Indoor or Outdoor Large Scale Railroads?

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I started construction of my first serious Large Scale model railroad in the newly constructed basement of my mountain cabin in April of 1994 although I had several simple flat layouts as test cases starting from about 1990. In Sept 1996, I started an outdoor version in the backyard of my home in southern California. It's now mid 2006 and I've had more than a decade of experience discovering the ups and downs of building both indoors and outdoors. This page is an attempt to summarize my experiences so that others may learn from them as well.

The bottom line is that there is no obviously best place to build a model railroad. Most smaller scale model railroads are built indoors simply because the small stuff cannot handle the outdoor environment. HO and N scales are small enough so that some remote degree of realism of scale is possible indoors. With large scale, prototypical curves are simply not possible unless you are building over your indoor polo field. Large Scale trains are marginally big enough to handle the outdoor environment where some form of scale realism is almost realizable so a choice might present itself.

Do I build indoors or out?

For many people, there might be little choice. There may be no room in one place or the other so that only one path is available. Others may have a choice. Where they build will have serious impacts on what they can build and how much work it takes to maintain the railroad. Still others may go completely overboard and be totally unreasonable by doing both.

Either way, large scale railroads are usually constrained by space. Often some serious and protracted negotiations are necessary to secure sufficient area for the right of way. Once rights are secured, the trend to pack trackwork everywhere needs to be avoided. There needs to be room for scenery and passage for the 1:1 scale people that will enjoy the railroad. Minimal trackage in any given field of view is good, this is the way that real railroads are viewed except in some exceptional areas of big cities.

GIRR overgrown For a lot of reasons, I had left my trains alone for more than two years. An outdoor railroad that is not continually maintained will soon succumb to the forces of nature, as did mine. The ivy has grown over and through much of the trackwork, the sun has disintegrated a significant number of Aristo tie strips and the weather in general has caused a short trestle in the foreground to come unglued. My kids have destroyed the trackwork leading to the garage, it'll have to be entirely replaced. As the GIRR is rehabilitated, I expect that I'll find a lot more stuff that has simply fallen apart.

nibbled fruit In contrast, the GIRR Mountain Division is virtually unscathed. This is the extent of degradation that I found after two full years without a single train movement. A mouse had chewed up all of the plastic fruit in these baskets. The track didn't even need cleaning.

**Indoor Vs. Outdoor**
Characteristic		Indoor	Outdoor
Prototype Selection	Pro		Wider selection of larger prototypes allowed by larger radius curves
Prototype Selection	Con	Reduced selection of prototypes Tighter radius curves limit prototypes to narrow gauge, mining, logging and streetcars
Rail Code	Pro	Practical to use smaller code rail to allow better looking trackwork
Rail Code	Con	"Standard" code 332 rail looks WAY too big, but at least it is sturdy	Harsher outdoor environment argues for heavy code 332 rail, code 250 can work but is harder to maintain
Available Area	Pro		Usually larger area available, allows wider curves, larger separation between scenes, less dense trackwork Sometimes a sloped area that is not otherwise very useful can be used for right of way set into the slope.
Available Area	Con	Usually restrained area argues for tight radius curves, tendency to put too much trackwork too close Easily can consume an entire room or more, but if a basement, garage or attic is available, may not result in lost living space.	Area consumed by the railroad is pretty much lost to uses other than gardening
General Maintenance	Pro	Much lower
General Maintenance	Con		Much higher, itemized below
Track Cleaning	Pro	Yearly, maybe less frequently when using all metal wheels	None unless battery power is used where dirty track will actually provide better traction.
Track Cleaning	Con		Serious impact when using track power, train length power pickups can significantly improve reliability Even with battery power, large grit, leaves, twigs and other debris need to be cleaned off the track
Foliage	Pro	Simulated foliage requires little maintenance	If properly selected, natural foliage can be very attractive
Foliage	Con	Good looking artificial foliage is either expensive to buy or time consuming to make in the large quantities required	Weeding, pruning and trimming Irrigation and removal of dead foliage
Water Features	Pro	Simulated water features require little maintenance	Natural water features are practical and can be visually attractive Active water features can produce pleasing sounds
Water Features	Con	Real water features are impractical due to leakage and humidity issues	Water features of any kind are fairly high maintenance
Weather	Pro	No "off season" if the enclosure is adequately insulated, heated or cooled	Running trains outdoors in good or acceptable weather can be very pleasant
Weather	Con	Less time spent outdoors	Summer heat, winter cold, rain, wind and snow can restrict train time
Weather Damage	Pro	"Normal" bad weather is no problem as long as the enclosing building holds up
Weather Damage	Con	none unless the conditions are so bad that the building is damaged	Weather damage is a fact of outdoor life, it will happen, sometimes seriously Floods, hurricanes, tornados, toppled trees, lightening can totally destroy a railroad.
Track Height	Pro	Usually set high so that the layout is near eye level. Storage sometimes available under the layout Don't have to bend as much to reach the railroad (really important for those with bad backs)	Usually set at ground level but can be raised on a terrace or other structures Trains are further from the eye allowing lower levels of detail on rolling stock, locomotives and structures
Track Height	Con	Trains can be "in your face", lack of details shows up more	Bending and kneeling to work on the railroad or rerail trains can be hard on the back and knees. With the track at ground level, you will find yourself at ground level quite a lot. As one gets older, getting up from the ground gets harder. Think about this one.
Scenery Construction	Pro	Pretty much any kind of scenery desired can be simulated	Nature can do some of the work Water features are possible and can be very attractive
Scenery Construction	Con	Good looking scenery requires some significant level of artistic skill Scenery construction can be very time consuming Water features must be simulated	More limited selection of materials available that will withstand the environment
Security	Pro	Better, the whole railroad can be locked up
Security	Con		Whatever is left outdoors is subject to vandalism
Gardening	Pro		Those that like gardening and trains can have it both ways
Gardening	Con	Live plants on an indoor railroad are impractical	Can be a chore if you don't particularly like gardening
Animals	Pro	Fewer animals to deal with
Animals	Con	Mice and spiders can still be a bother Cats can knock over trains and scenery	All manner of wild animals can invade, from moose to mice. Larger and burrowing animals can do considerable damage
Train Storage	Pro	Trains can be stored right on the layout
Train Storage	Con		Trains must be stored indoors or they will not survive long Considerable time and effort to bring out and put away trains unless a track leads to indoor storage where entire trains can be brought out at once.
Electrical Issues	Pro	Conventional low voltage wiring practical 110 VAC equipment can just be plugged in to an available conventional outlet although GFI is preferred
Electrical Issues	Con		Low voltage wiring must be buried to hide it, often special wire required 110 VAC equipment must be protected from the weather and connect to GFI outlets

In almost every case, either indoor or outdoor has a decided advantage, few characteristics share the same attributes. To make your own decision, you will need to pick the characteristics that are most important to you and then accept the rest.

For example, if you just have to run a Hudson followed by a long string of heavyweights, then an indoor layout will just not do the job (unless you've actually got that indoor polo field with an attic...). If you want to run streetcars or model logging, then you can do either. If you've got a truly brown thumb, then maybe staying indoors would work better but gardeners will naturally be drawn outdoors. If you live in a bad neighborhood or your property is not well secured then maybe indoors would work better. In either case, you will need to do some kind of construction work, so if you are not good with tools, then maybe you keep your plans indoor or outdoor very simple.

The most important thing is to think long and hard about what is likely to happen in your environment and plan around the worst of the problems.

If I had this decision to make again, I'd be torn. Indoors is clearly better from a stability and maintainance point of view. Outdoors is clearly better for the much greater flexibility in selection of equipment point of view. The final decision would have to be based the area available.

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