Scale Model Railroad Trains

Planning Your Outdoor Garden Railroad - Part 15 - Rocks

Outdoor garden railroads usually have rocks. Rocks for mountains, rocks for the edges of water features, rocks under bridge supports, rocks for mine entrances, decorative rocks, and many more.

In addition to natural rocks you can use cast cement to make your own rocks. Portland Cement is works under and around water. You have to be wary of using cenment in direct contact with water if you are going to have plants r fish in the water. Cement will give off certain chemical elements into the water. It is possible to kill or damage your plants or fish with new cement. it is better if you can give a year or so without water fish and plants. This allows the cement to fully cure and reduces the leaching of chemicals. It is also to speed up the process by allowing the cement to cure for a few weeks and then using a sealant on the cement. Wait for the sealant to cure (usually a few days) before adding water. Let the water cycle for a few days and do chemical tests for pH, etc. for trace elements that are harmful to fish or plants. It usually works out just fine. Add fish or plants one at a time. If they are affected by the chemicals (you may have not detected with your tests) only one or two will be harmed.

Gravel and crushed rock is another key component of garden railroads. Gravel and crushed rock provide coarse drainage under your soil or dirt. Drainage is critical to controlling water on or near the railroad.

Pea-sized gravel can be very useful in creating a bed for drainage pipes. Pea-sized gravel can also be used in the bottom of your water features. It provides a place with lots of surface area for bacteria that help to clean the water to grow. It’s also easy to scoop out and clean every few years.

Have fun!

Trainguy

Planning Your Outdoor Garden Railroad - Part 14 - Water

When you are planning your outdoor garden railroad most people consider a water feature. Here’s what you should be planning on -

Outdoor garden railroads are ideal settings for water features. Consider these questions and alternatives as part of your garden railroad plan:

Where is your water going to come from? Are you going to fill the water feature once in a while with water from the hose or a use dedicated water supply pipe? Plan on an installation that can handle weather changes throughout the year. If you are in a region that experiences frost and frozen temperatures, you will need to plan on having a frost-free supply pipe.

What is the water  going to do while on your railroad? Outdoor water attracts birds, bugs, and animals.  Plan on keeping it moving so that it does not become a breeding area for mosquitoes and other bugs. Plan on having a dark colored net nearby to prevent birds and animals from falling in at night. You can drape the well-fastened netting over the water feature at night time and when the railroad is not being used. Include a water pump, water  filter and aeration device or bubbler to add oxygen to the water. This will slow down the growth of algae and keep the water fresh smelling. You may want an automatic filter and skimmer to remove items from the water.

Where’s the water going next? Plan on having to drain the water feature from time-to-time for maintenance or repairs. Plan on building in a drain system with a screen to filter out large items like leaves. It’s very time consuming to siphon or pump water out by hand. TIP: A proper drainage arrangement will increase your eperience with water on the railroad tremendously.

Have fun!

Trainguy

March, 2009 Events Calendar-  22 Southern California Model Railroads Open for Tours

Scale model railroading is rising in popularity. Model railroads in all scales are open to visitors. Check local listing and groups for dates, cost, and details. Model railroad builders and operators are sharing their railroads through regional open houses and forming multi-railroad tours. A recent notice listed numerous open model railroads creating a tour of layouts in Southern California on exhibit during March, 2009.

Members of this group living in Southern California are invited to
another FREE model railroad layout tour sponsored by Model Railroads
of Southern California the weekend of March 14 and 15. Three G scale
layouts (see descriptions below) are featured on this tour and all of
these are in Tehachapi, allowing you to enjoy garden railroading
against a prototype backdrop.

This will be our sixteenth layout tour. This will be a self-guided
tour of twenty-two layouts at eleven sites in Bakersfield, the Lake
Isabella area and Tehachapi. By scale, there will be ten HO layouts,
five N layouts, two O layouts, one Z layout, three G layouts and one
live steam set-up. (See descriptions below).

Below is basic information about the tour. This information is
sufficient for you to take the tour. Additional downloadable
information, including driving references, two maps for every layout
and an overall area map, is available in the Files Section of the
group at:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Model_Railroads_Of_Southern_California/

Be sure to check the group website the day before the tour to see if
any changes to the schedule or layout lineup have occurred.

Some of the layouts will be on display at the huge two-day Train Show
at the Kern County Fairgrounds. In addition to the show there will
be approximately 120 vendor tables plus manufacturer displays at this
show.

Persons taking this tour assume all risks and liability for their
personal safety. Although I am the Moderator of the group, I am not
responsible for personal loss or injury to those taking this tour.

If you cannot make this tour, more tours are being planned, including
a tour of South Orange County layouts in May.

If you wish to open your home layout for an upcoming tour, please
contact me.

Bob Chaparro
Moderator
Model Railroads of Southern California
Hemet, CA
chiefbobbb@…

Model Railroads of Southern California
Layout Tour No. 16
Saturday & Sunday March 14 & 15, 2009

These Layouts Are Open Only Saturday Evening, March 14

Golden Empire Historical & Modeling Society
7:00 pm to 10:00 pm HO& N
1534 19th Street, Bakersfield 661-325-2595
For club’s downtown location enter through the alley door then take
stairs to the second and third floors for the HO and N scale layouts.
Parking is on the street. East/West streets are one way.

This club boasts two large layouts, one each in HO and N scale. The
HO layout, located on the 3rd floor, is approximately 30 feet in
width and 100 feet long. Two large yards are located at each end of
the layout, with several industries located in between. The layout is
currently a work-in-progress, but they are able to operate on it.
Several scenery projects are currently in progress on the layout.
Digitrax’s Digital Command Control powers the layout, as on the N
scale layout.

The N scale layout is 18 feet wide and 80 feet long, and includes a
scaled-down version of the Tehachapi Loop. The club has extensive
scenery work in progress. Anyone who models in N scale is welcome to
bring their decoder-equipped locomotives and run them along the 15
scale miles of mainline from Bakersfield to Mojave. Club photos:
http://www.pcrnmra.org/daylight/newsletters/Q108.pdf

Larry Saslaw
6:00 pm to 8:00 pm HO
14700 Orchard Crest Avenue, Bakersfield 661-588-2770 and 661-706-
2673

This HO scale layout is based on Southern Pacific’s Dunsmuir engine
facilities and Shasta Division, circa 1954 (and last day of Southern
Pacific operations on Sept 11, 1996). Larry has used plans of the
roundhouse, machine shops, mallet shed, sanding tower and station
from MAINLINE MODELER articles of the early 1980s. The layout is
built within the third stall of his garage and measures 12′ x 21′
feet.

There concept is based on a climbing out of the Sacramento River from
lower Dunsmuir yard, through the engine facilities, up the canyon
past Shasta Springs, across Hotlum (Dry Canyon) up to a second level
to what could be the summit at Siskyou (Larry has used artistic
license to switch lines)up to a helix and down, or reverse loops on
top and bottom.

The layout climbs twice around the room, from the helix and Dunsmuir
yard and shops located on the center peninsula, around the room
twice, back onto the peninsula to the top of the helix. Larry’s
intent is to portray the scenery and feeling of railroading in the
Shasta Route. He uses Digitrax Radio DCC and has a sample of SP
steam, Diesels, Shasta Daylight, Klamath, lumber trains of the 1954
era. He also can switch out the whole power and rolling stock to
portray the last days of the SP with the Coast Starlight. The layout
was on the SPH&TS Bakersfield Tour in September 2008.

These Home Layouts Are Open Only Sunday, March 15

John Bell
10:00 to 4:00 G Scale
19512 Sycamore Drive, Tehachapi 661-823-1308
Do not turn on to Sycamore Drive from Woodford-Tehachapi Road.
Segment is steep and unpaved. Use Pinion Canyon to Sage Ave. to
Sycamore Drive to reach this site.

John’s garden layout has 1,050-feet of track in single loop, with an
80-foot siding, 10 bridges and 6 tunnels. Part of the run goes down a
mountain river canyon on a two percent grade.

John’s pride-and-joy is his Union Pacific Big Boy, which you will be
able to view upon your visit – along with all his other locomotives –
from Southern Pacific to Rio Grande, and everything in between.
Most of the equipment is 1:29.

John’s home overlooks the former Southern Pacific (now UP) “Cable
Siding” on the mainline just west of Tehachapi. John bought this
property because he is a rail buff, and has made improvements to his
property for just that – rail fanning! There is a viewing area where
you can see his train and the prototype in a perspective where they
both appear to be part of a real railroad scene.

John has picnic tables and folding chairs for rail fans to enjoy the
view from his location, so bring your cameras, relax, and enjoy the
view while enjoying the coffee that John provides. Here is a link to
some photos:

http://www.tehachapilooprailroadclub.org/rrrr.html

Richard Cantrell
12:00 to 4:00 HOn3
21661 Winesap Street, Tehachapi 661-822-0932

Richard models the Denver and Rio Grande Western in HO and HO narrow
gauge. Richard’s layout contains some impressive scenery depicting
Colorado. The upper level is narrow gauge, while the lower level is
standard gauge. The layout measures 20′ x 24′.

http://www.pcrnmra.org/daylight/newsletters/Q408.pdf (Page 2- Two
Photos)

Ron Funk
10:00 to 4:00 HO
713 Piute Street, Bodfish (Lake Isabella Area) 760-417-0965 and
760-379-4449
Park in the Piute Street cul-de-sac and walk up driveway to layout.

Ron has taken on the task of recreating the track plan of John
Allen’s legendary Gorre and Daphetid Railroad and about 85 percent of
Ron’s track plan is familiar to those that recall the G & D. Ron’s
father, Al, started the work about 25 years ago, and after his death
the layout was completed by his son, Ron.

Ron’s railroad is set in the 1940s to 1950s era, housed in a 20′ x
40′ building with the layout occupying most of the space. It
features high mountains, spectacular bridges and a large array of
scratch built and finely detailed buildings and scenes. Motive power
is an assortment of both steam and diesel from various western
railroads including Southern Pacific, Santa Fe, Union Pacific and
Western Pacific. The railroad is operated with Digitrax DCC power
with sound.

Vern Hill
10:00 to 4:00 O Scale
601 Sierra Vista Drive, Wofford Heights (Lake Isabella Area) 760-
376-3506 and 760-379-0568

This O-scale layout measures 13′ x 21′. Track is mostly hand laid to
Proto 48 standards. The basic track plan is an over-and-under folded
dog bone with a hidden storage yard into the adjoining garage. All
track work, with the exception of an engine service area and
industrial spur, is complete along with about 85 percent of the
scenery.

The layout represents generic Southern Pacific, circa 1955, with a
mix of steam and diesel. Most modelers are aware that SP had what
nearly amounted to an Eastern Sierra line from Klamath Falls, Oregon
to Mojave, including the SP narrow gauge from Keeler to Laws and
north over Mt. Montgomery Pass. In Vern’s historical “imagineering”,
he has standard gauged the line and the layout represents a section
of that fictional scenario.

Rolling stock includes some brass, Intermountain, Red Caboose and
Atlas equipment. The locomotive roster includes models from Glacier
Park, Sunset and old Atlas. All have been converted to Proto 48
standards. The layout controls are standard no-frills DC as are the
controls for the signal system (target and semaphore). A sound
system remains on the wish list.

Mountain Crossing Restaurant
5:30am to 10:30pm HO
416 W. Tehachapi Blvd., Tehachapi 661-823-0450

The restaurant has an HO scale operating display layout of the
Tehachapi Loop. The layout is operated by the Tehachapi Loop
Railroad Club. A club member may or may not be available to answer
questions about the layout.

An outreach education program, maintenance of “The Tehachapi Loop HO
layout” at the Mountain Crossing Restaurant and the future
restoration of the Tehachapi Depot are but a few of the ongoing
projects supported by the Tehachapi Loop Railroad Club

http://www.tehachapilooprailroadclub.org/mtnxngimages.html

Rick Passalacqua
10:30 to 4:30 G Scale
24140 San Juan Drive, Tehachapi 661-821-7277 and 661-477-2199
Gated Community. On the day of the tour call 661-477-2199 and leave
name to receive access permission. On Bear Valley Road you enter
thru gate and you pass a gas station and store. About a mile past
store turn left on the second San Juan Drive. (You will pass San Juan
Drive on right side, before the San Juan Drive on the left.

Rick’s Rock Back Breaking Railroad is an outdoor G scale layout with
almost 1,000 feet of track. Trains enter the mainline from a 10′ x
12′ shed that protects the equipment. There are three lines that run
separate but all interconnect. Usually a minimum of three trains are
running at once. Rick operates both steam and diesel over his empire.

Viewing is from all sides or in the middle seating area with the
trains running around you. There are lots of big trees but not much
in scale landscaping or structures as yet.

Bob Sagers
12:00 to 4:00 N Scale
23031 Tulip Court, Tehachapi 661-822-6655
Layout located on lower floor. Walk down to back of house and enter
through patio door.

This N-scale layout is an L-shape design in a 27′ x 47′ area. There
is 1,100 total feet of track, with 550 feet viable. The rest is
hidden track for staging. Bob describes the layout as “a railfans
delight”. There are no yards or industries, but lots of mainline
action. Currently he runs five to six trains concurrently on three
independent main tracks.

Layout is not yet sceniced. The area being modeled is the B&O’s
Magnolia Cut-off. From 1912-1914 that railroad built a new grade,
four tunnels, an 1,800 foot fill, and two bridges to straighten
fourteen miles of original right of way and cut the mileage down to a
seven miles with mild curves. Both the original line and the new line
were used until 1960, when the original alignment, which follows the
meandering Potomac River, was abandoned. Photos have been placed
around front edge to show what it will eventually look like.

The layout is built with the lowest tracks at 57′ and highest at
61″. This would make it unsuitable for viewing by young children
(unless held) or by short adults. Layout is walk-around with
duckunders. Comfort considerations limit viewing to no more then ten
people at any one time. If someone gets tired of watching the model
trains, they can wander out back and watch the real thing.

Dan Steinberg
10:00 to 2:00 G Scale
19801 E. Abajo Avenue, Tehachapi 661-823-8514
From Cherry Lane turn onto Marvel and turn right onto Abajo (no
street sign at this junction, only a sign post). Take Abajo (gravel
road) to reach 19801.

The Stone Mountain Railway has two independent loops. The mainline
loop is 15 feet by 30 feet, with a 20 foot siding and 4 foot radius
curves. The other loop is a mining branch which is 10 foot by 20
foot, running on 2 foot radius curves. The mining branch includes an
impressive wooden trestle and a tunnel.

The site of this layout has a nice viewpoint of the Tehachapi
Valley. Link to photos of the layout:
http://www.tehachapilooprailroadclub.org/stonemountainrr.html

Kern County Fairgrounds/Train Show Layouts- Open Saturday & Sunday
Saturday 10:00 to 5:00
Sunday 10:00 to 4:00
Horace Massey Building
1142 S. “P” Street, Bakersfield

Canfield Family Circus – This portable HO layout from Fullerton is a
13′ x 39′ animated HO circus layout. It consists of operating
railroads, a typical American town with street parade, amusement park
and a complete tented circus with Midway, Menagerie, Big Top, and
Backyard built and displayed by the Canfield Family.

The circus contains over 20 animated displays with hundreds of lights
controlled by a dedicated computer. The tents are all handmade, as
are most of the circus wagons and trains. Many of the thousands of
people and animals are hand-painted. Several of the buildings and
vehicles are collectors’ items from around the world. The Canfield
Family Circus first went on the road in 1974, and it has been
exhibited at schools, libraries, museums, hobby shows, shopping
malls, and fairs. Here is a photo link:
http://www.cfcircus.com/photo-m.htm

Daylight Division’s Time Saver - Measuring 18″ x 5′, this is an HO
scale switching contest layout on which participants compete to see
who can complete a switching assignment in the least amount of time.
The original Time Saver Layout was developed by model railroading
legend John Allen. Here is a link to the layout and the concept:
http://www.gdlines.com/Timesaver.html

Golden Empire Historical and Modeling Society – The Society will
display their 3′ X 22′ modular N scale layout. This layout gives
just a hint of their accomplishments as the Society also has an HO
scale modular layout plus permanent layouts in their clubhouse in
both HO and N scale. Club website:
http://www.gehams.net/

Greg Faluszczak- Studio City resident Greg Faluszczak will display
his 3′ x 5′ N scale layout.

Group 160 – This club will display a 16′ x 32′ modular N scale
layout. The Group 160 NTRAK club is based in Burbank. Group 160’s
layouts are modular and adhere to the NTRAK 2000 standard. Standard
NTRAK modules a either four, six or eight feet long by two feet wide;
the NTRAK 2000 standard uses modules of similar length but with a 30″
width, allowing a bit more room for scenery or industry.

The club owns four corner modules, each of which is approximately 4′
square. It also has modules comprising an offset S curve as well as
modules depicting the lumber industry, a farm, and a refinery, among
others, and a yard consisting of twelve eighteen foot tracks plus a
complex throat that marshals the assembled trains on to the main and
branch lines. In general, the Club modules embrace a Pacific
Northwest theme, but the members’ modules express a broad range of
interests: orange groves and fruit packing are well represented, as
are small towns even one that is devastated by a tornado every few
minutes. Club Home Page:
http://www.socaln.com/group160/pages/aboutus.html

Guy Krivanek – Guy will display a 4′ x 8′ O scale trolley layout and
Z scale layout that fits in a brief case.

High Desert Modular Railroad Club – This club from Lancaster will
display a 36′ x 60′ modular HO layout. One of the Club’s modules
depicts San Pedro Harbor early 1900s. Vessels, dock & bridge on this
module are scratch built. At a recent PSR convention their modules
not only showed well but they also walked away with several awards
from the contest room.

Kern County Live Steamers – This local Bakersfield group will be
operating their 1.5″ scale equipment at the Train Show. They have
some 700 feet of panel track they can set up for shows and rides.
Club website: http://www.kclivesteamers.com/

Left Coast Group – This is a California-based HOn30 modular group.
They will set-up a 21′ x 21′ modular HO layout. Pictures of some of
their modules can be viewed on this link by clicking on the various
module titles in the text: http://www.bnfhoby.com/personalmain.htm

Southern Valley Railways – This local Bakersfield group will display
4′ x 8′ and 10′ x 14′ modular HO layouts.

NOTES:
Please observe the hours of operation for the layouts.
No smoking at any of the layouts.
Admission to Fairgrounds is $6.00 for adults, kids 12 and under
admitted free when accompanied by a paying adult. Admission is good
for both days

TIP: Call ahead! (If contact information is given.) Some layouts may not be open due to last minute problems. TIP: Plan ahead! Get directions and maps organized ahead. Carry maps with County and street level details if you stray off of GPS or computer given routes. Get directions from one railroad or railroad site to another. Group railroads or site, based on day and travel distances. Write a personal itinerary with estimated travel times and time for visits built in. Be safe, bring along someone to be your navigator. It’s more fun to be able to talk about the railroads between stops too. TIP: Be prepared! Be prepared to spend a lot of time at some railroads and make a brief, but polite, stop at others. Look up nearby railroad features, hobby shops, or food stops, to make the trip worthwhile. Talk with the other visitors too. You’re likely to see them again.

TIP: Take plenty of photos and notes. Bring extra batteries and use a steady tripod. If you use a video camera ask your host/railroad operator/builder to give a talking and walking tour of the railroad on video. Spend a couple of dollars and use a clip-on or remote microphone so you will get good sound. (Most on camera microphones can’t handle a walking interview well. Bad sound can ruin a shot.)  As you arrive at the site do an introduction on video: state the location, date, and basic information like scale, railroad name, etc. Shoot some general shots of the railroad as you first see it. (First impressions can be very important.) Then take the tour with the owner. Make sure to take a good clear photo of the owner with the railroad. (These good personal photos are so helpful when trying to place faces.) Then go back and shoot closeups or long-play shots of parts you want to feature and remember. (Many owners will stop trains or set up shots if you ask them to, and are willing to wait a minute or two for the train to come around again.) These shots will be a valuable resource to you and others as you go along.

Some railroads are a work in progress. Make sure to talk to the builder. Ask open-ended questions, like “What would you do differently?” or “What would you recommend to someone based on your experiences so far?” or “What are you happiest with?” Questions that elicit a simple “yes” or “no” answer or even a model number, price, or manufacturer just brings the conversation to a dead end. Draw your host/builder into the conversation. They will come alive and appreciate the chance to talk. Sometimes it gets crowded. By waiting a few minutes, you can usually see the crowd move on and get some one-on-one conversations going. Don’t leave until you do.

Exchange contact information and ask “If it would be all right to stay in touch by exchanging messages and pictures?” TIP: Build relationships by being a good listener. Remember, good model railroading is about people as much as it is about tracks and trains.

Have fun!
Trainguy

Planning Your Outdoor Garden Railroad - Part 11 - Access

You’ve made tremendous progress and are coming into the home stretch. Now’s the time to tune up your plan using your three dimensional sculpture of the plan.

The three dimensional sculpture of your plan provides information that most software programs and flat paper and pencil plans just don’t deliver.

The three dimensional sculpture of your plan gives you a way to test for access to your model railroad.  Make sure that you have modeled plantings, trees, immovable features such as sheds, decks, walkways and plantings. You don’t need super accurate detail or color or textures. The main thing that you DO need is proper massing in proportion, and proper placement. A tree can be a simple dried plant, a shrub or masses of plantings can be simple cut outs made with cheap kitchen sponges.  Walkways can be made of a cut up cardboard shipping box. If you were looking at this as a black and white (and gray) picture everything would be just fine.

When you operate a railroad of any scale and in any setting you need access. You need access to the track to put trains on the track. You need access to ALL of the track in the event that a train derails or stalls. Access inside tunnels and on intricate bridges is particularly necessary. Few things are more frustrating than trying to retrieve a train from inside a tunnel when you haven’t planned adequate proper access.

Your visitors need access to the most detailed and most interesting scenes on the railroad. They’ve come to see the railroad. They need unobstructed access to see the railroad. Operators need access to trains, tools, and controls. Operators need access to switch mechanisms. They particularly need good visual and physical access to switching areas and yards.

Casual visitors, family, and others who share the same space for other purposes need access to get to other areas. Make sure there is a clear wide walkway to trash cans, barbecue grills, seating areas, tool shed, garden hose connection, vegetable and flower gardens. You don’t want people taking a short-cut across the railroad because they don’t have easy access to them.

Remember to include meter readers, oil delivery services, and utility repair people to that last list.

You can use your three dimensional model to test for most all of the above access needs. Make a scale model of a person with one arm extended. The best way to go is to make a simple flat cardboard cut out of a person in scale. Make a separate arm for that person in scale too. Using a brass brad with folding legs (available from office supply stores) to make a shoulder joint for the arm.

Using your scale cardboard cut out, test whether your model railroad design provides adequate access. Go through each role and situation with your cardboard cut-out person. This will tell you a lot about whether you have adequate access to your railroad, where and when you need it.

Planning access to the tunnels is mostly a practical problem. TIP: the tunnels should be a little wider on the inside than the bare minimum. If you have a standard tunnel portal opening that’s OK. Make the tunnel slightly wider in the middle. Start widening as soon as you get past the tunnel portal.  Widening the tunnel is especially important if the tunnel track is curving. Most derailments happen on curves. Overhanging rail cars on curves lead to bumps into the wall of the tunnel if it is too narrow.

You also need access from the top of the tunnel for real disasters. It is best to plan a movable cover for an opening. in the center of the tunnel roof. Put some loose dirt and small plants on top. Make sure to have an easily accessible an sturdy handle to lift the hatch cover. The hatch opening should be large enough to reach in and retrieve several large trains still coupled together.  Tunnel access includes a sturdy place to stand while making this emergency retrieval. If you’ve built up soil on ether side of the tunnel you don’t want to be standing on it when you retrieve the trains. The angle of the soil may cause you to slip. Your weight on the soil may cause the tunnel walls to collapse in on your trains. Consider making a solid, step like formation on either side of the tunnel near the access hatch. Then add only enough soil and plants to complete your scene. This way you will be standing on a solid masonry base while accessing your hatch.

Bridges have natural access from the top. You will need to get close to reach in without damaging the intricate bridges. Make sure to create a clear area near bridges. It should be flat and provide a sturdy surface to stand. If you have a water feature with real water, plan a way to drain it during maintenance. You may need access to pumps, electrical equipment, piping, and the sides of the water area to maintain plantings.

If you have an especially intricate or interesting scene that is sure to draw a crowd. Make sure  create a widening in your walkways. Make sure the the widened walkway area is level. It might be useful to built a box for kids to stand on or adults to sit on and watch. A garden bench will also do the job nicely.

Use the above methods near your yard and switching area. This will b the space where many operators will spend all their time on your railroad. Give it additional attention.

If you have water feature or plantings that block access to space or views, adjust your plan. After the adjustments, modify your three dimensional sculpture and test it with your scale figure again.

When done your railroad will be much better for planning better access.

Have fun!

Trainguy

Planning Your Outdoor Garden Railroad - Part 10 - Tracks

Track planning for the garden railroad is more complicated than connecting circles and arcs with straight lines.

Outdoor railroads are often on a slope. The most visually interesting railroad operations are when tracks cross each in the same spot. I’m not suggesting arranging crashes at grade, although that certainly appealed to Gomez Adams. I’m suggesting having one track section cross over another as in a bridge over a grade level crossing.

You need to figure out the  slope of the track needed to accomplish this. The track does NOT need to be straight. In fact, the most common arrangement is having the track run in a circle or arc. Trains struggling to get up hill are not fun. You need a grade or change in elevation that is gradual and extends over a distance of track to make the trip easier.

Railroad grade is expressed as a percentage. A 1% grade is a 1 unit rise for every 100 equal units run. So a 1% grade could be a 1 foot (12 inch) rise over a 100 foot length of track. A 2% grade would be a 1 foot rise over 50 feet. A 3% grade would be a 1 foot rise over 30 foot run. 3% grade is pretty much the maximum that most trains can handle. A flatter or lower grade takes more track, but it is substantially easier to have your trains run on it. This same principle applies to all scales. If you are modeling in HO Scale you can use inches for your units. 1% grade is 1 inch rise for 100 inch run. In HO you’ll probably want a 3 to 4 inch rise so the train clears underneath the crossover track.

Grade dramatically effects the length of trains you can run on your railroad. If you are into long trains or very large equipment (such as modern equipment) try to plan a railroad with gradual grades.

TIP: You can “split the difference” by having one one track go downward, and another rise upward. The crossover point clearance is the critical measurement. It can ripple back to two different points (one for each track). This way each track only needs to rise or fall one-half of the total elevation.

Have fun!

Trainguy

Planning Your Outdoor Garden Railroad - Part 9

It’s time to look at the “garden” side of of your Outdoor Garden Railroad plan. Start by thinking like a plan. Yes, you read correctly. Plants need light, water, air, space, and good soil.

Most important are sunlight and soil conditions. Some plants thrive in bight sun. Some plants do better in partial sun or shade. Evaluate your outdoor garden railroad space. Observe where sunlight falls and how long it’s there. Fences, trees, and tall shrubs can cast significant shadows. Look at the grass and other plants that have been in this space for a while, If the lawn is NOT fertilized, cut, weeded, seeded, and fumigated to an unnatural monoculture of living green carpeting. If it has been left to its own devices and cut relatively infrequently, you may see the plants are different in some areas. The natural preference for sunlight and shade will be evident. If you’ve gone to extraordinary lengths to have a picture perfect lawn. You’ve completely changed these conditions and it is very difficult to see any changes among the plants. in either situation you can calculate the relative amount of of sun (average hours per day) by observing sun and shade and adding it to your detailed three dimensional plan. Remember to make adjustments for changes of the sun’s angle and the length of daylight through the year. There are charts available to establish winter solstice, winter equinox, summer solstice, and summer equinox. These charts will give you the angles of the two extremes of light and the middle of the sun travel. These will be sufficient to create accurate shading diagrams for your outdoor model railroad.

The next major consideration is soil type and chemistry. Soil type can be divided into sandy, clay, and loam. Soil that is sandy drain well but lacks nutrients for the plants. It may drain so well that it is unable to hold moisture for long and the roots of the plants will need frequent gentle watering. Clay soil is made up of very tiny particles that swell up when wet. It has more nutrients, and holds water better than sand, but it compresses so much that it can force out the air that is needed near plant roots. Loam has plenty of nutrients and drains well. It has little structure and may not hold the plants well. The ideal situation is to have a mix of all three. Potting soil that is sold in bags at garden centers may be too rich and may need some sand and fiberous compost added to make it well rounded for your plants. Some plants like more drainage or roots and should have a soil mix that is made especially for the plants. When it is time for railroad construction figure on using on-site soil and mixing it to get the most desired combination for your plants.

Soil chemistry can have a dramatic effect on the plants. Soil chemistry is complex but the most important feature is called “pH”. “pH” refers to the acidity or alkalinity (sweetness) of the soil. “pH” runs on a scale with acid at one end, neutral in the middle, and acid on the other end of the scale. You can test your soil by mixing a small quantity of soil in distilled water and using a “pH” meter, “soil test kit”, or “litmus” paper strips to check the “pH”of the soil. You can change the “pH” of your soil by adding lime or used coffee grounds to the soil. Talk to your garden center about which one is best for your soil.

Some plants are also sensitive to their neighbors. The positive version of this is called “companion planting”. Plants that get along with each other can enhance each other this is possible for a variety of reasons. Plants planted close to each other can effect each other. By the same principle plants that are not compatible can effect each other and negatively effect each other.

Take this information about your site and then plan your plants accordingly. Check with local specialty nurseries for native plants. Native plants that grow historically in your local area. Those species of plants have adapted to survive and even thrive in local conditions. Although their is enormous temptation to fill the garden railroad with exotic, imported, specialty plants, or hybrids. Try to avoid exotic plants, foreign species, and specialty hybrids. They may escape through natural reseeding and choke off plants in your local area. Most are poorly adapted to your area and may not survive from one season to the next. Check with your organic garden center or a national native plant society. Many universities, master gardeners, extension services, and big box garden centers have been slow to address and adopt these concerns. There are notable exceptions, but you still have to do some extra homework.  If you do consult these sources, be very specific about your requests and cross check all recommendations with a native plant society.

Go back to your original wish list. Are you planting for scale plants and model realism or planting for garden color and textures? TIP: You can mix and match. The best results are achieved by keeping all the plants in an individual scene related in size and purpose. Map out your plant, garden, landscape plan on your scale diagram. You can even model the planting plan on your three dimensional model. Make sure to consider projected plant growth or plan on annual trimming and maintenance. Unlike your track and trains, plants change through the year. Make a chart showing which are blooming when. Anticipate color groupings changing through the seasons.

Have fun!

Trainguy

Planning Your Outdoor Garden Railroad - Part 8

Your three dimensional model should give you a fairly good idea of sight lines and angles of the outdoor garden railroad. It should help you imagine the overall proportions of the railroad withing the landscape.

Miniature buildings in the form of simple solid cubes and rectangles topped off with simplified roof lines should give you a fairly accurate sense of the view breaks and the rhythm of the scenes. If the scenes are too close together or the view breaks don’t seem to work your three dimensional model will reveal this at a very early stage of development and planning.

While you can make all kinds of adjustments, extensions and modifications as you go along, and you probably will. It is much better to make some of these discoveries in the planning stage. It is far easier to move around some clay, flour and salt dough, or small cardboard buildings, than it is to dig dirt, haul wheel barrows full of soil, and build, tear down, and rebuild whole scenes. You’re planning to anticipate outcomes, limit effort and frustrations later. Otherwise you could just start laying track and buildings on the ground and see how it goes.  In the end that’s the hard way.

Trains are relatively large too. Make up a few cardboard mock ups of trains. Simple cubes and solid rectangles of the correct length height and width will be sufficient. They will reveal if your curves are too tight. Does your cardboard box train look too large for a station, siding, scene, or curve. Maybe you’ll have to adjust your track layout or scenes to accommodate the basic dimensions of a typical train. Don’t forget to add enough cars. Is The engine the right length? Will you be running two engines to haul the train up the hill? Will you have a full caboose or just a flashing rear end device (light) on the end of your train?Think about operations such as making up a train. One or two cars is way too short for a realistic looking train, even with compression or implication. Put more than one train on your three dimensional model of your railroad. How does it look? Will it still work? Do you want or need storage or set up areas and tracks? Tip: Most railroaders regret not planning for enough storage or setup areas. Be a little generous and add a few more car lengths here if you can.

You’re really refining your plan at this point. Take some pictures. Take photos of the overall view. Take some more photos trying to get really closeup and nearly the same angles as your operators, photographers and visitors. Most cameras have some distortion when you get very close up, so the photos may not represent an exact image of the planned outdoor garden railroad. That’s OK. Don’t get delayed or distracted by details. You’re trying to get an idea of general massing and proportions, not exact lines, colors or materials.

Have some one take a few more pictures of you and the three dimensional plan. Add all of these photos and some fresh comments and reflections to your Build Journal.

Have fun!

Trainguy

Planning Your Outdoor Garden Railroad - Part 7

Sculpture

It’s time to take your scale plan, scale scenes and all, and use t as the basis for a three-dimensional sculpture of your outdoor garden railroad. This will reveal all sorts of details that a two dimensional plan or aerial view just doesn’t show.

First step in this process is to create a model of your terrain. It is fairly simply to use layers of corrogated cardboard to represent each level of elevation for your back yard. If your yard slopes downward you’ll need to use several layers to represent the rise in the land’s height. If you have seen a topographical map. You may have noticed that there are lines representing the height of the land at each elevation. You want to create a similar thing for your backyard (site of your railroad. If you are using 1/4 inch is equal to a foot then use 1/8 thick cardboard to represent a 6 inch change in elevation.

After you have created your base, you can use clay or a mix of flour and salt  to show the shape of your track, hills, trestles, etc.

Have fun!

Trainguy

Planning Your Outdoor Garden Railroad - Part 6

How to convert “Bubble” Diagrams to Scale Plans

Take out your drawing, dimensions and notes for your backyard. Draw up a scale diagram. Using your scale diagram place immovable objects like large trees, deck, house, and shed. Now transfer your selected “bubble” diagram to the scale drawing. It’s OK if your slightly off in placing these items. That’s the point of using a “Bubble” diagram. It provides some leeway, room for adjustments, and a general zone where you will be working.

Make Scale Drawings of Your Scenes

Remember those photographs, calendars, and catalog pages. On a separate paper convert each scene, factory, and facility into an exact scale drawing of your scene. These can be pretty simple. Remember, a station viewed from overhead, is just a rectangle. A road is another rectangle, a straight bridge is another rectangle.  A water tower is just a circle. Use scissors to clip this out. Lay the cut and trimmed, scale drawing of each scene on the appropriate bubble.

Making Adjustments: Selective Compression & Implying a Bigger World

You’ll notice very quickly that you have too much space or too little space. Some scenes will appear way out of proportion with the available space. It’s time to make some adjustments. We’ve discussed “selective compression” on this blog before. Remove repeating some repeating elements. If the eye and brain see a pattern that’s enough. Avoid even numbered patterns. The brain tries to match things up. For some primal reason odd numbered patterns fool the brain into thinking there is more.

You can also compress your scene by “implying” a large world, or more of a world “off stage”. Remember the suggestion to model a  small part of a road coming out of a tunnel.  If it is well done, it “implies’ that there is more road and a “somewhere to go”.

Redraw your scene to scale. Trim it with scissors and put it into the bubble space on your scale drawing.

Railroad Planning Software

These same techniques can be applied through many software and computer programs. Unfortunately, the size of the screen and the mechanics of moving things with a keyboard and mouse get in the way of the creative process and quick feedback. That is why track planning software is more successful on computers than layout or landscape planning.

Getting back to the paper, scissors, and scale drawings. Pull out your second favorite “bubble” diagram in the correct scale. Move some of the pieces around. Confirm that the reasons it fell into second place still hold up.  You might be surprised. Maybe one or two scenes should be moved back to where they were on the second place plan.

Sleep On It

Now let the whole thing sit over night. Come back to it the next day with some small distance and perspective. Speaking of perspective, imagine you are a visitor, train operator, or photographer. Walk around the layout diagram and test the views and angles. Should you move a model building? Should you curve a trestle bridge? Ask one or two family members or experienced train friends to imagine using the railroad. They can be a good final check. Does the railroad work without any explanation at all from you? Then, you know you’ve got a winner!

Get out the glue and tape. Gently tack small spots to keep the scale scenes in their proper place. You may have to move them, but not much. It’s time to connect the railroad together with track.

Track Planning

Using your computer or photocopier, make paper scale track sections and switches. You could also use plastic drawing templates for the most popular drawing scales and model railroad scales.

Some model railroaders agonize over track layout and diagrams. That’s OK if you like that kind of thing. Computer software programs are designed for this.

I try to keep track planning simple. My railroad has industries and stations with a purpose. The track plan comes pretty quickly out of the need for practical operations (passing sidings, storage tracks) and outdoor terrain/conditions setting a basic route between stops. I gently modify these basics for visual impact or ease of maintenance and construction.

When I’m at the paper and drawing stage I find that a flexible metal ruler or a rubberized draftsmen’s curve tool helps me to draw smooth transitions and sweeping curves between large radius circles and straight track sections. It falls into place amazingly quickly if you imagine you are carving a real railroad out of real terrain. The flexible curve tool can also be straightened out and measured to get a rough idea how much  flexible track is going to be needed in a given section later.

Celebrate!

We’re not done, but we’ve made tremendous progress. Celebrate! Have someone take a few pictures of you and your latest version of the plans.

Build Journal

Don’t forget to add personal notes and pictures and drawings to your archival build journal. These have been extremely productive steps. You will refer to them again and again as you make estimates and build your railroad.

Have fun!

Trainguy

Planning Your Outdoor Garden Railroad - Part 5

Please read this series about Planning Your Outdoor Garden Railroad beginning with Part 1, Part 2,  Part 3, and Part 4.

Recap

It’s been a few days since the most recent installment in our exciting outdoor garden railroad planning series. Here’s a recap to refresh your memory as to where we are in the process: you’ve got your basic wish list, limits, and three “bubble diagrams” with “bubbles connected together with a few track plans and ideas. You’ve been recording each step as you go along including backyard measurements, photos, comments, and notes in your archival quality “Build Journal”. You’ve gathered together visual inspiration for your scenes with clippings from magazines, internet, calendars, maps, and historic research. You’ve set priorities and imagined your best day (in the future) of your new railroad. You’ve done “bubble” diagrams and figured out what scale works for you.

It’s time to move forward with the next step in your outdoor garden railroad planning process. So far you’ve been pretty expansive in your planning process. Now it’s time to start to narrow things down and get closer to your detailed plan.

Now it’s time to pull out the “bubble” diagrams and make some key choices that will ripple through the whole plan and outdoor garden railroad experience. What scale has the right mix of available equipment,  compatible running with friends, and allows you to fit the scenes you want into your space?

I’ve selected F scale and Fn3. Fn3 is 3 foot gauge track that models at 45 mm. This is extremely popular for outdoor garden railroads. This track and gauge is used by equipment manufactured and distributed for LGB, all the way to Bachman, and many more. I also like a certain amount of scratch-building and want to run some standard gauge (4 feet 8-1/2 inch) track in F scale (20.32) either as dual gauge track with the Fn3 or al by itself for a few scenes over a relatively short distance.

Equipment and track in this scale is in short supply and available only from a few sources. That’s OK because I only need a small area and not the whole run. I especially like that the Fn3 and F Scale are compatible and show the relative size differences.  The F Scale equipment is very large and will allow a single passenger car or engine to be a rolling showcase of detail set in the outdoors.

I intend to raise the railroad up off the ground through most of its length to accommodate wheel chair bound visitors, raise it closer to waist level for adult guests and children to see better (rather than running at ankle height). The raised height will also make it easier to hear the railroad. It should enhance having sound come from different parts of the railroad and improve the immersion into a smaller world.

I really like action throughout the railroad. Raising the height will make it easier to see what going on at the mine and in the logging camp. Downtown at the station will be bustling with activity even when waiting for the net train. I think that animation makes the whole railroad come alive. I’ve always been jarred by trains zipping through scenes where everything else seems to be frozen.It might be a good premise for science fiction but it spoils the illusion on model railroads.

I want to create scenes for the photographers and videographers. That’s part of the fun too. Arranging the scenes to block out out-of-scale-items in the background like the shed and fencing so the pictures and video are true.

Operating a railroad in the outdoors adds to the whole experience. I’ll be selecting plants for their color and size and compatibility with scale trains. I’m going to use a raised system of beds (between bridges and waterways) to provide the plants with the types of soil, drainage, and sunlight they need. Raised beds will also help to make it easier to maintain the garden and landscape aspect of the outdoor railroad. I’m not getting any younger. Crawling on the ground has lost its charm years ago.

Having raised trays will make it easier to run electrical conduit and wiring under the rail road. I’ve had great fun with sunset train runs and want to have signals and lighting to do that on my outdoor railroad.

Have fun!

Trainguy