7 replies to this topic

[Chaos]

I have a few questions for those of you who have been lucky enough to build a terrain coaster, or any model outside of your house.

For now, my questions particularly pertain to summertime outdoor building

 

Have you ever had to worry about squirrels, insects, or any other wildlife getting all over the coaster?

 

If you're building something tall, how helpful is it to have footers/supports that extend underground? And if it is helpful, how deep should the supports go?

 

And finally, for those with experience:

How long was the coaster left standing? What happened to it? And is there anything you could do to maintain it better?

[fastman xc]

Kevin brought me back from the dead for these questions. Hello! Here we go

 

I never worried about wildlife on my coasters, even on Pine Mine where I probably should have. The deer could have trampled it anytime, but there really wasn't anything I could do to prevent that since it was not my property (college campus). For my other coasters in my backyard, occasionally a squirrel would check it out but at least to my knowledge none would climb on.

 

Regardeless of tall or short or whatever, I always anchor rods in the ground. You can check out Pine Mine and The Finisher for examples. I usually use either reds (specifically red so I could find them after) or greys if the soil is soft enough. So for depth I guess between 3.5 and 7 inches. I either pushed them in with my fingers or pounded them in with a hammer. Pretty fun. And let me tell you those supports were freaking rock solid. It's great.

 

My outdoor coasters in my backyard and also I guess Pine Mine were built in just a few weeks, maybe a month or so. Throughout the time it was up there just needs to be some maintenance and upkeep of track shape and maybe some relaying of tubing. Being outside will cause the tube to be softer in the summer due to temperature, so that will affect the speed and lubrication you may be using.

 

I'll do my best to actually come back and check again soon for a reply, and would be glad to take any more questions you have!

 

First time back here in years and I think it went well,

~Joel

[~stεεlspectrum~]

Oh hey there. This is sort of a relevant question (and answer below it).

 

Idea - Has anyone tried doing a terrain tube supported coaster? You could give each tube its own separate footer anchored down into the dirt. Basically like real life coasters.

[CW5X]

^Gargantuan was sort of like that since the base was only there to guide the shape and not support in any real sense. I could've taken it away and left the rods the supports were connected with to by themselves but since I use tent pegs for that stuff, it didn't make much difference. Actually, I don't think I had enough pegs (or time) to do that anyway. I didn't really build footers for it but since you're talking about pushing rods into the ground, they would act the same way and would be feasible in my view if they haven't already been done. They'd actually be very solid too if built well.

With regards to the some of the original questions, I didn't leave things outside for more than a week maximum but I never had any problems with stuff anyway. Even my cat who sometimes likes to chew the K'nex didn't touch it and other things like foxes and birds never really paid attention. Also, if I could be bothered, I took the track off and put it back on again at night but the temperatures in Scotland mean this isn't really necessary. The track getting wet is the main issue here. Most of the stuff, like Joel said, is just keeping the shape of the track and sorting out little bits and bobs from time to time.

[Chaos]

Thanks, Joel! I was hoping some of the old guys would come back to answer my questions. If everything goes well, I should start implementing them soon.

 

I think the biggest thing that has me worried now is the rain. And the fear that I will lose speed way too quickly (but then again I fight against speed issues with all my models).

[Jogumpie]

I´ve been thinking about this and the main thing that comes to mind is to enclose the station, so the train stays dry when it´s not running.

[fastman xc]

I just took the train inside when I was not out there. As for track integrity in the rain, I only lubricated the track tubing with furniture polish, so I was never worried

[CW5X]

I just wiped the track dry and the coasters seemed to run fine. Taking it off is chilly though.