Do you store your garden railway in the garage in winter? It doesn't have to be! As a rule, you can also use them in winter.
Snow plow for the garden railway
Many garden railways are resistant to all weather conditions. So you can leave them outside even in winter without any problems. If the train is to make its rounds in the garden without any problems even in winter, the rails first have to be freed from snow and ice. Most of them use a special snow plow here, which does not, however, remove snow from the corresponding switch positions 100 percent. A control is therefore indispensable.
Individual elements (protective shields for locomotives) are available from specialist retailers that can be used to convert a conventional garden railway into a snow plough. Of course, a little talent for handicrafts is an advantage when converting the locomotive. Moreover, the use of the snow plow is primarily only suitable for fine powder snow. You should always remove thick layers of snow and ice on the rails yourself by hand.
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Tip: A snow plow can also be used all year round, for example to clear the railway line of small branches, e.g. in tunnels that are difficult to access, etc.
Insert lawn heating
Instead of using a snow plow, you can also integrate an electronically operated rail heating within the complete track layout. For example, the use of lawn heating (hot water operation) is recommended for this purpose, which can remain below the rail guide all year round. However, this type of winter equipment can quickly turn out to be very expensive for a larger garden railroad.
Slightly cheaper: heating foils
So-called heating foils, which can be bought in electronics stores, are also excellently suited and a lot cheaper. They can only be deployed under the rails during the winter season. The individual elements have to be cut to fit the garden railroad and then directly connected to each other.
In general, a rail heater usually takes 10 to 30 minutes to melt snow and ice on the rails. Garden railway operations can only be resumed after this.