's; so I've been planning to use a regular power pack. Just want a train to go round and round. Nothing else.

So, anyone running Bachmann sets and recommend, or don't recommend, or have other suggestions; brands, power, etc.?





Thanks for any input.


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## jake3404 (Dec 3, 2010)

First of all. If your going with the cheapest option available then I suggest not doing R/C. You will have added cost of batteries and control equipment. The advantage is you wont have to clean track. The cheapest option is to use a power pack, like you are suggesting, but you will have to clean track on occasion and that will depend on how dirty your environment is. Since your putting it in a sunroom, I'm assuming that the track will be out of the elements, which will mean less cleaning. But you will still have to, so be prepared for that. 

The Bachmann set are ok, for just running trains they work just fine. They are a cheap option with pretty good reliability. Of course there are much more expensive options that have much higher reliability, but you have to weigh the cost. 

You mentioned that you want to run "USA early steam" this means you should keep radius of your curves in mind. Some of the longer locomotives dont like sharp curves and tend to derail. Try to get as wide sweeping curves as you can. The radius of the curves that come in the Bachmann sets is 2' (I'm pretty sure of that, but some could correct me if I'm wrong). At 2' that is a pretty sharp curve, if you can strech it out to a 4' radius, you will be much better. 

As far as track...Stainless steel is the best when it comes to resistance to getting dirty, but it is also the most expensive. I use brass and my layout is outside. Brass gets dirty pretty quick, but I use R/C so I dont have to worry about it. If your budget allows I would suggest Stainless Steel. If not, there are some Nickle Silver out there that works pretty good. I'm not sure about Aluminum as I have no experience with it. 

For the track I would say go with sectional, it makes putting track down easier. If you went with flextrack, your going to also need to purchase a railbender and that adds cost. Since it is a simple around the room type layour, use sectional track. Brands....well there is LGB (though with the recent bankrupcy thing, I'm not sure about availability), USA, Aristocraft, Train-Li (I think they make sectional) and a few others. 

Good luck, and ask more questions if you have them.


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## blueregal (Jan 3, 2008)

Two things don't put it up so high that when you get older with bad legs and knees like me you can still get to it. I wouldn't go any higher than what I could reach easily by standing on a little step stool. Also I wouldn't use anything less than 10ft curves because as you find or decide on newer engines, (we all do it) you want that to be the minimum to run larger loco's if you choose, actually bigger is even better 20fter's if you can. Regal


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## jake3404 (Dec 3, 2010)

Posted By blueregal on 25 Jul 2011 11:56 AM 
Two things don't put it up so high that when you get older with bad legs and knees like me you can still get to it. I wouldn't go any higher than what I could reach easily by standing on a little step stool. Also I wouldn't use anything less than 10ft curves because as you find or decide on newer engines, (we all do it) you want that to be the minimum to run larger loco's if you choose, actually bigger is even better 20fter's if you can. Regal 



Just for clarification. 10 ft and 20 ft is diameter. I was talking in radius, so a 4 ft radius translates to 8 ft diameter. In this scale both are used so watch out for that.


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

8 or 10 foot diameter curves in a 14 foot wide room might be pushing things a bit. You'd have quite a bit of space between the track and the corners - so either very deep corner shelves or suspended somehow. Also, 8 and 10 foot diameter curves is where track, even used track off EBAY, starts getting expensive.


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## wchasr (Jan 2, 2008)

I have an aquaintance that purchased a LOT of track to run his cheap Bachman set throughout his whole house. To my knowledge the trains stopped within a wall and he's never bothered to fish it out. IF you will be using the Bachman set pony up the cash for one of Barry's drive systems and good track. My experience with indoor hot tubs is there is a LOT more humidity than you'd expect. This leads me to recommend to get good track, nickel silver or stainless if you are going with track power. Same goes for the locomotive, heat & humidity may not be your friend. If you are going RC remote then you will need to charge batteries so access becomes an issue heat and humidity may still be an issue but you can go to cheaper track work with aluminum or brass. The Bachman track will rust in that environment, quickly. For simply enjoying a train running overhead in the Hot tub "room" find an LGB locomotive (a mogul perhaps?) and the rolling stock you want and good track work then let them run. So to answer the title of this topic go piece by piece. Hope I interpretted your question correctly? 

Chas


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## cape cod Todd (Jan 3, 2008)

Bigger is better as far as curves go but space can be eaten up pretty quickly with a wide radius curve especially inside. 
For my money I have been very happy with a LGB set I bought years ago to go around the Xmas tree. The price was a bit more than say a bachmann set but the track is more robust and the engines are built to last. Some have a decent sound system in them. Their equipment is built to handle 4' diameter curves. Track will get dirty over time and affect the power pickups on the engine. The plastic wheels actually break down a bit and leave a residue on the rails. You can upgrade to metal wheels down the line. Look for an engine that has more power pickups. I have 4, 2 axle engines and they do tend to get dirty quickly and need to get cleaned often. The LGB and USAT ones have power pickup shoes in addition to the wheels. Bachmann is reissuing a 2-4-2 small porter type loco that might be perfect for your needs. See it on the last page of the current garden Railways Mag. 
My first year into the large scale outside I used the 1 amp starter set power pack that came with the LGB set on 125' of track. It worked fine running a single smaller engine and a handful of cars. Bigger engines will suffer with less power. 
Good luck and happy RRing.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

Being that the track will be in a high humidity area I'd go with the SS track but it is a bit pricy. For control I'd try to find me a used Aristo Craft Train Engineer which is a type of RC system but you are using track power with a way side receiver. This system works good for what you intend to do. The newer Bachman locos run pretty good and for no more than you may run may be fine without going to Barrys drive train. Later RJD


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## Axel Tillmann (Jan 10, 2008)

Actually I think High Humidity area will actualy promote the rusting of the stainless steel. Never forget it is stain - less but not stain free! You best choice is Brass with cleaning (ie. a track cleaning car), or if you don't want to clean of oxidation, use Nickel plated brass (not to be mixed up with Nickel Silver). Nickel doesn't oxidate at all.


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## Mik (Jan 2, 2008)

No matter what you use, it will need cleaned regularly. We've found that while the brass track in our livingroom doesn't oxidize, it DOES get coated with oily black crud within a few weeks - whether you run it regularly or not.- which suggests an environmental, rather than electrical, source. Would SS attract it as much? I don't have the $$ to find out. 

As for the curve question. Just like outdoors, what % of the available space do you want to give over to just getting the train turned. How much of your budget are you willing to spend the basic circle? -And- Are you going to be upset if you can't run some huge hog of a thing on it someday? Small curves do limit what you can run, but within those limits there are still lots of choices. 

Another thought, would you rather spend your $ now or later? The sad thing is, many items that have a low price now, tend not to last very long - especially when you skimp on maintenance. - There is a reason most commercial overhead layouts continue to run LGB - and it wasn't their superior advertising. Hartland seems almost as good. The other brands may get there, someday. For now, you can get two Bachmann or Aristo engines for the price of one used LGB, but, especially if you're running long periods daily, the LGB engine will probably still be running when the 2nd cheaper brand one dies.... Which way makes more sense is entirely a personal choice.

If you have access to a table saw and a drill, making track hangers is fairly easy and inexpensive... it does, however, get pretty boring after the first dozen or so. Again, a personal choice.


60 running feet can be easily done with a power pack and single pair of feeder wires. (I like the Aristo/Crest 5400, but some sound systems don't) Two sets of feeder wires is just 'insurance'.



Rail clamps, screwed joiners, or some other firm connection overhead are probably a really good idea, as is double checking the clearances where doors sweep 

Last, just like any other layout; have a plan to access every foot of track, make a budget you can live with, and allow the time necessary to maintain it.


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

Get brass track. For a 14' w room I wouldn't use any diameter wider than 5' which is a step up from 4'diameter R1 curves. Anything wider would look really odd in that space if the track is wall mounted. If the track will be suspended from the ceiling then maybe wider track makes sense. When I had an around the room layout I used wall mounted track with R1 curves with Bmann Big Hauler trains and it ran fine.


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