A garden railway or garden railroad is a model railway set up outdoors in a garden. G scale is the most popular scale for garden railroads, except in the United Kingdom, where 16 mm scale is widely used.
A garden railway's scale is usually in the range of 1/32 (Gauge 1) to 1/12 (1:12), running on either or gauge track. 1/32 scale (1:32) is also called "three-eighths scale" meaning 3/8 of an inch on the model represents one foot on the real thing. For similar reasons, 1/24 scale (1:24) is also called "half-inch scale". Other popular scales are 1:29, 1:20.3 (representing gauge prototypes on track; and 16 mm (1:19). Less frequently, smaller scales are use.
Model locomotives in 16 mm scale are often live steam models of British narrow gauge prototypes that run on ) track, the same as O gauge.
The rolling stock of a garden railway is smaller than that of a backyard railroad or miniature railway and cannot be ridden.
See also Rail transport modelling scales Backyard railroad Ridable miniature railways Children's railway
References
External links
Large Scale Central Garden Railways Magazine DCCWiki article on Garden Railroads with links to using DCC in the garden.