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wrote to us and maybe a few other people. A handful of these questions relate to products that are described on our Garden Train Store pages. However, we've been around long enough to know that for every person who posts a question, there are a dozen or more folks with the same question that never ask. So we're going to try to start (and keep) posting those questions on this page, in the hopes that it will do other readers some good.
Sometimes, I wait to post a few question here until some "follow-up" had been taken care of, so they're not exactly in order. But since I reply immediately to each sender's e-mail that won't be a problem if you send me a question. And we're generally pretty good about getting questions and answers posted here within a couple of weeks.
This may seem like a simple exercise, but I regard these exchanges as a valuable resource. For example, if two or three people ask me basically the same question, that tells me that I need more or better articles on the subject on my web pages. The question of using O gauge trains out-of-doors keeps coming up, for example. I haven't got an article about that done up, because A: I don't have enough hands-on experience to feel 100% confident of the best approach and B: I'm having a hard time getting straight answers from the track manufacturers. But it's on my list, as are many others.
So, if you have a question that isn't answered on this page or in the articles, send it in - chances are twelve other people are wondering the same thing. And your questions are what keep the site growing.
As always, we hope that you will please contact us with any corrections or other follow-ups to our answers.
Thank you for the excellent dictionary. I think I saw something about rail height but I could not find it again. So do all these manufacturers have the same height rails so we can mix them?
Frank,
Rails are measured in Codes that translate to thousandths of an inch. So Code 332 rail is about a third of an inch high, Code 250 is a quarter of an inch high, and so on.
LGB, AristoCraft, and USA Trains all make track using Code 332 rail that is virtually identical. Code 332 rail is really too big for most garden trains, but people like it because it's so solid and it stands up to things like foot traffic that you don't have to deal with indoors.
Other brands like Llagas Creek use Code 250 or even smaller rail. It looks a little more realistic, but the trade-off is that you have to build a more solid base for it, since it's not quite as sturdy.
The other consideration is that more kinds of ready-built turnouts are available in code 332 track than other types, so if you want a switchyard, you might have that part of your RR in code 332, even if you transition to code 250 or something for the rest of it.
Hope this helps - Paul
Lee Ann, in Utah, writes:
Hi!
I had a lot of fun gathering up structures at the 2nd-hand store last year. Most of them got left outside all (Utah) winter and did fine. One ceramic cookie jar, sealed shut and with a coat or two of clear protectant, did not do so well, though. It completely disintegrated! I'm just laughing, because it only cost $1.50 in the first place, but I thought you'd enjoy this photo.
Lee Ann,
Ouch. Thanks for the photo. Maybe it needed a weep hole? - Paul
Robert,
If you don't have room for a turnaround loop at each end of the RR, you might consider a
"back-and-forth" circuit.
This set could be added to about any other track system to create something that would
allow you to let the train go back and forth on the days that you didn't want to manually
operate it. You COULD put turnouts and sidings etc in between to practice swapping cars
around, etc. on the days you wanted to operate. But on the days you wanted to let the
train run while you were barbecuing or something, the reversing unit could help.
The whole set is available from several vendors at:
this link
On a tight budget, I might consider starting with this and an aristo starter set and another 25' or so of track. If you buy an Aristo Starter set, you can use the track outside, and most of them come with a remote control that controls any train you put on the track. Later you can add turnouts and industries.
Starter sets are shown on this link. If you get a Bachmann starter set, you CAN'T use the track outside, but they're good values otherwise.
Another possibility might be just to buy the track and a power supply separately and buy
a Trolley or Trolley-like car.
Bachmann 
Or you could start very small, say in one corner, and work your way out. . .
Hope this gives you some ideas. However you build, I would consider raising the railroad so you can see the train running even when there are plants growing in the garden.
The Canfields have O gauge trains, but they have a state-of-the-art raised railroad solution that looks like it will hold up in AZ.
Let me know if I can help with any of these ideas or if you have any other questions - Paul
Hi; I am looking for a model steam train for the garden. My father in law has an idea he wants one for his garden as a little feature. Nothing megga expensive. Could you make any suggestions? Kind regards, Claire
Claire,
Look at the "Starter Set" page. The TRAINS on the page are all designed to work outside. The AristoCraft sets include a simple remote control and track you can use outside. Plus they're a tad sturdier than the Bachmann. That said the Bachmann is always a good value if you're going to be buying a larger circle of track anyway.
I'd also consider buying a bigger loop of track. Brass track has jumped in price; if you're going to be buying extra track anyway, I'd look into AristoCraft's new Aluminum track, it's much less expensive and works almost as well for most purposes. I don't have any links to that yet, as it's still a fairly new product, and none of my suppliers has a great connection.
I don't usually recommend the really cheap sets by New Bright or whoever, because they're not made to hold up outside (or for very long inside, really), and people inevitably wind up being disappointed and deciding that Large Scale trains are a "con." That said, I have some contributors who use the really cheap stuff with the knowledge that when it breaks they can replace it cheap. Personally I like stuff that has a warranty and that I feel I can count on to run when visitors come over (and impress the heck out of them).
Hope this helps - Paul
Just getting started and have a lot to learn. Not sure what to model but centering on a B&O and D&RGW
Mark,
Both railroads have a lot of models available. If you decide to go with B&O consider an AristoCraft starter set. If you decide to go with D&RGW, consider a Bachmann starter set and a bit of outdoor-worthy track (although Bachmann trains are a good value, you can't use Bachmann track outside).
The DOWN side of this is that B&O models tend to be 1:29 or 1:32, and D&RGW models tend to be 1:22.5 or 1:20.3. The difference is because D&RGW trains ran on 36" track and B&O trains ran on 56.5" track. But both sets of models run on 45mm track (about 1.775"). So the D&RGW models pretend that 1.775" track represents 36" (if you do the math, you'll get 1:20.3), and the B&O models pretend that the 1.775" track represents 56.5" (if you do the math you'll get 1:32). The in-between scales 1:22.5 and 1:29 are actually compromises, but most starter sets are in one of those scales.
Not to worry. I have PRR and D&RGW. Sometimes I have an all-D&RGW day, and sometimes I have an all-PRR day, and sometimes I just put them on different tracks where they won't look funny next to each other.
My buildings and accessories go mostly between 1:22.5 and 1:24, but I put the bigger buildings in front and the smaller buildings in back, and nobody seems to mind.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if you have any questions you can't find the answer to in my articles - Paul
Paul, Have you wriiten any type of followup to your excellent article in the Summer, 2005 edition Of Family Garden Trains" regarding "Which Scale Should I Model?"
Have any significant developments occurred in any of the scales since that article? I am getting ready to launch a significant Garden Railway and am struggling with the scale issue. Thanks so much.
Richard,
Thanks for getting in touch. The BIG issues are still, do you want to model narrow gauge (which gives you many choices of old-timey, quaint, and relatively small prototypes that are modeled in larger scales like 1:20.3 and 1:22.5) or standard gauge (which gives you many choices of 20th and 21st-century trains in all shapes and sizes, including some very large pieces, modeled in smaller scales like 1:29 and 1:32)?
Regarding narrow gauge: LGB (~1:22.5) has had a rough time of it - they were just bought out by Maerklin, so not all of their line will be available in the near future, but Bachmann is still making most of their 1:22.5 stuff, and many companies (including Bachmann) are making 1:20.3 stuff that generally has dynamite quality. If you want to model Narrow Gauge, you can always start with a couple inexpensive Bachmann starter sets (which are all 1:22.5), and migrate toward 1:20.3 if you decide you like that look later - If you run 1:22.5 and 1:20.3 stuff in the same train, people may notice, but your track, buildings, and accessories will all be okay with either. Get some larger radius track to use outside, though, as A: you can't use Bachmann track outside, and B: your trains will look and run much better on larger curves.
Standard gauge is continuing to increase in popularity. AristoCraft, USA Trains, and several custom companies make trains in 1:29, which is about 10% too "large" for the track they're running on, but NOBODY can tell that just by looking at the trains on the tracks, and 1:29 users like to be able to see their trains a little better from a distance. MTH makes standard gauge trains in 1:32 that are very reasonable in price; a few custom manufacturers do, too, although some custom pieces that are advertized as 1:32 are really closer to 1:30. At any rate, the rising number of pieces available and new (though small) companies jumping into 1:29 AND 1:32 is promising for standard gauge modelers. Again if you run 1:29 and 1:32 stuff in the same train, people may notice, but track buildings and accessories you choose for 1:29 will be OK with 1:32 and vice versa. If you want to start with Standard gauge, consider starting with an AristoCraft starter set and a circle of larger-radius track.
In other words, nothing has changed except that 1:22.5 is relatively stable and 1:20.3, 1:29, and 1:32 continue to grow.
Accessory-wise, I'm afraid that most building kits are suitable either for 1:22.5 or 1:24 - if you want a REALLY realistic 1:20.3 or 1:29/1:32 railroad, you should consider building some or most of your own buildings.
Finally, what part of the world are you in? Many regions have clubs whose members will let you come over and see what they have - nothing like seeing the stuff really running and knowing what you're looking at to help you make this kind of decision.
Hope this helps, let me know if you have any other questions - Paul
Hi, I am wanting to model in a particular year rang such as the late 1940's. How can I be sure that any locomotives and rolling stock that I use are of the correct time frame? The reason I plan to model in the late 40's period, is because both steam and diesel were used at that time.
Kevin,
Do you have a particular railroad or part of the country in mind? That would help you narrow things down. For example, the Rio Grande & Western used steam as its primary motive power long after most roads were mostly dependent on diesel. Some roads that were mostly dependent on diesels by the late 1950s kept a fleet of medium-sized steam locomotives around for "excursions" into the 1960s. Some coal-haulers kept their BIG steam freighters around just for that during times when RRs that handled mostly "mixed" freight were doing just fine with diesels.
Also, RR consolidations during WWII caused some funny combinations of equipment on railroads that had been more consistent before the war; for example Pennsy kept getting "stuck" with USRA-design Mikados (2-8-2s) which they inherited from other railroads during the war. The Mikados that PRR had designed for themselves were superior in capabilities and easier to maintain, so a USRA Mikado might be repainted for PRR until the first time it needed serious work, and then it was as likely to be scrapped as not. That said, nobody makes a PRR-style Mikado I can afford, so I use the AristoCraft USRA-style Mikado on my PRR-inspired RR (and only a PRR fan would know the difference anyway).
As you can see, narrowing down to a single railroad or part of the country would give you a better idea of what might work or not, but there was a 35-year span in most parts of the country where you might see a combination of steam and diesel on the same railroad, depending on the railroad's circumstances, etc.
Early diesels that would not look amiss on RRs that still used steam include the FA-1 streamlined diesels that started being made in large numbers right after WWII, and the Alco RS-3, both of which are modeled by AristoCraft.
Many GP-7 freight diesels were made in the early 1950s. Nobody is making a GP-7 in Large Scale at the moment, though. . . .
Many steamers that had been built in the 1910s-1930s were still used on most major railroads until the late 1940s and some well beyond for special trains, etc. So your overall plan is possible, you just need to look into specifics as far as region and line are concerned.
Hope this helps - Paul
I've invested in LGB for my grandson; he now wants a mining train and a military train. We are members of Houston Area G Gauge Club.
Ms Alkas,
Glad to have you onboard. When I saw your message, I started checking around, because a VERY small number of camo'd military-style train sets were produced about 2005 by K-line right before they went out of business and Lionel bought them up. Haven't been able to find them, though, and they're not being made now. Still if you see one, know that A: they're no where near LGB's quality, or even Bachmann's, but they did exist at one time.
Mining trains should be easier. If nothing else, you can buy a little Bachmann Porter locomotive and a few little 4-wheeled gondolas like Aristo makes. I have a bunch of the gondolas myself, and they look fine with Bachmann and LGB.
Please let me know if you have any questions you can't find the answers to in my web pages - that's how we get most ideas for new articles - Paul
I need some help. I want to run my o/27 and o scale trains outside and i want to use my o/27 and o scale track. I will lay concrete for my roadbed and it will be at ground level. I plan to bring my track and trains back in i just cant afford to buy new track and may not be able to ever i am on a fixed income, i guess i just wanted to know if anyone has done this before and if it worked or should i not do it or can i make my own track if they make the rails. Not to sure of what i am doing. Thank you
Bobby,
Are you in touch with any garden railroading club members in the area? Almost all of them use Large Scale, but they may be able to help with with other logistics. The biggest club I know in your area is at http://www.svgrs.org
Have you seen Fred Young's railroad in our Outdoor O Gauge section. Fred uses ground-level on concrete (well actually in concrete,). He also uses Gargraves, but it might give you some idea.
Now to specifics. The first "garden railways" were all tinplate, and people took everything in and out every time they wanted to run trains, so this HAS been done before. It's especially possible in dry climates like yours.
Almost nobody leaves their Lionel trains outside when they're not running, so there are a lot of ways people have figured out to "schlep" trains in and out. I have some of those 56-quart clear containers, and I roll the cars and locomotives up in old hand towels or small-gauge bubble wrap and put them inside. I can carry 4-6 Large Scale cars in a container this way, I bet you could carry more like 16 O-gauge cars in a single container.
Once you have a solid concrete roadbed that you can put your track on and know it will provide a smooth and reliable base for your trains, there's no reason you can't take your track up and down, too. The down side is the hassle of "shlepping" your track. I might consider making a "carrier" for the track like they use for firewood, basically a doubled, reinforced bathtowel-sized piece of denim or other heavy-duty fabric with handles at both ends, so you can lay the track in it and carry it inside easily. I'd probably keep "quarter-circles" together so setting it back up the next time goes faster. I have done that with a portable Large Scale railroad, in fact.
The other thing to keep in mind is that if you have a good roadbed in a common Lionel track radius, you CAN convert to outdoor-ready track if you decide to later. (Maybe you could put it on your Christmas list or something.)
Hope this gives you some ideas. Please let me know if you have any more questions or concerns - Paul
Just starting to Add some buildings. I have two built but not sure how to put them down outside. Do I have to glue them onto some base or just put them on the ground
Any info you can give will be helpful. Thanks - Tom
Tom,
Thanks for getting in touch.
Regarding buildings, I find that being able to set them on something solid reduces maintenance. More often than not, I use cheap concrete stepping stones from the garden supply place. The 8"x16"x2" ones are very reasonable. I try to dig out underneath them a little and set them in gravel to make them level.
Marc Horowitz, the editor of Garden Railways goes a tad farther, he pours concrete foundations, often using hardware cloth or some such inside to keep them from cracking easily. That way he can put a station on a curved section of track and have the "platform" curve with the track.
Jack Verducci, who writes many Garden Railways articles, goes even further, creating elaborate settings for each building, complete with terraces, steps, and driveways. Verducci's book "How to design and Build Your Garden Railroad" went out of print almost as soon as it was published in 2006, but if you can track one down, it gives you an idea of his process.
Hope this helps. Back to the stepping stones, one advantage of these is that it gives you a place to stand or kneel when you're working on the railroad, but when you're done and you put the building back, it "hides" the path so visitors don't try to walk where they shouldn't. The only downside is if you use bright inner illumination, you'll see a line of light at the building's foundation.
Keep me apprised of how it's going. Photos are appreciated - Paul
Hello! You seem to know so much about pruning I'd like to ask this question: I have a right yellow threadleaf chamaecyparis that was so small and cute when I planted it; now it is 6 feet tall and I'd like to lop off about three feet of height. How do I do this without destroying its mounding shape? Does this mean I have to trim around the whole outside so it's proportionate to the height? Also, I've heard when you cut branches off this plant it will remain "dead" on the top. (So should I leave it alone?
Any advice would be most helpful!
Ellen,
Last year at the Biltmore House's gardens, I saw one of these that was over twenty feet tall, so yes they CAN get big. Something they don't tell you when you bring home a cute little pot.
The problem is that if you cut back BEYOND where there are live needles, you will kill that branch and the tree will take years to recover its shapee. The other problem with these is that you can't tell without digging into the plant how far back that can be. One thing is for sure, every year you let it go, you've let another six inches or so of internal growth die out and further limited the amount you can cut it back. Wish you had written last fall, because it's best to do this before winter, not right before Spring.
That said, you'll need to do some explorative surgery if you really want to know the verdict. I'm guessing you can get it back to about 4 feet in height if you're careful, and you can keep it there as long as you're careful to trim it twice a year. The first trim is the worst, so don't get discouraged.
You really have to work from the outside in. Go to the side of the tree that people see the least and start at a comfortable height (shoulder-height?). Grab a branch that is sticking way out and follow it into the first major junction. Chances are two branches are coming from that junction. Cut off the one that is the longest. Cut right along the edge of the branch so the scar will heal. Cut the branch that remains back a bit, too, being sure to leave several inches of healthy growth at the end. After you do several branches this way in the same area, you are starting to see into the tree a little. You are also allowing light and air into the heart of the tree which is a good thing. You will not BELIEVE how much foliage can come off the tree in this way without the tree's appearance even changing notably. Oh, I forgot to tell you, wear gloves, you could be here a while.
Remember, these trees don't occur in the wild, they're mutations that were cultivated specifically because they grow more branches than they need, and they shoot the branches out into all sorts of goofy directions. So it's entirely possible that under the riot of branches going in thirty different directions and competing for the same air and space, there are a few branches that could provide growth and continuity once some of the confusion is trimmed out.
Once you can see into the heart of the tree, look at the branches coming out of the top. If you trimmed those the way you've been trimming from the side, leaving, say six inches worth of live needles above the last cut, how far down can you cut? Again, I'm guessing that if you JUDICIOUSLY remove the longest branches, or at least the longest offshoot of the longest branches, you can remove 18 inches of height without affecting the health of the tree. Maybe more, but I can't say without seeing it.
Some of your friends' cautions may be based on experiences with shrubs like Taxus, which forms a "shell" of needles on the outside edge. If you cut off that shell, say trimming the shrub as little as six inches down, you can kill the top of the shrub, and it will never grow right again. But your chamaecyparis has ANYTHING but a shell. So removing some of the chaotic outer growth to allow inner growth to remain healthy can be very effective, and actually healthier for the tree over the long haul.
Once you have decided whether proceding further is worth it, you have to continue the process over the whole plant. You'll know you're done when no part of the plant has more than 6 inches of healty growth showing and you can just about see THROUGH the tree. Don't feel bad, as long as you don't get another drought, it will be healthier and fuller than ever (though not necessarily as tall) by fall.
Here's one OTHER consideration. What if you work your way to the core of the tree and it is apparent that the growth on the top part of the tree stops five feet from the ground? You still have the choice of finding a branch or three that are growing mostly out but could be trained to grow UP. If you go that way, use a wire or stake to encourage one of the other branches to grow upward, just remember to remove the wire or stake after a year to keep it from choking the branch.
Whatever you do, I would like to have photos of before, during, after, and six months after to add to my web site for the next person.
Hope this helps, best of luck - Paul
I just purchased the Bachman ET&WNC Passenger Set with the 4-6-0 steam locomotive at an estate sale. It didn't come with an ilustrated instruction manual or DVD. Do you know where I can get one? I checked the Bachman website and they don't have them either.
Jack,
if you've ever put a train set together you know everything that's in that instruction manual. Did you get the power pack with the train? The one thing you have to be careful of is to hook the track to the DC screws on the power pack.
Your passenger cars may be battery powered or track powered. If they are battery powered there is a little box for AA cells on the underside of the cars. The box has a little on-off switch next to it, be sure to turn the batteries off when you're not running trains. Chances are, the cars' lighting runs on track power, though, most of them do.
You can't use bachmann track outside. If you want to go outside with your trains consider AristoCraft track which is pricey because brass prices just went up, but it's still a relatively good value.
You have a very nice starter set. Make an oval of track and let-er-rip. :-)
Best of luck, let me know if you have any more questions - Paul
I have O gauge indoor rr. I would like to take it outdoors here in No Cal. Is there a way to convert the engines (Lionel TMCC) to battery like the newer G scale stuff?
If not, are there wiring tips to insure operational quality operation for O gauge track power? has anyone built small sheds to house loco's from the weather? It appears that gargraves ss track is the recommended... any other bullet proof track recommendations? - Al
Al,
Thanks for getting in touch. I'll take your questions in order of importance, if you don't mind.
Gargraves ISN'T recommended. It's just what some of my readers were used to indoors and when they moved outdoors, they kept using it. Atlas now advertises their Nickle Silver track as having UV-protected ties. They have solid rails, too, which look better and probably conduct electricity better.
That said, the article on using TMCC outside has some ideas about using AC Lionel-style power supplies on an outdoor railroad. I'm not a TMCC user, but the idea of running jumper cables, etc., is great for any railroad.
If you have MTH DCS trains, the principles are about the same.
The real problem with remote control O gauge is turnouts - nobody makes a TMCC or DCS-compatible turnout machine that is weather resistant. The Blessings have tried every brand and have tried protecting them from the weather every way they could and still not come up with a solution worth recommending to other folks. But if you're not interested in remote switching and you don't mind installing your turnouts where you can throw them by hand (I do, by the way, on my Large Scale railroad), that may not be a problem for you.
If you don't want to bother with TMCC or DCS remote control, just use a big enough power supply and lots of jumpers. A "conductive grease" and screw-on rail joiners helps, too, but in my experience, a good system of jumpers "covereth a multitude of sins."
Oh, finally, I don't know ANYBODY who has converted TMCC locomotives to batteries. It may be possible, but the TMCC signal comes through the track, so you'd have to do an interesting series of experiments.
Also, almost nobody stores Lionel trains outside. I would invest in a couple cheap beginner sets to run on damp days, and just run your good trains on dry days. Even leaving them out for longer perieds of time in direct sunlight is a problem unless you spray them with UV resistant acrylic or something (which you can't do if you want to protect the collectors' value).
Not to discourage you - the folks who HAVE taken their Lionel trains outside really enjoy running there. But O Gauge Outside is sort of in its infancy, so you'll be "breaking new ground" to some extent no matter how you decide to go. If you want to keep us appraised of your project, and send plenty of photos, I would love to share your progress (and setbacks) with the "next generation" of hobbyists - Paul
I am researching possible holiday decor ideas for our holiday program. I work for an association to promote central Seattle, WA and I am looking for some information about a holiday train display, a company or individual who does these displays and any general info you can give me.
Thank you so much for your help! I don't know anything about model trains so anything you can give me would be much appreciated.
Tiffany,
At least you're thinking ahead.
Are you thinking of a railroad outdoors or in a very large space? Then Garden Trains are probably what you need.
Most of the folks I know who set up garden trains either for permanent or temporary railroads either live east of the Mississippi or only take on really big jobs or both.
It would help if I had some idea of the scope of the thing you're looking for. As an example, Paul Busse's seasonal displays in NY and Philly are very large with 7 or more trains running at the same time, and thousands of people coming through every day to see them. The following link gives you an idea of the scale of Paul's projects (although this was a summer project). http://www.btcomm.com/trains/special_features/busse_railroad_at_holden/holden_express01.htm
If you're looking for something smaller, there may be somebody in your region who can help you. If you're looking for something much smaller, say a few trains around a big Christmas tree or something in a temporary railroad, the local Garden Railroading club may be able to help.
The biggest club in your region seems to be the Puget Sound Garden Railway Society: http://www.psgrs.org/index.html
I've had contact with the current Joe Sommers in the past, and he seemed like a decent fellow. He and or the club who should be able either to help you or to point you in the right direction.
Whatever happens, please use me as a sounding board if you feel like you need a 2nd opinion, or if you have any followup questions - Paul
Been thinking about this for 5-6 years. I have large area but lots of pine needles. No snow but lots of debris so may not be good idea.
I understand your concern. Many Garden Railroaders confront sap, twigs, leaves, needles, etc. The most effective garden railroads I've seen in wooded areas are raised off the ground, usually 20-28" (24" being the average). That way the stuff can't exactly bury the track, and you don't have to bend over backwards to sweep off the needles or wipe off the tree sap.
If you use the HDPE Flexible roadbed technique that builds a sort of ladder under the track, a certain percentage of the needles may even go through to the ground beneath, and the rest may be easier to sweep out.
MOST people have to wipe off their track or at least check it for obstacles before every running session, so this isn't a "deal-breaker."
Even more important, heavy evergreen cover can be a benefit. If your pines dump so much stuff that it essentially "mulches" the soil and keeps anything from taking root below, that actually reduces your work load. The UPSIDE of having such a wooded area is that you don't have to landscape anything if you don't want too. Or plant zero-maintenance deep shade plants and let them go.
Trains look great running through the woods, period. When you visit garden railroads that are built in non-wooded areas, you're often looking at gardens or landscaped areas that were just as much work to install and are just as much work to maintain as the railroad itself.
Wish I had more conifers on my property. I have a "wooded" area of my lot, but it's just scrub timber that dumps leaves and doesn't even provide shade. A bulldozer may be the appropriate tool for THAT job.
Best of luck, please let me know if you have any questions at all, especially if none of our articles seem to have the answer - Paul
I want to build a figure 8 where the track goes over top of the other on a bridge like to know what is the rate of climb for the track and is it possible to use four foot circle? thanks please let me know what you think
Kevin,
Excellent question. Lots of folks have done exactly what you're considering, but if this is going to be a permanent or semi-permanent railroad, I'd like you to think about your longterm satisfaction with your railroad.
Most model railroaders try to keep their railroads from having more than a 2% grade - that means that in 100" linear inches, the track rises 2". A 3% or even a 4% grade is "doable" if you don't mind relatively short trains and the train struggling to get up the hill and careening down the other side.
Worse, tight curves are relatively hard on trains - there's a lot more friction when the cars are going around a curve and the flanges are getting forced against the rails than when the cars are on a straight path or broad curve, and only one edge of the wheel surface is hitting the rail. Tight curves on grades are worse, tight curves on steep grades are even worse. So the combination of, say 4' circles and, say 4% grade is doable, but may wind up making your railroad look a little toy-like, at least. If this IS for a toy-like railroad (say a Christmas-window display), that's fine.
Okay, time to do the math. Most Large Scale trains need about 8" clearance (some of the 1:20.3 trains like the Bachmann Shay and larger narrow gauge locomotives need 9" or more). If you use a "bridge" that doesn't take up any vertical space to speak of (like the LGB 50600 girder bridge), you only have to take the height of the track, about 3/8", into account. If you are using 2x6 or HDPE roadbed, you'll need to add about 1.7" to that, just over 2" altogether, so your track will need to rise 10" between the lowest and highest point. If you want to make certain ANYTHING your friends bring over runs, you'll need to add another inch or two.
So let's say, on the average, you need 9" of rise between the low track and the high track on your crossover. Using R1 track (the kind that makes a 48" circle) to make a figure 8, the nine curves and handful of straight pieces you need on each side of the crossover add up to about 13.5', or 162 inches. Divide 9" by 162" and you get about a 5.6% grade. Again, this IS doable, but wil result in running very short trains (like your starter set), and a toy-like action as it comes off the high point.
Of course, if you have the lateral space, you CAN add straight pieces to get more length.
Let's say you add eight straights to the plan, four on each end, you now have 210".
Divide 9" by 210" and you get about a 4% grade, which is better.
That said, one problem with 48" curves in a figure 8 is that when your locomotive comes careening down the hill, it is thrown right into the tightest curve it was made to handle, causing the train to lurch in a toylike manner. So even if you have 48" curves on the outside edges, consider replacing the curves closest to the straightaways with 60"-diameter curve pieces, or even 10'-diameter curve pieces. They will make your railroad longer but not necessarily deeper, and your train will not lurch so badly going into the curves.
Now consider using R2 track (the kind that makes a 60" curve). A "straight" figure eight with 60" curves is about 220" long on each end. If you don't add any extra straights you still have a 4% grade, but your train WILL strain less than it would on the tighter curves. Add 8 1'- straight pieces (four per end) and you get to 268" between lowest and highest points, a 3.3% grade, still better. You get the idea.
If your railroad is really constrained for size, another option to consider is a "folded figure eight." This actually looks better if you do it right, because it's not as obvious to visitors, and gives you the whole length and width of your railroad space to get the grade in.
Check out the following link for ideas regarding folded figure eights.
Best of luck, please let me know what you figure out - Paul
A while back I bought some LGB track and trains from a store that was going out of business.My grandson and I have had a lot of fun running the trains through the house. I promised him that we'd put some trains in the back yard this year (2008). Is there any other way to set the track on the groud besides crushed rock.That is all that the internet talks about. Also, I have one wireless remote for LGB trains.Is there another wireless (less expensive) remote that will work with LGB trains.
Thanks for your time - Lee
Lee,
Thanks for getting in touch.
You will probably like the answer to your first question better than the answer to your second question.
First of all, crushed gravel has two uses. Some folks use it to provide the base for the trains. Nearly everyone uses fine crushed gravel to go between the ties and imitate ballast, the stuff that holds real ties in place. You can use one, both, or neither and still have a garden railroad.
An example of a building method using crushed gravel is our "One-Day-Railroad" method.
An example of a railroad that doesn't need crushed gravel to support the track is our "Simple, Raised Railroad" method. MOST people who use this method eventually raise the soil around most of the track and sprinkle fine crushed gravel between the ties to make it look more like a "real" railroad (and hide the 2x6s). This takes very little ballast - most folks who do this buy "chicken grit" or something a few bags at a time.
Finally, some folks who use raised HDPE Flexible Roadbed simply leave the dirt where it is and build extensive trestle systems to camouflage the construction method. This is actually a very attractive, but more time-consuming method. Folks who use HDPE raised roadbed and who raise the dirt to the level of the track usually use crushed gravel to imitate ballast.
Now for your LGB remote control question. I have a WHOLE article about remote control methodologies called Large Scale Power and Control. But the short answer is that LGB uses a method called MTS that is not supported by other brands. And it's usually only available on LGB trains that have it built in from the factory. It's closely related to DCC, an "open standard" used by several manufacturers, but it would probably take some fiddling to get the two to work together satisfactorily on your railroad.
When your plans get a little more concrete, send them to me along with a description of what you already have locomotive-wise, and I'll ask some experts if they would recommend sticking with MTS, going to something else, or combining MTS with some other kind of control system.
Hope this helps - Paul
Paul, I read your comments about Lionel large scale trains and some of your comments in the New Bright article about other "G" train manufacturers. Were you refering to the Scientific Toys brand as I know they were once associated, or maybe still are, connected to Lionel.
I'm a 68 year old retiree that plans on building a small garden railway (6' x 16') next to my carport using the battery powered Scientific Toys trains and track. I'll be starting on this right after the New Year.......but, I would like to get some more information like....what scale size is this brand (1:22.5, 1:24, 1:29 or 1:32)and whats it compatible with, should I wish to mix and match with other manufacturers. The Scientific trains I have will not be allowed to sit out in the sun and will be brought inside after use. The plastic track will be the only thing left outside to the elements
It has always been my feeling that trains of any size were for personal enjoyment and that make or manufacturer should not enter into it. Am I right or wrong? Incidently, you site is the most informative I have found to date. Maybe some "cons" could be included with your "pros" to inform and answer questions like mine.
Sincerely, Robert J. Taylor
Robert,
Lionel has allowed a couple of other brands to make "lionel-branded" trains that were really more New-Brite-like in construction. But the only connection was in licensing the brand name, there was no transfer of technology, molds, or anything else to my knowledge.
Folks HAVE used New Brite and similar trains in garden railroads. They will run outside, although I'd recommend putting your railroad so that you can easily reach the whole each part of track. If you spray the trains with a UV-resistant clear spray it will even protect them from getting brittle in the sun (though I wouldn't take silly chances). That said, no plastic track is made to last outside period. You may be able to protect it from UV damage by spray painting it, but unless the track is ventilated 360 degrees, there's a good chance of the sun's HEAT warping it. For your own sanity, consider using real garden railroad track like the kind AristoCraft makes. Your trains will run better on it, too. Before you order track, make certain your track is about 1 3/4" between the rails. If it is, your trains should be compatible. I'd consider creating the kind of "oval" I recommend in the "Consider Easements" section of my article on Planning Your Garden Railroad for Reliability.
Please let me know if this helps - Paul
[Robert went ahead and tried an outdoor garden railroad using plastic track (the kind that comes with New Brite and Scientific Toys. He also sent me more information on the Scientific Toys locomotive which looks to be a larger scale (closer to true G scale) than the New Brite locomotives. And in the meantime, he came across yet ANOTHER Scientific Toys train, so he's definitely having too much fun with these things. Two photos of his railroad as of February, 2008 are shown below. Click on either to see a bigger photo. - Paul]
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My wife says I have too many trains for the house; I should put them outside. I'm most interested in garden trains, looking for some literature, catalogs, etc, for a beginner. I have acres to play on, but don't know where to get started. Any advice would be appreciated.
One big question: it rains a lot in this part of the world - over 20 inches some months - and there are hurricans. Thanks in advance.Burt
Burt,
Obviously you found my page, which is the best free resource for beginning garden railroaders (or folks just considering). Look at the introductory and planning articles, then glance through the construction articles and see what kind of construction looks most attractive to you.
You should know that rain doesn't affect AristoCraft track. It doesn't affect most garden railroad structures as much as sun, which is why I always paint my buildings before I set them out, to add extra UV protection. If your water table is high, you might want to consider a raised railroad, just to keep the tracks from sitting in water on rainy days.
Other than that, you should know that there were a number of nice garden railroads in southern Louisiana before Katrina. Sadly, I've lost touch with the folks who had them, so I don't know of any currently. :-(
Please keep my in the loop so I can help where I can - Paul
Is the number of drivers on a locomotive important, or does it really matter that much, or at all? Thanks - Larry
Larry,
Of course it's important, to the original engineers at least. For modelers it gives you a sense of the size of the engine. USUALLY, engines with more wheels also have bigger wheels and are bigger overall, as long as you're modeling in the same scale. A 4-6-4 is MUCH bigger than a 2-6-2, for example. [In this designation, the middle number is the number of drivers - a 4-6-4 has four leading "pilot" wheels, six drivers, and four "trailing wheels."]
The other thing is that it typically helps designate whether an engine is optimized for freight or passenger service. 4-4-0s, 4-6-0s, and 2-6-0s were multi-purpose, but tended toward light passenger work or "mixed" trains in the last years of their service. 4-4-2s. 4-6-2s, and 4-6-4s were all passenger locomotives with relatively large drivers so they could go at high speeds. 2-8-0s, 2-8-2s, and 2-8-8-2s were freight locomotives. They tended to have more, but smaller drivers - think more power and traction, less speed.
Yes, there were many other kinds, but these are the kinds most represented in garden railroading today.
What does this mean to you? It's not as important as your decision to model Narrow or Standard gauge. For example, an LGB 2-6-0 or Bachmann 4-6-0 is at home pulling either freight or passenger cars, but WAY out of place pulling steel passenger cars. On the other hand, the big standard gauge lines like NYC and PRR never used 2-8-2s for passenger service, except in a pinch. But to most visitors, a standard gauge 2-8-2 pulling a line of steel heavyweights is still attractive, although a 4-6-2 would be more "proper."
Hope this helps - Paul
I am looking for a book on building garden railroad structures. I am especially interested in dimensions and designs of buildings but have been unable to find such a resource. Any suggestions? Thanks - Daryl
Daryl,
The best single source of plans for garden railroad buildings is Garden Texture, who has often given "free" plans away in copies of Garden Railways. Their plans are written with the assumption that you will build the buildings from real lumber and appropriately-sized wood strips (which they also sell). Their web site is www.gardentexture.com, although I'll warn you that the site hangs up my computer as often as not. Each set of plans costs $10 or $15, so you'd probably want to decide ahead of time what buildings you want.
Here's a question, do you know what scale of buildings you want to build? Most Large Scale buildings are about 1:24 in scale (half dollhouse size), but they should really be larger scale (such as 1:20.3 to go with narrow gauge trains or 1:32 to to go with standard gauge trains).
Also which buildings do you want to build? ANY model railroading resource can give you ideas. "Trackside Scenes You Can Model" is a good idea book.
For other plans, you can use ANY HO plans you find in a book or magazine. If you are running Standard Gauge trains like AristoCraft, USA Trains, or MTH, multiply the dimension by 3x. If you are using Narrow Gauge trains, you COULD multiply by 4x, but MOST narrow gauge stations, etc., were relatively small, and you may not have the real estate you need for scale 1:20.3 or 1:22.5 buildings. Many kit builders compromise by making the buildings about the right height, but not as long or wide. For example, if you have a station with 9 windows on the side, shorten it a bit and use 7 or even 5 windows spaced (relatively) the same way the nine windows were spaced. This will still give you a convincing model without taking over your garden.
That said, if you don't mind 1:24 scale, you could take photographs of buildings you like, then go to the Precision Products web site and order the parts you need from the 1/2" scale (1:24) page. Precision products makes vacu-formed sheets with window molds, etc. Lots of folks around Ohio have used them with success. Then when parts come in, the main thing you have to do is decide how to approximate the building you like with the pieces that are available to you. Some VERY effective buildings have been built this way. For a core you can use styrofoam insulation, which requires you to weigh the building down to keep it from blowing away. One area modeler uses plexiglass scraps.
One other idea, especially if you're looking to make downtown buildings, would be to go to our Building Front Photos page, find a photo you like, print it off, and use that as the plan. On that page, you'll also see what I mean about starting with a big building and shaving it down by reducing windows, etc., without (necessarily) reducing the scale.
These are all just ideas to help get you started. Please let me know if you have any more questions - Paul
My outdoor layout will be in Iowa. I am still debating as to the use of LGB stock (which I own none of) vs using my 1947 Lionel stock. Since most of my Lionel stock is in the "collectors' category I would bring it in at night but that does not mean the log loader with a cloth ribbon, the cattle loader, the milk can unloading dock or the coal car unloading would work very long if left out in the rain. I have the same concern about the 24 O gauge electric switches.
JJ,
If you are not currently running these trains, they may need maintenance to become really useful, too. In addition, it's not just rain, it's also moisture - even if you take them in and out, in your humid Iowa summers, they'll be more exposed to moisture than if they were inside. And sitting in the sun all day several times a summer WILL cause them to fade eventually, although the painted units hold up better than the molded plastic.
You wouldn't want to use anything that had real collector's value, except for maybe a few times a summer. If you're addicted to O (and some people are), consider getting a couple current "off-the-shelf" trains with no particular collectors' value to run most of the time and only bring your collectors items out on important days such as open houses and parties. On the other hand, if your O gauge is mostly a collection and not currently in much use, consider migrating to Large Scale. AristoCraft, USA Trains, and MTH make the best Large Scale models of Standard Gauge. Be ye warned - they average 6-8 times the bulk of your Lionel trains, but that additional size is REAL helpful outside where things take on a different perspective.
You're right to worry about the turnouts; that's a big issue for O-Gauge-Outsiders. I think more weather-resistant turnouts are on the horizon, but there are few options for automating them.
The short version is that I would recommend O gauge outside to a person who is actively running recently purchased Lionel equipment now, but it sounds like your O gauge stuff is more of a "collection." If you aren't running O gauge trains now, I'd recommend Large Scale - there are WAY more weather-resistant choices and methods.
Please let me know if I can help in any way. - Paul
Can I Fit Big Trains Into a Small Space? - November, 2007Paul, I would like to get started in Garden Railroading. My space at the moment is limited to 6 1/2 feet (the curves) by 12 feet. Whats the best starter set to get? How would you start without spending a lot of money? I read some of your articles but am still a little confused. Thanks
Tom, if I had to squeeze a railroad into that area, I'd probably start with a Narrow Gauge starter set like the Bachmann sets on the following page:
That will give you some comparison shopping room. Also check out
To do a price comparison, add the product to your shopping cart and you'll see your final discount.
Sadly, you can't use Bachmann track outside. But you'll want to get a 6'-diameter loop anyway and maybe a box of 12 straight pieces. The Bachmann train will RUN BETTER on AristoCraft track than it will on Bachmann track, even indoors. And wider curves are always better.
That said, if you want to add a trolley line or something similar later, you can always squeeze in a 4'-diamter loop. . .
BTW, I have the AristoCraft starter set shown on the page, and I personally like it very much. It also comes with a remote control and with a loop of track that you CAN use outdoors in a pinch (it's made for outdoors, it's just a very small loop). So if you find yourself lusting after that little remote control on the Aristo set don't feel bad. And here's the really fun part - the remote control controls the track, not the train, so it will control ANY garden train you put on the track later.
Okay, that's probably too much information, but I wanted to give you as much guidance as you could use without just telling you what to do. :-)
Have a great day, please let me know if you have any questions - Paul,
Hi I am really keen to get started and your site has been very helpful. But I need to know if I can buy G scale in Australia or do I need to buy from the US, if so who would you recommend? Thanks - Martin
Martin,
I know of a place in Perth. A friend there says that says he has had good luck with Stanbridges Hobbies in Guilford Road Mount Lawley.
Aristocraft lists the following two dealerships down under:
Model Merchant
Sydney
Phone: 0295559537
http://www.gaugeonegallery.com
Store: Adelaide Garden Railway Supplies
Goodwood
Phone: 8 82716875
http://www.adelaidegrs.com.au
Don't know if anyone is closer, offhand, but that might get you started. Best of luck - Paul
[Note: When I heard back from Martin, he had ordered an AristoCraft train and set up a "starter" railroad off his patio. He used old newspapers and "blue stone" gravel for his track bed. The photo at the right shows the Bachmann starter set he began with running on AristoCraft track. - ed]
Mark Anderson writes:
Does anyone work with getting rolling stock to move with more scale weight and inertia? I have searched the internet without success. . . .
Mark, Relating to your question about freerolling cars: First of all, do all of your cars have metal wheels? That helps a lot, by lowering the center of gravity and improving how freely they roll. Solid metal wheels affect the center of gravity more than plastic wheels with metal flanges, like some Bachmann cars have.
The next step might be getting ball bearing wheelsets. They are expensive, but folks who model yards with "humping" find them invaluable. If I read Aristocraft's wheelset page right, the bearing wheelsets list for $44 a PAIR, so equipping a car will cost you more than the car, even if you find them at a discount.
Also some cars ARE too light and can benefit with a little extra weight. But that will reduce the practical length of your train. Also, I wouldn't bother weighting cars that don't have metal wheels - you'll double the drag without improving any other aspect of their operation, except maybe their ability to handle rough trackage.
I don't know anyone with automated or RC breaks on their cars.
Best of luck with your plans; keep me posted - Paul
I purchased a used LGB railroad complete with cars, track all accessories, however I have never built a railroad before. I have been reading many of your articles and they have been very helpful. I did not however receive any information about wiring when I bought the train and was wondering if any of your articles relate to how to wire the track and set up transformers etc. Thanks for any help.
Don,
Did you get a power supply with your train? If so, there are probably four terminals on the side. Two are DC and control the train. Two are AC and control accessories like streetlights. You can use just about ANY kind of wire to get voltage to the tracks. I usually use lamp cord that you can buy at Radio Shack on a spool. If you get that, you'll notice that one side has a "bead" on it so you can always tell which lead you're hooking to what. This isn't critical when you only have one train, but it gets more critical as your railroad expands. Also, 18 gauge wire is find for short runs (most manufacturers include 24 gauge wire, which is REALLY wimpy).
Look at your track and see if there are any funny-looking thingies on any of the pieces that MIGHT be used to screw wires to. Run one lead to each rail, and run the wire back to the DC terminals on your power supply. Make SURE you use the DC terminals (they might say "train control" or something). AC will hurt your train.
To test, turn the power supply's knob or lever all the way to the "stop" position. Wipe the track section clean that you are setting your locomotive on, and set the locomotive on it. Then start very slowly.
If your locomotive makes a humming noise but doesn't move, make certain you don't have the AC hooked up. If your locomotive moves and stops, your wiring is OK, you probably just have dirty track or dirty wheels on the locomotive.
If you DON'T have a powers supply, try to get one made for garden trains. They draw more amperage than indoor trains.
If you have a DC power supply that is made for HO and it has 2 amps or more of power, it will work for your train. But it won't hold up to dampness.
WHATEVER you do, don't get one made for Lionel 3-rail trains - they put out AC that will damage your locomotive.
Best case, get an LGB power supply, then you know you're safe. I like AristoCraft power supplies, but they have features that the LGB doesn't really benefit from.
Hope this helps. Please let me know if you hit any more snags - Paul
We love our garden train! We have one in my brother's yard (his wife Jenny is our Master Gardener) and we have a smaller version in our own yard. We are enjoying this family project very much. Our question is: What is the best thing to use for the village streets? We bought a pebble mat (Lemax Village Collectibles) but it will prove to be very expensive for our larger setup (156 ft. of track). Surely there is some kind of product that would be more economical and useful for outdoors. We value your opinions and have learned a lot reading your articles! If you have some suggestion for us, we would appreciate it very much. Thank you!
Bob and Marcia
Hey, guys, glad to see you're moving ahead.
You're right about the cost of using a pebble mat oudoors. Plus it wouldn't probably hold up all that well anyway.
The fact that I don't have a great article on how to do roads should tell you that I don't have a great solution. Yet.
It seems to me that an issue of Garden Railways within the last three years had articles by three different people on how they make roads. Seems like one of them involved making a "base" out of screen or something similar and spreading a plaster-like goop on it in thin layers to build up a smooth surface that could be painted to resemble blacktop or some such. You really SHOULD look that article up, because it probably has better ideas than the ideas I'm going to share now.
One friend locally just uses those 2x8x12" concrete stepping stones you can get in most of the country for about 1.25@. He butts them up against each other over landscaping fabrick or some such to deter weeds and builds his whole road system at right angles to each other.
Another uses crushed limestone that he just keeps packing down. This is the same resource he used for his ballast, so he has a lot of it. To see his railroad, you'd swear the stuff was held together by concrete mix or something, but it's just settled in and become pretty solid on its own.
I'm using either trails of gravel or bits of gray roofing material that I bought for another purpose. I actually think the rolls of roofing material might be useful for a number of things, such as setting a big hunk down where your town is supposed to be, and cutting holes where you actually want plants to grow, and just setting your buildings on it to make your city blocks. Of course MY first buildings had sidewalks, so they looked more appropriate sitting this way. . . .
But now NONE of this replicates your cobblestone streets. I haven't thought long and hard about cobblestones, but I have thought about pavers. One idea involved getting a brick molding from Precision Products, who makes all sorts of scale building supplies for Large Scale on a huge "vacu-form."
I actually got the brick pattern, which is 12"x12" with the idea of building a simple mold, and turning out my own "stepping stones" that had a brick pattern on the top. But I never got any farther than bringing it home and putting it into my garage with all my other future products. Of course you could do the same thing with cobblestones. If you do, let me know if it works. :-)
Here's another thought about cobblestones, based on some craft projects I've seen that actually worked for other people. Get a bag of "sand mix," a bag of little round pebbles (pea gravel is one name they go by, if you get a chance to get a kind that's mostly quartz, go for it), and a bottle of that stuff they use to stain concrete a darker color (it's usually near the concrete mixes in the big box hardware stores. Make little forms where you want your roads to be, using hardware cloth or something to provide extra support unless you plan these to be very thick. Mix some water and dye into the sand mix, then when it's a little runnier than you'd like it to be, stir an almost equal amount of pea gravel into the mix. Add more water if you're having trouble stirring - you can always stir a little more sand mix into it later to thicken it up again.
Now spread it into your mold and smooth it down. The mix sets inside as well as outside, not just top-down. So there will be a point, usually between 15 and 35 minutes after the pouring at which the mix is generally set but you could still carve it with your fingernail if you wanted to. At THAT point (again, this is WAY more art than acience), you hose down your "road" with a small amount of water that has just enough pressure to wash some of the "sand mix" out from between the pea gravel, while leaving the pea gravel. Sounds crazy, right? Let me know if you try it and it works. :-)
Again all of these ideas are just to help you find something that is comfortable for YOU. Again, the GR article is useful if you can come by it. In the meantime, I guess it's time for me to write an article on making roads, so I have a reason to try all these things myself. Best of luck - Paul
I am thinking of purchasing some Aristocraft Flexrail. Does it come with ties or must they be purchased separately?
Roger,
I'm sorry it took so long to answer you - I just got back from a garden railroading event in Cleveland. Here is the URL for AristoCraft's flextrack pricing. Sadly, the cost of brass just jumped a bunch (due for demand for copper in China).
As you can see, the tie strips are sold separately, because you can choose whether you want narrow-gauge/"Euro"-style tie strips (big ties, far apart for use with LGB or Bachmann) or standard-gauge "USA-style" tie strips (smaller ties closer together) for use with AristoCraft or MTH trains.
If you already have a BUNCH of one kind, I wouldn't change tie types in the middle of a RR. The rail is the same either way.
Also, you should consider a rail bender, if you don't already have one. Aristocraft's is RAIL BENDER 11920. (A Rail Bender is recommended for ANYBODY's "flex track.")
You'll also want the RAIL TO TIE SCREWS -2MM (50) 11911 - fastens the ties to the rails so they don't slide back and forth.
Unless you want to use someone else's rail joiners/rail clamps, you may also want to consider:
Hope this helps. I used to have a vendor who could answer all these questions on his 1-800 line and get you everything you needed, but he just went out of business. I'm trying to line someone else up who can do the same thing, but in the meantime, if you call San Val, or WattsTrainShop and tell them that Family Garden Trains sent you . . . .
If you don't need a lot of turnouts, you may also consider Llagas creek aluminum track - it's a very easy-to-use product, and does well in dry climates (if you allow for lots of expansion).
Hope this helps. Please let me know how things work out - Paul
I would like to construct some buildings out of old barn boards. I really like the look of deeply weathered boards. Do you know where I can find scale plans for buildings? My train set is LGB.
Duane,
Thanks for getting in touch. A company named Garden Textures sells detailed plans, but they're more suitable for scratchbuilding with smaller components. MOST buildings made to go with LGB trains are about 1:24, which is a dollhouse scale, so you may be able to find dollhouse plans that work (or use 1:12 dollhouse plans and divide everything in half.
Garden Textures' home page is at: http://web.mac.com/gardentexture/iWeb/Site/Home.html
As an additional option, the Colorado Models folks sell doors and windows that would work nicely as add-ons to your barn siding. Check out the following page (scroll to the bottom). http://www.coloradomodel.com/bldgg.htm
Alternatively, if you want a REALLY rustic look, you might could use hardware cloth for the window mullions.
Hope you have a good jig-saw. :-) Please let me know how things turn out. - Paul
What do you use to stain your trestles?
John,
Most folks in our area (SW Ohio) use cedar and let it weather naturally. I have a trestle I acquired from someone else that was already stained, and then sustained damage from a falling tree. I wanted the new pieces to match the old pieces. So I mixed some water-based walnut-colored stain with some water-based Thomson's Wood Treatment, put the combination into a spray bottle and let her rip (someplace where staining the bushes behind the trestle wouldn't be a problem). I don't see why you couldn't do the same thing with a commercial outdoor wood stain. I've asked some friends and if they come up with anything else that sounds especially useful. Their comments are below. - Paul
Dave Smith, of Long Island, says: I put the trestle parts into one of those pump up garden sprayers, dump Thompson's Water Seal in and then "pump it up". The pressure causes the Thompson to REALLY penetrate the wood and tunnel portals and trestles I've had out for years, although weathered, haven't rotted!
This is how they creosote real RR ties!
Dan Stenger, of Richwood, Kentucky, says: Jasco's Copper Brown Wood Preservative gives redwood the look of Creosote. You can purchase it at Lowes.
Fred Mills of Ottowa, says: You can get just about any colour you want in an oil based stain, these days. The paint suppliers will tint the base to any colour you want.
The colour of creosote, is the colour I'd aim for. Don't get fooled into a latex based stain for out of doors. Use the oil based one. It will help preserve the fragile strip wood of your structure, and give you the colour you want at the same time.
I have even used a clear oil based wood preservative, and mixed it with a dark stain. This works great too.
Kevin Strong, a frequent contributor to Garden Railways magazine says: When we did the trestle on dad's railroad, we used a mixture of Minwax "walnut" and Thompson's waterseal. We actually soaked each bent in the mixture for a few hours prior to assembly. Nearly 20 years later, it's still holding up quite well, having weathered quite well. A few of the stringers have had to be replaced, but that's about it. From photos I've seen recently, the stringers aren't treated in any way, they're just plain redwood. That'll weather to a nice grey over the winter.
I've also heard of people spraying used motor oil on the trestles and their wood ties to help preserve them. I'm not vouching for the ecological friendliness of such a practice, just mentioning that it has been done.
Me personally? [Kevin speaking] I've used an iron acetate solution (steel wool dissolved in vinegar) to weather the wood in the past. This works to differing degrees on different woods. Cedar turns a nice, dark brown. Basswood turns kind of orangish tan. My bridges, I've just left to weather naturally. The redwood has turned a nice grey rather quickly. The cedar trestle and Howe Truss bridge still haven't darkened or changed too much, but they should over the winter, especially if buried under the snow like the other bridges were last year. The fence is a nice grey, and it's the same wood.
I've also been known just to brush a dilute mix of black/brown acrylics on the wood to give it a darker look. This seems to have held up well in the short term, but ask me in a few more years about long-term.
Wil Davis, of Dayton, Ohio, says: My bents are made of Cypress which is quite light in color so I stained them. I wanted to represent a creosoted trestle so I used Minwax dark walnut stain and dipped the completed bent in it before it was installed. I strung a rope across my green house and let the bents "drip dry." I improvised a "tank" from four pieces of 1 x 4 that I nailed together in a box and draped a double layer of clear vinyl over it. When I was done I poured the excess back in the can and discarded the plastic. I wouldn't use the remaining stain for fine furniture, but it was fine for the rest of the trestle pieces. I stained the strips for the stringers and braces the traditional way, with a brush.
So far it's doing well after five years.
I have been told that you can put a 'modified wave rectifier' on an MTH DCS TIU and run LGB engines having MTS with the MTH DCS controler. Don't know the specifics of how to do this. Can you help? - Paul
Paul,
My "panel of experts" has drawn a blank. Of course they may be suffering sunstroke or something, but nobody I have frequent contact with about this sort of thing has heard of the solution that was suggested to you. My personal response is that this sounds like the kind of wishful thinking certain salesmen verbalize when they're trying to sell you something that's not really compatible with what you already have. (I get a lot of questions based on misinformation from store sales guys, in case you wondered.)
The fact that I don't know about it doesn't mean it can't be done. But MTS-equipped engines aren't cheap, and I wouldn't want to take that risk on my equipment unless I'd seen it done personally.
Sorry I couldn't be more help - Paul
[Note: If you have hands-on experience with the kind of thing Mr. Buckholz is asking about, please contact us and I WILL post details here. Thanks - Paul]
[Note: If you don't know what these acronyms mean, MTS is an LGB system for controlling track-powered trains by remote control DCS is the MTH company's system for doing the same thing. The systems have many differences I'm not sure can be overcome by adding a "modified wave rectifier." For more discussion of remote control technologies, please see our Large Scale Power and Control article.
I bought my husband a Playskool outdoor train about 8 years ago. Do you know if they still make them? I only have 3 trains but would like to add on or sell them. Any ideas? Thanks - Beth
Beth,
I don't know for certain what kind of train you bought. The Playskool train I'm familiar with is an indoor children's train that runs on plastic track. The locomotive runs on C Cells and you turn it on or off by bumping a knob on the top or pushing a lever on a special piece of track. This train WILL run on G-gauge track (the kind that garden trains run on) as long as you don't have any turnouts (switches) or crossovers or rerailers on the track. So some folks use the trains outside during the day but bring them in at night. I've used my daughter's on a "demonstration" railroad myself, to give kids something to do while the big people were watching the big trains run.
Unfortunately, Playskool has more-or-less discontinued these trains. They reissued them briefly about four years ago, then stopped making them again. The good news is that there are hundreds of OTHER trains that run outdoors. And if you already have metal track running outside, chances are most garden trains on the market today will run on it.
If you have a digital camera, please send me a photo and I'll tell you for sure if you have the train I'm thinking of, or if you have something else altogether, in which case all bets are off.
Hope this helps - Paul [Note: Beth wrote back to say that she had PlayMobil trains. These were built by LGB and are just about the same as the LGB Toy Train line. So I told her so. Sorry for the false trail. I'll try to find photos of both to post along with this article to help reduce future confusion - Paul]
problem), but how far do you have to go with them, and how come it
isn't a frost heave problem? I know that I have frost heave, but I
really do like the info on the HDPE. I do have another possible
problem, some of the ground where I will be putting the support stakes
is quite hard, any suggestions? I also noticed in the article, that
the Trex materials can also be used, and I do have a good supply of
those in my area (the suppliers of HDPE are very limited and quite far
away). Have you used any of the TREK stuff?
Thank you again - Regards - Noel
Noel,
Thanks for taking a look at the articles. Actually, on Bill Logan's HDPE system, the vertical "stakes" are temporary until you get your trestle or retaining walls or whatever installed. I HAVE seen them used successfully on railroads where the roadbed was raised only a few inches above the surrounding ground level (and the other end of the stake went below the frost line). But according to Bill, the vertical HDPE "stakes" have too much flex to be used to permanently elevate a RR more than a few inches. (This is true of the Trex-like materials, too.)
The Blessings use HDPE lumber for their outdoor O railroad, but he wanted his railroad raised quite a bit, so he bought the kind of metal fence posts you use to string a barbed-wire fence, cut the HDPE stakes short and screwed them to the metal fence posts, which he drove WAY into the ground in some cases.
There's no compelling reason that you couldn't use pressure-treated, ground-rated 4x4s or some alternative for your vertical support, again going below the frost line with whatever you choose.
Back to the HDPE versus trex-like material, David Cook at www.epsplasticlumber.com will give you a 5% discount if you tell him its for a garden railroad - they're nice to deal with because they've been dealing with garden railroaders for years. Also, David sometimes has "seconds" he can let you have a little cheaper although they just upgraded their milling equipment so there are fewer mistakes than there used to be.
Trex-like material (like HDPE lumber that uses a lot of sawdust for volume), is almost as good if you don't need tight curves. So if you're using really wide curves and the price difference is significant, that's another option.
Hope this helps - Paul
Phil, in Chicago asks:
I was considering of buying the LGB 52120 Throttle & the power LBG 50111. I need to run two trains. Right now I still have the starter transformer in which I tried, but both trains ran a bit and then died. Of course they worked again just using one. Do you suggest I purchase these two products? Please advise. Thank You I have LGB Southern & LBG 0-4-0. Thank You
Phil,
I'm not sure I understand, were you trying to runn both trains off of one starter transformer? That device doesn't have the juice. The 50111 is rated for 5 amps which is enough power for anything LGB makes, and almost certainly enough power for two of the "starter set" engines if you have two throttles.
I can certainly recommend the 5-amp system for one train - you may be pleasantly surprised at the performance difference. You could probably use it very well for 2 trains if you have small engines, small trains, and no grades over 2%.
Hope this helps - Paul
Where are you located? Please send directions. Thank you.
Dian, sorry, I don't have a store front or anything. We live near Springfield, Ohio, if you want I'll let you know when we're going to have a garden railroad open house, probably this September. I'm not sure it's worth driving across the state for, really, though. But any products you see advertised on our site are just recommendations with links to folks who sell them and have a record of good customer service.
I am doing a presentation on garden railroading in Kirtland (east of Cleveland) July
14,15, and again in August. That might be a good place to get your questions answered,
plus representatives of the local garden railroading club will be there, and they're a
helpful bunch of people.
Plus there's a professional garden railroad on display there this summer that's worth the trip. . . .
Hope this helps - Paul
Hello, and great web site, lots of usefull information.
However I'm in the process of building an O-Scale(Gauge) Garden Railroad, but I'm unsure of how much power I'll need. I've read your articles on power but I'm still not sure. The area is not very big, and I'll have about 50'to 75' of Atlas O-Scale 2-Rail Nickel Silver track. At this point I'm not planing on having any lights, as I'm doing an "Old West" theme. . . . Any help and advice would be great. Thank you.
Jeff Barnhart
[I forwarded this question to John Blessing, who knows a lot more about O gauge outside than I do. His reply is below:]
Paul and Jeff:
Since Jeff is interested in 2 rail, I am not sure as I do not know if 2 rail running is AC or DC and the power consumption is or could be very different than 3 rail operation.
One aspect of Jeff's plan is total length of track being 50 to 75 feet. Anozira RR has a total of about 800 feet and we divided that into 8 blocks. The total running feet of track per block runs 50 to 75'. Some blocks have passing tracks and sidings. All track in a block is counted as potential load on the power supply as trains can be present on sidings and very often are running spontaneously on passing tracks within a block.
So, IF Jeff planned to operate AC -- 3 rail, TMCC I would not hesitate to say that all he would need is one, Lionel, 180 watt, PowerHouse feeding a Lionel 73-4120-250, TMCC Direct Lockon, which is what Anozira has per block. An Anozira block can run two passenger trains with smoke or 3 freights w/out smoke and one passenger w/o smoke, or 4 freights with smoke. There are 10 amps with which to work in a block as described for Anozira. Long passenger trains, with smoke and pulling hard up-grade can eat 5 amps. Smoke alone is a good amp. Passenger car lights are hungry power munchers.
But, 2 rail power is the other side of the moon for me as I simply do not know. A very good place to pose that question is on the 2 rail section of The O Gauge Railroading On-Line Forum at: http://ogaugerr.infopop.cc/eve/forums/a/frm/f/3181048701
Wellcome Jeff to thrills and expectations of O Out Doors (OOD).
Cheers - John Blessing
Please tell me the differences in the track width. I want to buy a Bachmann Starter Kit, but later want to get an Astro-Craft passanger train to add to the rail, will this work? Is the track the same width for all G-Scale?
Bill,
LGB and Aristo and Bachmann Big Hauler trains all run on the same track width - 45mm. Bachmann track isn't very good and can't be left outside, so I recommend that you save the Bachmann track to use around the Christmas tree and buy Aristo to use outside. The trains will run on either. That said, if you're buying a big Aristo passenger set, it might need bigger curves than the 48"-diameter stuff that comes with the starter sets. Some big Large Scale trains require 8'-diameter curves or larger, and ALL Large Scale trains (even Bachmann) look better and run better on wider curves.
So the short answer is that all Large Scale trains use 45mm track (about 1.775"), but some 45mm track is better than others, and some Large Scale trains require bigger curves than anything Bachmann makes anyway. Hope this helps - Paul Race
I have a question re. the Crest Basic Train Engineer:
My layout consists of two blocks, one driven by a simple 1 AMP power pack from an LGB starter set, the other by a 5 AMP LGB transformer. I have a single train running on each of these blocks - the more powerful transformer is used for a small loc (LGB Waiamanolo) coupled to an LGB motorized tender + up to three cars.
Will I be able to use a Basic TE for each of these blocks? I heard the Basic can only cope with up to 2 AMPs. I doubt the Waiamanolo + tender draws more than this but....
Is there indeed such a limitation (from the article it seems the limitation is with very big trains which is not the case here)
Thanks and best regards, Avi Goldstein
Avi,
I don't think you should have any problem with the setup you described; however, if you're in a very congested area, you may not get the range you hope for out of the "basic" systems. Out where I live, 40' is possible, as long as I have good "line of sight," but in town, it may be half of that, if that's any concern. Also, when you buy your "basic TE" systems make certain you get two different frequencies. Aristo makes a shipment of one frequency, then a shipment of another, and so on. So any dealer with more than a couple on hand should be able to give you two different frequencies. With the more advanced TE's that's not an issue, since each locomotive also gets its own "ID code."
That said, I have several friends using setups similar to what you described and they are quite happy with them.
Best of luck - Paul
I work for a court reporter and am working on a deposition concerning mining in Colorado. There is a train flatcar mentioned in that deposition and I am wondering if you have ever heard of this term.
I think he's saying "mantry" to describe a flat car used to transport miners in the mine.
Have you ever heard this term or something similar? I've check Google and Wikipedia and can't find anything. If you could help me out I'd really appreciate it. - Carol
Carol,
This is one of the most unusual questions I've ever been asked. I submitted your question to my panel of experts. One railfan in New England said that a "mantrap" is a car with seats for taking riders into the mine. Two others said the right word is "mantrip," and a site put up by the Kentucky mining authority supports that. Hope this helps. Thanks for help me learn something, too - Paul
I have a garden fish pond.. I need a garden railway now!! I need help with layout and design.
William, Our construction articles should give you an idea of the kinds of railroad you can build.
Also, the design articles on the primer page should give you lots to consider. I would suggest trying the Designing for Watchability article first and going out from there.
Is there a club in your neck of the woods? Many clubs are very helpful to new members. You can use the following page to search for clubs:
Please let me know as you come up with specific questions - Paul
I am building a garden railroad in Illinois using Bill Logan's HDPE method and was wondering what was the best materials and if there are any diagrams or plans for building trestles and how to connect them to the roadbed. So far the HDPE method has worked real well except for the amount of mess and shaving cutting the HDPE lumber makes. Thanks for any advice and for making such a great and informative website.
Bryan,
That was such a good question that I sent it on to Bill Logan, who sent me this very helpful answer:
I build my trestle bents out of 1/2" cedar. They have a top horizontal 1/2" header - typical. Hear is the secret - I take a left over 3/4" slat like those used for the stringers on the HDPE roadbed and cut it in half to produce a 3/4" by 3/4" by 12' ledger piece. This ledger is screwed to the side of the roadbed at the bottom edge. This does three things - one provides extra stability for the road bed; two provides a horizontal nailing surface to attach the trestle bents that is thinner than the 1-1/2" roadbed ansd easily accessable; and three adds to the looks of the exposed roadbed. Normally I use a nail gun to penetrate both the ledger and the trestle bent. Sometimes from above other times when the trestle is high enough from below.
Bill also sent the photo to the right, illustrating the additional 3/4" piece fastened to the bottom edge of Bill's "ladder" framework. The supporting post shown in the photo has since been removed - it was only there to keep the track in place until the trestle was there.
Somewhere in all these online articles from this site, I thought I saw in one, a comparison of Bachman and Aristo Craft. It showed the track profile and something about them not being compatible.But I can't find that article. Can you tell me which one it was in? Thanks.
Paul,
The bad news is that I don't show the profile of Bachmann track in any of my articles. I SHOULD, now that you mention it. I show some other kinds of track in: http://www.btcomm.com/trains/special_offers/track/track.htm
But I don't well describing Bachmann track, because it's irrelevant to garden
railroading. Bachmann doesn't actually use rail. If you sliced a
piece in half, you'd see that what looks like a rail is really a
rectangular piece of plastic with a u-shaped length fastened over the
top to conduct electricity to the wheels of the engine. On top of that, the plastic they use is not UV-resistant. Back in the
1980s I asked Bachman if they were EVER going to make track for outdoors, and
they explained that this was the way they keep the price of their
starter sets down. It does work okay around the Christmas tree. . . .
Aristocraft rail profile is almost identical to LGB if you've seen that, sort of a solid, squat I-beam with a fat "head" and a wide "base" just like real railroad rails, but a tad sturdier than a real scale rail would be. A piece of Aristo is shown to the right.
Aristo is also 100% compatible with LGB track, but I like it better because the rail joiners screw on, making a better connection.
Hope this helps - Paul
Paul, I've been looking for novice railroad building info from various websites and model railroad magazines, but they never seem to address the basics: starting from the ground up.
I would like to know where I can find some basic - and I mean very basic - instructions in building a simple ground level railroad for a G-scale model train. To start with, I need to know what to use for its base (i.e. plywood, 2x4's), support and how best to attach track to it. I plan setting up an 8ftx8ft display, which will be seasonal only, and will have to break it down into four 4ftx4ft sections. I have basic woodworking skills and can use saws and drills without difficulty.
Any info you can send me - or how/where to find this info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks - Barry
Barry,
The reason there is no one "how-to" resource to do exactly what you describe is that there are many ways to do it. If "seasonal" means that you'll only have the railroad down a few weeks every year, then the "One-day" method, which puts the track on gravel (and very little else) may be what you need.
If you want something substantially more solid, and you worry about "washouts" or other weather problems disrupting the gravel, consider building the kind of roadbed used in the "Simple Raised Roadbed" method - using mostly 2x6 pressure treated lumber. Nobody says you have to elevate it, but the advantage of having a solid roadbed on a ground-level railroad is that you can keep the track much more level and weed-free. (Many folks do use 2x6 roadbed for railroads that are ground-level or mostly ground-level, by the way.) And you could mostly back the screws out at the end of the season, store the lumber and track someplace reasonably dry, and reassemble it again next year.
Finally, the most elegant solution would be to use HDPE Lumber-Based roadbed. It costs more but is lighter weight and would be easier to move and store in large sections. By the way, as easy as it is to use this method for raised railroads, lots of folks use this method for ground-level railroads, too. That method has the most pages of description in my web site because a friend invented it and I wanted to make certain I explained it properly.
I'd tend to #2 or #3 for a temporary ground-level railroad myself. If this is to be a winter setup and you have snow, I'd tend toward #3, because you can knock the snow off the track easier. And if you have #2 or #3, you CAN set the whole thing up on concrete blocks or something in case of a few inches of snow. Hope this helps - Paul
Hi, we are trying to locate the 4 set passenger car set for our BLUE COMET LOCOMOTIVE ( CENTERAL NEW JERSEY ). Where can we locate this ? - Best wishes, Rev. Ginny and John
Ginny and John,
I've done some checking around and it looks like the only way AristoCraft is selling these is in a set with the locomotive. Your note implies that you already have the Aristo Pacific. I might point out that the new version is much sturdier and a much better runner than the old one (which was plenty nice for its time), so you would not be disappointed with the set.
If you want to get the passenger cars only, you might be able to talk a dealer into breaking up the set (whether he agrees MIGHT depend on how it is packaged. If the locomotive comes in its own box, he may agree).
I also checked on ebay, but that's not a great place to buy trains unless you're a very canny buyer (for one thing, only buy from people who accept paypal). There aren't any CNJ cars there now, but there might be some in the future.
I'm also forwarding this message to two friends, one is a dealer and one knows some folks at AristoCraft, so he may be able to help. I'll keep your message for a few weeks and let you know if anything else comes to hand. - Paul
[My friend with contacts at Aristo reaffirmed that these cars only come in the set. I also noticed hat the price of the whole set was a very good deal, not THAT much more than it would have cost to buy the cars separately. So I passed that on. In the meantime Rev. Ginny and John have found at least one dealer who would consider "breaking up" the set for them. - Ed.]
Is USA train track better than Aristrocraft. would Euro track look better for logging?
Steve,
AristoCraft is my favorite track manufacturer. For narrow gauge, their "euro" track is probably better than their USA-style track. (I haven't used USA-BRAND track, but it seems to be modeled after Aristo's USA-STYLE track.) "Euro" is really Aristo's way of saying that one of their lines of track looks more like LGB track than the other line. But LGB track was made to imitate narrow gauge railroads, so the Aristo Euro track does, too. That's actually what I have mostly, since it's all that was available from Aristo when I got into this hobby. If I built another Standard Gauge RR, I'd probably use USA-style Aristo Track. But for Narrow Gauge railroads, like most logging and mining railroads, the Aristo Euro track is my favorite. Hope this makes sense -
Best of luck - Paul
Help in Corinth, Texas - Jenny and Bill Estes
Jenny and Bill,
Glad to hear from you. This is a new one on me, sort of. I'm going to hazard a guess, though. In inside RRs, some HO scalers have figured out that a VERY light coat of fine oil (like "sewing machine oil," I think) keeps the track from oxidizing and having reduced connectivity. So after they clean the track, they go over with a rag and apply a VERY fine coat. Too thick a coat would gum things up, attract dust, or make the train slip. But a VERY fine coat does seem to keep the track from oxidizing as quickly on indoor railroads. I don't know anyone who bothers with this on outdoor RRs though, as the elements will remove that pretty fast one way or the other.
Another possibility, is that he's refering to the "conductive" grease that LGB sells for putting in the rail-joiners as you set the track up. It reduces the effect that moisture has on connections between rails and for a few years (usually) really does help the electrical connection.
First, if you're having trouble here and there and it doesn't seem to have to do with whole pieces of track going dead, but rather with a spot here and there where the locomotive has trouble picking up power, you have some sort of contamination on the track. The most likely sources are pine sap, or a "misty" sap-like compound deposited by nut and gum trees, squashed bugs, juice from grass blades that have been smashed by the locomotive, etc. Have you tried going over the spots where connectivity seems compromised with a track cleaning solution (or kerosene)? Or if you can scrounge up an EXTREMELY fine sanding block (400 grit or better) a quick touch is amost always effective. I have a Scot "sanding sponge" I leave underneath a building for "quick hits" under such circumstances.
If you're having the kind of trouble where a length of track goes dead, then you need to improve conductivity between rails.
You don't say what kind of track you have.
If you have LGB track, the problem is that the slide-on joiners don't make the world's best connection anyway, and the conductive grease they sell to compensate for that problem is not permanent. Some folks who've installed huge railroads counting on having that level of connectivity indefinitely are eventually disappointed as the stuff stops being effective. Many folks who start out with LGB track eventually buy aftermarket screw-on-rail joiners that replace (or in some cases screw over) the LGB slide-in rail joiners and make a better electrical connection between rails.
AristoCraft track has rail joiners that screw on so you have better connectivity than LGB out of the box. If you want to use the conductive grease as well, that's possible. But I run jumper wires between pieces, using lamp cord and tiny solderless lugs (like you used to get for old-fashioned screw-on phone jacks) fastened to the screws on the bottom of the Aristo track - a belt-and-suspenders solution that is extremely reliable and longlived.
If your trouble seems to be that certain pieces of track are dead, then run jumpers or buy some screw-on rail joiners and add them where the problem is the worst, and leep extra supplies on hand in case another section goes bad next week.
Okay, that's all more than you probably wanted to know. But it should help you narrow down the problem. Please let me know if you figure out what was causing the problem and how you fixed it - the more I know about individual RR hassles, the more likely we are are to be helpful to the next person who calls.
That said, I hope you've had fun with your trains, and I hope you'll visit often and let me know if you have any more questions. - Paul
[Turns out that the fellow who gave Jenny and Bill advice WAS talking about the conductive grease. Bill got some, they used it, and now the railroad runs much better. - ed.]
Where is a good place to buy EPS Lumber for building the road bed. What dimensions should be used?
Brian,
I don't know where you are, but there's a place in Elgin, Illinois that has been very helpful to garden railroaders in the past. They ship all over the country, and they've recently gotten new machinery that makes their 2x4s even better for this application.
If you call them and ask for David Cook, and tell them you got the contact information through Family Garden Trains, you'll get a 5% discount.
PH: 847-289-8383
Fax: 847-289-8382
In terms of dimensions, mostly you'll use 2x4s. The article that starts at
