How to automate your signals p. 44
REVIEWED:
Accucraft’s
28-ton Shay p. 62
AUGUST 2015
Adventures in outdoor model railroading
Masterpiece in a mature garden An impressive trackplan features 20 bridges p. 36
Richard Murray’s railroad features 20 bridges, lush greenery, and spectacular rockwork. See more on p. 36.
HOW TO
p. 30
Make a low-cost cutting tool p. 48 Plant succulents in your garden p. 53
www.GardenRailways.com
BONUS ONLINE CONTENT CODE p. 5
Vol. 32 • Issue 4
Build raised roadbed from concrete
GRW • 4/1/12 • 4C • 1/6 H
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©2015 M.T.H. Electric Trains
www.GardenRailways.com
3
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Garden Railways | August 2015
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ONLINE CONTENT CODE: GRW1508Enter this code at: www.gardenrailways.com/code to gain access to web-exclusive content
AUGUST 2015 | Volume 32, Number 4
CONTENTS How to automate your signals p. 44
REVIEWED:
Accucraft’s
28-ton Shay p. 62
AUGUST 2015
Adventures in outdoor model railroading
COVER PHOTO: RUSS MILLER
Masterpiece in a mature garden An impressive trackplan features 20 bridges p. 36
Richard Murray’s railroad features 20 bridges, lush greenery, and spectacular rockwork. See more on p. 36.
HOW TO
Build raised roadbed from concrete p. 30
Make a low-cost cutting tool p. 48 Plant succulents in your garden p. 53
• How to automate your signals 44 • Reviewed: Accucraft’s 28-ton Shay 62 • Masterpiece in a mature garden 36 • Build raised roadbed from concrete 30 • Make a low-cost cutting tool 48 • Plant succulents in your garden 53
17
FEATURES 24 Bachmann-to-Accucraft coupler conversions This project eases compatibility problems by James Kottkamp
26 How the Rose City Club promotes garden railroading Part 1: Hosting a garden-railway tour by Bill Derville
30 Build your own precast concrete roadbed A durable system for a raised railway by Eric Repaci
24
COVER STORY
36 Live steam in a Japanese garden The Green Hills Railway beautifully incorporates water, rocks, and plants by Richard Murray
44 Build an infrared train detector Automatically activate signals and more: Part 2 by David Bodnar
48 Build a low-cost cutting tool This device makes precision cutting of stripwood easy by Neptali Martinez
50 Staff corner: Marc Horovitz
26
The joy (?) of painting by Marc Horovitz
IN EVERY ISSUE 6 From the Editor
Notes from Marc
8 Notes & news
What’s new for the garden railroader
11 Letters
Views from our readers
12 Garden railway basics
Track and wheel standards: Part 2
17 Greening your railway
The trains run on thyme
23 Plant portraits
Doone Valley lemon thyme
53 Miniscaping Succulents
58 Raising steam
Online extras
60 Events
Upcoming shows and exhibits
61 Online station
A large-scale guide to the Internet
62 Product reviews
Accucraft Shay, MyLocoSound sound system, corrugated metal, and more
Building a steam-locomotive 74 One-page project Make simple building foundations chassis from a kit
• Accucraft locomotive product video • Related links and code for “Build an infrared train detector“
www.GardenRailways.com
GARDEN RAILWAYS (ISSN 0747-0622, USPS 713-710) is published bimonthly by Kalmbach Publishing Co., 21027 Crossroads Circle. P.O. Box 1612, Waukesha WI 53187-1612. Periodicals postage paid at Waukesha WI, and additional offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to GARDEN RAILWAYS, PO Box 1612, Waukesha WI 53187-1612. Canada Publication Mail Agreement # 40010760
FROM THE EDITOR
Many paths to enjoyment
Editor Production Editor Horticultural Editor Technical Editor Contributing Editors Art Director Senior Graphic Designer Circulation Manager Single Copy Specialist Production Coordinator
6
Garden Railways | August 2015
PHOTO BY ETZEL WILHOLT
E
veryone thinks that their hobby is the very best in the whole world, from stamp collecting to fly fishing. One reason for that may be the fact that their hobbies provide them as much or more enjoyment than anything else they do. I know people whose sole purpose in working for a living was to support their hobbies. It’s truly a wonderful thing to have an outlet like a hobby, which one can pursue at any level, without outside pressure concerning achievement, attaining (or even setting) goals, advancement, deadlines, or any other stressproducing thing. Your hobby is there for you to engage in any way you like. Any pressure or expectation comes from within. I suppose that, at one end of the spectrum, there are those who buy the publications associated with their hobbies and enjoy them in their easy chairs, doing nothing more, while at the other end are those people who are fully engaged in the hobby and are out there doing innovative work to advance the hobby into new and undreamed of realms. We denizens of the garden have perhaps more than our share of ways to pursue our chosen pastime. Garden railroading is a broad umbrella covering a wide variety of subhobbies, each of which is virtually bottomless. No one has ever said to me, “Well, I’ve done everything there is to do in garden railroading. Now I’m moving on to something else.” There’s always something new to learn, some skill to refine, or some new concept to develop. Garden railroading is a learning experience. I have seen hundreds of garden railways, both personally and in photos and videos. The thing that every one has in common with every other is that they began as an idea. Someone said to themselves, “I’d like to build a railway here.” They then either just set about doing it, learning as they went, or they gathered as much information as they could from printed matter, online searches, and fellow hobbyists until they felt that they had a sufficient knowledge base to achieve their goal. As knowledge broadens, people refine their goals and expectations. The once-grand plan that would cover acres gets scaled back to something more reasonable. The idea of “I’ll buy anything that looks good to me and run it” is put aside in favor of a specific theme that both narrows the field and increases the challenge. When treading the knowledge path, people often discover that there is far more to garden railroading than they had, at first, thought. Perhaps they discover the science that goes into track laying or the fact that some people narrowly focus their modeling to encompass a single industry or, if they’re history buffs, perhaps a single year of a specific locale. They discover the sub-hobby of railway gardening and all that it entails. Or they may discover that, while garden railroading is exceedingly attractive in the abstract, the actual building of the railroad doesn’t scratch the itch. Rather, it’s scratchbuilding structures or rolling stock that really turns them on. Or perhaps it’s operating the finished railroad in the same manner that a full-size railroad is run. Whatever your pleasure within the broad area called garden railroading, you’ll never hit bottom. Ours is a hobby that will provide you a lifetime of unlimited potential for learning and enjoyment—at your own speed.
Marc Horovitz Rene Schweitzer Nancy Norris Vance Bass Don Parker, Kevin Strong, Jeff Young LuAnn Williams Belter Chuck Braasch Cathy Daniels Kim Redmond Jodi Jeranek
Advertising 888-558-1544 Fax: 262-796-0126 Group Ad Sales Manager Scott Redmond Advertising Sales Representative Steve Dake E-mail:
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[email protected] Please include your name, mailing address, and telephone number with any correspondence Subscriptions and product orders 800-533-6644 Weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central time Editorial inquiries Marc Horovitz, Editor Phone: 303-377-7785 E-mail:
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[email protected] PO Box 1612 21027 Crossroads Circle Waukesha WI 53187-1612 Kalmbach Publishing Co. President Charles R. Croft Associate Publisher Neil Besougloff Vice President, Editorial Kevin P. Keefe Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing Daniel R. Lance Vice President, Consumer Marketing Nicole McGuire Corporate Advertising Director Scott Bong Corporate Art Director Maureen M. Schimmel Art and Production Manager Michael Soliday SUBSCRIPTION RATE: 1 year (6 issues) $32.95; 2 years (12 issues) $59.95; 3 years (18 issues) $79.95. Canadian: Add $8.00 postage per year. All other international subscriptions: Add $10.00 postage per year. Payable in U.S. funds, drawn on a U.S. bank (Canadian price includes GST) BN 12271 3209 RT. Expedited delivery service surcharges: Domestic first class $15/yr; Canadian air $15/yr; International air $35/yr. Copyright © 2015 Kalmbach Publishing Co.; all rights reserved. Material in this publication may not be reproduced in any form without permission. Not responsible for unsolicited materials. Title registered as trademark. Printed in U.S.A.
BACHMANN G SCALE LARGE TRAINS
SUPER SALE BACHMANN STRAIGHT TRACK
G SCALE BRASS TRACK
CURVED TRACK
#94651C 1' STRAIGHT, Box of 12 . . . . . . .99.99 #94652C 3' STRAIGHT, Box of 12 . . . . . .254.99 #94660C 5' STRAIGHT, Box of 6 . . . . . . .209.99
#94653C 4' DIAMETER CURVE, Box of 12 .99.99 #94654C 5' DIAMETER CURVE, Box of 12 134.99 #94655C 8' DIAMETER CURVE, Box of 16 199.99
THOMAS AND FRIENDS #97003 EMILY’S COACH SALE $64.99 #97004 EMILY’S BREAK COACH SALE $64.99
RAIL TRUCK With ACCESSORIES #82394 Red/Black #82397 Yellow/BLACK #82398 Hunter Green/Black
JACKSON SHARP PASSENGER CARS
SUPER SALE $89.99 EA. 2-4-4 FORNEY SUPER SALE #80996 SANDY RIVER (Outside) $499.99 EA.
COACH SALE $79.99 Ea.
#80997 SANDY RIVER (Inside) #80998 BLACK UNLETTERED (Outside) #80999 BLACK UNLETTERED (Inside)
#89396 WHITE PASS & YUKON #89399 PAINTED, UNLETTERED
SIGN UP FOR TRAINWORLD E-MAIL SALES & NEWS
#91196 SOUTHERN 2-4-2 STEAM LOCOMOTIVE SALE $199.99
#91197 UNLETTERED, black #91198 UNLETTERED, red window #91199 UNLETTERED, green/black
#89692 EAST BROAD TOP
BAGGAGE SALE $67.99 Ea. #89693 EAST BROAD TOP
OBSERVATION SALE $85.99 Ea. #89694 EAST BROAD TOP
0-4-0 PORTER STEAM 2-4-2 STEAM LOCOMOTIVE SUPER SALE $124.99 EA.
COMBINE SALE $67.99
BILLBOARD REEFERS SUPER SALE
SUPER SALE $99.99 EA.
$49.99 Ea.
#82596 COLRADO MINING #82597 MIDWEST QUARRY #82599 UNLETTERED, black
#98682 #98684 #98685 #98689
J.H BREWHOUSE BRICKTOWN RIVER HORSE KENNEBEC RIVER
#98690 #98691 #98692 #98695
AMHERST RAMPO VALLEY DOGFISH HEAD DOGFISH IPA
TRAINWORLD® ORDERS ONLY 1-800-541-7010
#91401 THOMAS THE TANK LOCO W/MOVING EYES SALE $179.99
#90069 #90087 #91402 #91403 #91404 #91405 #97001 #97002 #98001 #98002 #98003
THOMAS AND FRIENDS
PERCY & TROUBLESOME TRUCKS SET 249.99 THOMAS CHRISTMAS DELIVERY SET . .259.99 PERCY LOCOMOTIVE W/MOVING EYES . . .179.99 JAMES THE RED ENGINE W/MOVING EYES 229.99 EMILY W/MOVING EYES . . . . .249.99 TOBY ENGINE . . . . . . . . . . . . .189.99 ANNIE COACH . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59.99 CLARABEL COACH . . . . . . . . . .59.99 TROUBLESOME TRUCK #1 . . . .59.99 TROUBLESOME TRUCK #2 . . . .59.99 COAL WAGON WITH LOAD . . . .57.99
STARTER SETS with TRACK & TRANSFORMER 90048 90050 90071 90078 90083 90122
MOUNTAINEER PASSENGER SET . . .259.99 SILVERADO FREIGHT TRAIN SET . .269.99 LUMBERJACK FREIGHT SET . . . . . . .184.99 THE PLAINSMAN SET . . . . . . . . .237.99 RINGLING BROS. CIRCUS SET . .289.99 NORTH WOODS LOGGER SET . . .324.99
90037 NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS FREIGHT SET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .SALE 239.99 90076 WHITE CHRISTMAS PASSENGER EXPRESS SET . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .SALE 259.99
Li’L BIG HAULERS
VIEW OUR PRODUCT CATALOG
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STOCK CAR 4-6-0 STEAM LOCOMOTIVE WITH TENDER & LIGHT, SMOKE & SYNCHRO
SOUND SUPER SALE $219.99 #91601 #91602 #91603 #91604 #91605 #91606 #91607
SUPER SALE $39.99 Ea.
90196 90197 #98101 UNION PACIFIC #98120 EAST TENNESSEE & WEST NORTH CAROLINA 90198 91498 91499 BOX CARS
EAST BROAD TOP DENVER RIO GRANDE RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN SOUTHERN PACIFIC COAST DENVER RIO GRANDE WESTERN EAST TENNESSEE WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA UNLETTERED, BLACK
#93301 #93302 #93311 #93318 #93328 #93364
#91552 MIDWEST #91554 COLORADO #91556 YELLOW PINE
DCC READY, NO SOUND SUPER SALE $499.99 #85094 ELK RIVER #85096 BAYSIDE #85097 UNLETTERED #85098 UNLETTERED,Black/Red/White
3-TRUCK SHAY DCC ON-BOARD, NO SOUND SUPER SALE $399.99 EA. #82494 #82496 #82498 #82499
OREGOON LUMBER MEADOW RIVER UNLETTERED, red window UNLETTERED, black
#82699 UNLETTERED 55Ton 3-TRUCK SHAY DCC & SOUND ON-BOARD SALE $499.99
2-6-6-2 SADDLE TANK, DCC READY
GONDOLAS SALE $53.99 Ea. #93705 #93718 #93724 #93747 #93770
RIO GRANDE FLYING GRANDE BUMBLE BEE RGS SUNRISE HERALD PAINTED, UNLETTERED
#96201 HAND CAR W/TRAILER, gray #93938 OPEN STREET CAR, YELLOW/BEIGE SALE $124.99
98090 JUMPIN JACK JELLY BEANS 98091 KING COAL 98097 GOLDEN NUGGET MINING
BAGGAGE SALE $19.99 EA.
CABOOSE SALE $19.99 EA.
97088 RED/BLACK 97092 GREEN/BLACK 97096 YELLOW/SILVER
8' WIDE RADIUS REQUIRED
NEW YORK CENTRAL DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN COLORADO & SOUTHERN VICTOR GOLD MINING UNLETTERED
SALE $49.99
ZERO LEAN CONOCO WHITE PASS & YUKON TEXACO TIDEWATER GRAMPS
#93465 #93470 #93471 #93473
Long Tender
#83196 DENVER RIO GRANDE ROYAL GORGE #83199 PAINTED, UNLETTERED
SALE $95.99 PETER WHITT STREET CAR, DCC READY SUPER SALE $249.99 ea.
RUNS ON TRACK OR OVERHEAD POWER
BALTIMORE TRANSIT COMPANY LOS ANGELES RAILWAY TORONTO CHICAGO SURFACE LINES
#88695 COLORADO & SOUTHERN #88697 FLORENCE & C.C. #88698 UNLETTERED, red
#88795 DENVER RIO GRANDE #88798 UNLETTERED, oxide brown #88799 UNLETTERED, oxide red UNION UNLETTERED FIRE PREVENTION FRAMED UNLETTERED, silver TANK CAR
SUPER SALE $99.99
HOPPERS SALE $62.99 Ea.
BOXCAR, MURPHY ROOF SUPER SALE $99.99 Ea.
LONG CABOOSE SUPER SALE $149.99 Ea.
TANK CARS SALE $64.99 Ea.
#82896 OREGON #82897 WEST VIRGINIA PULP & PAPER #93401 #93402 $749.99 Ea. #93419 #82898 UNLETTERED BLACK #93432 #82899 UNLETTERED RED #93433 #93445
91701 91702 91703 91704
HOPPER SALE $19.99 EA.
97089 RED/BLACK 97093 GREEN/BLACK 97097 YELLOW/SILVER
BACHMANN FINE DETAILING ROLLING STOCK
#95368 PENNSYLVANIA 20' BOX CAR
SUPER SALE $499.99 Ea.
C19 STEAM LOCOMOTIVE, DCC READY SUPER SALE $799.99 EA. Short Tender
98088 BUDS CHOCOLATE 98089 SPECTRUM PAINTS 98098 NORTH STAR
98086 BLUE/SILVER #93320 EAST TENNESSEE & WEST NORTH CAROLINA 98087 YELLOW/BLACK SOUND, DCC ON-BOARD #93324 COLORADO & SOUTHERN 98099 GREEN/BLACK SUPER SALE $599.99 #93330 EAST BROAD TOP #86093 CLEAR LAKE RINGLING BROS. CIRCUS ITEMS #86094 ELK RIVER REEFERS #86095 DEMO #86096 BAYSIDE SALE #86097 UNLETTERED $62.99 Ea. #86098 UNLETTERED #93201 UNION PACIFIC TIFFANY 92712 WATER TANK CAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74.99 #93202 SANTA FE 92713 FLAT w/Elephant Tableau Wagon . . . .84.99 #93203 GOLDEN EAGLE ORANGES #93204 ROTHBACH BREWERY 90083 RINGLING BROS. CIRCUS SET . .299.99 92714 FLAT w/Lady Artists Tableau Wagon . .84.99 #93224 COLORADO SOUTHERN 90194 LIL’ BIG TOP RINGLING BROS. SET .189.99 92715 BOXCAR w/Tiger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64.99 #93265 BERKSHIRE BREWING CO. 92711 JACKSON SHARP COACH . . . . . . . . . .89.99 92717 BOBBER CABOOSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59.99 #93266 DAIRYMAN’S LEAGUE 92718 RINGLING GONDOLA . . . . . . . . . . . . .59.99 #93267 DAIRYMAN’S CIRCUS #93276 NATIONAL DISPATCH 97381 PERFORMER’S OBSERVATION .SALE 64.99 SUPER SALE $39.99 98380 CIRCUS POLE CAR . . . . . . . . . .SALE 49.99 #93268 BERKSHIRE HAM BACON 98383 CIRCUS WATER TANK CAR . . . .SALE 44.99
#88999 Die-Cast Shay Power Trucks 1/pair SALE $209.99 #81399 UNLETTERED 4-4-0 STEAM ENGINE & TENDER SUPER SALE $499.99
#83194 #83195 #83197 #83198
DENVER RIO GRANDE RED DATA ONLY GREAT NORTHERN RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN PACIFIC COAST GREAT CENTRAL
SUPER SALE $39.99 Ea.
2-TRUCK CLIMAX
FAST FREIGHT SET . . . . . . . . . . .139.99 SHORT LINE RR PASSENGER SPECIAL SET 129.99 NORTH POLE EXPRESS SET . . . .139.99 LOCO & TENDER SHORT LINE RAILROAD 59.99 TANK ENGINE SHORT LINE RAILROAD 44.99
TANK CAR SALE $19.99 EA.
COACH SALE $19.99 EA.
SALE $62.99 Ea.
2-6-0 LOCOMOTIVE WITH SMOKE & SOUND SUPER SALE $159.99 EA.
#90068 THOMAS with ANNIE & CLARABEL SET SALE $239.99 #98004 SODAR FUEL TANK . . . . . . . . . .57.99 #98005 TIDMOUTH MILK TANK . . . . . . .57.99 #98006 CARGO CAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57.99 #98007 OIL TANK CAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57.99 #98008 BRAKE VAN . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57.99 #98009 TAR CAR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57.99 #98010 S.P. RUFFY . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .57.99 #98011 RASBERRY TANK CAR . . . . . . .57.99 #98012 OPEN WAGON, BLUE . . . . . . . .57.99 #98013 OPEN WAGON, RED . . . . . . . . .57.99 #98014 CREAM TANKER . . . . . . . . . . . .57.99
#88195 WHITE PASS & YUKON
SUPER SALE $39.99
#88197 UNLETTERED, black #88198 UNLETTERED, silver #88199 UNLETTERED, red
FRAMELESS TANK CAR SUPER SALE $99.99 Ea.
#88493 GRAMPS
#88494 GRAMPS
FRAMELESS TANK CAR SUPER SALE $99.99 Ea. #88496 #88497 #88498 #88499
UTLX UNLETTERED, black UNLETTERED, silver UNLETTERED, red
SHOP ON-LINE AT trainworld.com
#98203 EAST BROAD TOP #98204 SOUTHERN, brown #93811 GREAT NORTHERN #98206 RED DATE ONLY #98229 PEABODY, yellow CABOOSE #98278 CHRISTMAS #98270 UNLETTERED
#92504 V DUMP CAR SALE $47.99 EA.
FRAMED TANK CAR SUPER SALE $99.99 Ea.
SUPER SALE $49.99 Ea.
#98490 SHORT LOG CAR W/LOGS #92503 WOODSIDE DUMP CAR SALE $59.99 SALE $47.99 EA. #98470 LOG CAR W/LOGS, PAINTED UNLETTTERED #92502 SIDE DUMP SALE $59.99 ORE CAR SALE $47.99 EA.
CABOOSES with CENTER CUPOLA & INTERIOR #93827 EAST BROAD TOP #93830 ELY THOMAS CO. #93851 UNION PACIFIC
SALE $83.99 Ea. BOBBER CABOOSES SALE $47.99 Ea.
#93119 WHITE PASS & YUKON #93142 RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN
SUPER SALE $34.99 #93106 #93120 #93130 #93148
DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN EAST TENNESSEE & WEST NORTH CAROLINA EAST BROAD TOP DENVER & RIO GRANDE WESTERN
THE PRODUCTS WE SELL ARE NOT TOYS AND ARE NOT INTENDED FOR USE BY CHILDREN UNDER THE AGE OF 14. THESE PRODUCTS ARE MODEL RAILROAD EQUIPMENT & ACCESSORIES AND ARE INTENDED FOR USE BY ADULTS.
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NOTES & NEWS PRODUCTS
Engines & rolling stock
Great American Locomotion—The GAL Line, 472 East Holly Avenue, Pitman NJ 08071, has released a 1:29 scale REA 53-foot express reefer (#Gal 80 431). This craftsman project includes laser-cut and -etched styrene parts, express trucks, brass bearings, and 36" Sierra Valley steel wheels. Included are parts for two different styles of ice hatch and internal supports for making a milk-tank-car variant. Price: $330. Website: www.thegalline.com
Star Hobby, 1564 Whitehall Rd., Annapolis MD 21409, is offering two reefers in honor of the 2015 East Coast Large Scale Train Show. Each reefer, made by USA Trains, commemorates a nowdefunct brewery in Cumberland, Maryland: the Queen City Brewing Company and the Cumberland Brewing Company. These cars were produced in a limited edition of 100 each. Price: $65 ea. + s&h. Website: www.starhobby1.com
American Mainline, 33268 Central Ave., Union City CA 94587, has a PS-1 standard-gauge boxcar in 1:29 scale, painted in Tuscan Red and decorated for
8
Garden Railways | August 2015
Santa Fe’s Super Chief to California (#40110). The plastic car features opening doors with working latches, cast-metal trucks, and is highly detailed. Knuckle and hookand-loop couplers are furnished. This car comes packaged with three other (different graphics) Santa Fe billboard boxcars and is sold by the case. Price: $377.66 per case of four. Website: www.american mainline.com
Western Railroad (#38630). Contact your local supplier for prices and availability. Website: www.piko.de
Track products
MBV Schug, Neustrasse 18, D-54340 Detzem, Germany, has a live steam, gauge 1, 1:20.3-scale model of Sächsische IK Nº 54, an 0-6-0T. The model, built by Accucraft, features a butane-gas-fired boiler, piston valves, cylinder drains, water glass, pressure gauge, and more. Price: 2,250. The locomotive can be supplied with radio control at additional cost. Website: www.accucraft.de
Bachmann Trains, 1400 East Erie Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19124, has brass 30°, two-foot radius turnouts in gauge 1, both right and left hand. These turnouts are designed for use with all manufacturers’ large-scale locomotives and rolling stock. They feature precision-engineered points, variable-spaced guardrails, brass rail and North American style UV-protected ties with spike heads. Price: $55 each. Website: www.bachmanntrains.com
Tools Burl Rice, 316 N. Spring Street, Sparta TN 38583, is producing a 17,595 gallon corn-syrup tank car as a 1:29-scale craftsman kit. The kit includes trucks with ball bearings, rotating bearing caps, and working scale springs; working AAR type E, double-shelf couplers with manual trip pins; a one piece, main-body casting; and Cargill decals. Price: $275 + 20 s&h (mail order, inside the US). This kit requires 3D-printed nylon parts from Shapeways, to be ordered separately ($75). Website: http://burlrice.com/_LS_CornSyrup/ Piko Spielwaren GmbH, Lutherstr. 30, 96515 Sonneberg, Germany, is offering a shorty passenger car in large scale, decorated for the Denver & Rio Grande
Micro-Mark, 800-225-1066, has released the MicroLux LaserKnife 2525 Laser Cutter Engraving Machine (#86097), an affordable, ready to use, table-top laser cutter/engraver. The unit features simple software and easy-tounderstand instructions. You can draw anything on your computer screen and
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the LaserKnife will cut it. Part revisions can be made quickly. The machine cuts a wide variety of materials, including wood, plastic, cloth, foam, cardboard, chipboard, paper, embossed-pattern sheets, wood-siding materials, and other nonmetals. You can also engrave pictures and textures into the surface of your material. Micro-Mark’s free, online parts library lets you share designs from other customers and Micro-Mark staff. A Windows computer is required. Price: $1,995. Website: www.micromark.com
Many Powder-Coating Colors Available
Valley Train Station 3811-B Schaefer Ave. Chino, CA 91710
Märklin, Inc., New Berlin, Wisconsin, has announced the addition of Heartland Hobby Wholesale of Lincoln, Nebraska, as a distributor for LGB and other model trains and accessories in North America. Heartland Hobby Wholesale will be the second LGB distributor in the US, along with Walthers in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. Website: www.marklin.com
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G SCALE GRAPHICS GRW • 08/01/2015 • 2C • 1/12
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10
Garden Railways | August 2015
LETTERS Inspiration
It was great to hear from Dutton Foster in the April 2015 issue of GR. The gondola in photo 3 of his story includes his “first attempt at large-scale modeling.” Dutton wrote a two-part article for GR, starting in September 1984, on how to build that gondola, board-by-board. I followed the article to try my own first attempt at proper scratchbuilding (see photo) for my old Union County & Northern. Twentyfive years later, scratchbuilding models is still my favorite aspect of our hobby. —Jack DiSarro, Hillsborough, New Jersey
Track and wheel standards
I want to applaud Kevin Strong for his article on track-and-wheel standards (June 2015 GR). When he says it was a long process conforming the NMRA to the G1MRA standards, he’s not kidding. Although Kevin joined the committee in 2007, and was instrumental in pushing through the standards, the committee was formed in 1992 by Stan Ames. It was an 18-year process! The original committee included Marc Horovitz of Garden Railways magazine and Russ Reinberg of Outdoor Railroader magazine, along with Bob Hartford and other large-scale manufacturers. I took over as chairman from Stan in early 2000 and remained until 2010, when we published the standards. The key is that the wheels and track combine to form a system. The goal of the NMRA committee was to come up with standards that would make all equipment, regardless of scale, work together. This was quite challenging and contrary to the NMRA philosophy that each “degree of fineness” (proto/exact, finescale, semiscale, and coarse scale/deep flange) should have their own track that would, by definition, not be compatible. One correction to Kevin’s article: G1MRA’s “exact scale” standards (for 1:32) are called scale 3/8 (not finescale)
and are basically the same as the NMRA’s proto. Both G1MRA and NMRA have a finescale standard that is actually slightly oversize exact scale. (Although the generic use of finescale refers to exact brass models, as a label for wheel-and-track standards, it does not). The term semiscale or scale, the next category, is what the brass models’ wheels are generally built to, having wider wheels and higher flanges than finescale. Coarse scale or deep flange are the most oversize (typical of Aristo-Craft, LGB, MTH, USA, etc.). The goal of the NMRA Standards committee was to make all of this work together reliably. It was quite challenging but we accomplished it. In keeping with Marc’s editorial about using correct size rail (not code 332, regardless of the model’s scale), more reliable operation would be possible if the manufacturers conformed to the NMRA standards. —Gary Raymond,
[email protected]
The bit of bridge in the photo is another project, and marks my recent acceptance of working with expanded foam (I hate the “popcorn” but it works so fast). I add mortar mix to the paint and coat the foam several times to give it a durable surface (the finished bridge is five-feet long and replaces a trestle on my outdoor line here in town). This material is still not the best for places where my big foot might kick it but it’s fine in background. Our PD&Q Railroad will celebrate its 30-year anniversary this summer! —Dutton Foster, St. Paul, Minnesota
Mack locomotive kitbash
A “coulda been” diesel
Here is a photo of my winter project, another “coulda been” diesel, in this case an SW-1.5. I shortened the hood, raised the hood and body 1/4", enlarged the side windows, added a tool box on the front, and replaced all handrails and grabs with heavier wire. I also added a lithium-ion 14.4V battery, manual control (reverse switch on top of hood, the front stack twists for speed via Critter Control). I added MyLocoSound, which is not up to Phoenix, of course, but for less than $100 is a good deal—I can trigger the bell and whistle with a Sony TV remote pointed into the cab!
Here is a picture of my new, kitbashed Mighty Mack, which I won in the 2013 Hartland contest. For this work I used primarily Ozark Miniatures and Trackside Details parts. The Mack heralds came from old Monogram kits and the doublediamond platform covers came from Plasticard. I removed all the handrails, tanks, steps, horns, and couplers, and replaced them with new ones. I also removed the opaque glazing of the cab and replaced it with clear. I added two seats, dashboards, windshield wipers, a brake wheel, a sitting engineer, and a standing brakeman. I also added a bell and two horns on the roof, two door handles, link-and-pin couplers, brake hoses, poling pockets, grab irons, rivets on the cab sides, some riveted patches, and, to finish the model, an oil lamp, a rerail frog with its hanger hooks, a water bucket, jack and lever, and a chain and shackles. —Alain Gavard, Montbard, France
If you have something to say, send your comments to “Letters,” c/o Garden Railways, PO Box 460222, Denver CO 80246 USA or e-mail to
[email protected] www.GardenRailways.com
11
KEVIN STRONG
GARDEN RAILWAY BASICS
Track and wheel standards: Part 2
Tuscarora Railroad Nº 3 nears an industrial spur in the town of Blacklog. Switches are an inevitable part of most model railroads. Proper relationships between wheels and track will ensure smooth operation over them. PHOTO AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR
L
ast issue, I discussed what track and wheel standards are. This time, I’m going to look at why we have them and how they help us achieve smooth-running operation in the garden. Without standards, things have a greater chance of not operating well together. If you’ve ever bought a cheap battery-powered toy train that is supposedly gauge 1, then tried to run it in the garden, you’ve likely discovered what happens when things aren’t built to any kind of standard. Trains bounce through switches and tend not to stay on the track as well as our other trains. That’s where standards come in. Standards provide a benchmark against which to compare our wheels and track so we can better diagnose and, we hope, correct problems as they arise. What can go wrong? Lots, actually. That things don’t go wrong more often sometimes makes me wonder why. There are many aspects of reliable operation that
12
Garden Railways | August 2015
rely on close relationships between the wheels and rails. Let’s start by looking at the most obvious aspect, gauge.
Gauge
The gauge of the track is simply the distance between the two rails, measured from the inside edges (figure 1). The NMRA and G1MRA standards have the target of the gauge we commonly use (gauge 1) set at 45mm (1.772"). Both organizations’ standards allow for tolerances but the combined range is only from 1.752" to 1.882". Much wider than that, and the wheels risk falling between the rails; much tighter than that, and the wheels won’t fit between the rails. Wheels, too, have a gauge. This is where things get a bit murky, however, and you have to look at the wheel profile and do a little bit of math. Surprisingly, there is no “standard” for the gauge of the wheels. The gauge of the wheels is a
calculated value derived by adding the thickness of both flanges to the back-toback spacing, which do have set standards (figure 2). As long as the wheel gauge is less than the track gauge, you’re good, right? Not necessarily. If wheels are gauged too narrow, they could fall between the rails, even if the rails are in gauge. There are a few factors that control whether or not wheels will fall between the rails. First, there’s the thickness of the wheel itself. Standards allow for thicknesses from .236" to .271", and there are wheels that are outside of those norms. A thin wheel will be quicker to fall between the rails if the wheel gauge is narrow or the track gauge is wide (figure 3). Backto-back spacing is also critical to properly gauged wheels. On properly-gauged track, a wheel with a back-to-back within standards should not fall between the rails, even if the wheels are on the thin end of
F
B
F
Wheel gauge = F+B+F
Figure 2—Wheel gauge
Wheel gauge Track gauge
Back-to-back
Track gauge too narrow or wheel gauge too wide
Track gauge too wide or wheel gauge too narrow
Wheel gauge Track gauge
Figure 1—Track and wheel gauge
Gauge = 1.72"
Gauge = 1.72"
Thicker wheels (left) offer more “meat” on the tread, allowing the wheels to stay on top of the rails better in the event that the gauge of the track was to become wider than it should be.
Figure 3—Thick vs. thin wheels on too-wide track the spectrum. Acceptable ranges for the back-to-back dimension range from 1.560" to 1.594", with a recommended target at 1.575". There’s more that affects this measurement, but I’ll get to that later. Why is there a range for back-to-back spacing? First, there’s the aforementioned wheel thickness. Thin wheels may require a wider back-to-back dimension so they don’t fall between the rails. There’s also the flange thickness to take into consideration, which can vary greatly. If a wheel has particularly thick flanges, the backto-back spacing needs to be narrowed so
that the gauge of the wheel remains less than the gauge of the track (figure 4). But that’s still not “it” when it comes to wheels. While not a set standard, it’s recommended that manufacturers put a small fillet (a rounded transition section) between the wheel tread and the flange. This helps keep the wheel between the rails and helps keep the flange from rubbing against the railhead. Typically, this fillet is quite small—on the order of .020" to .030". Every now and then, a manufacturer will get a bit exuberant with regard to the fillet. When this happens, even
When adjusting the back-to-back spacing of a wheel, you need to take into consideration the thickness of the flange. Wheels with thicker flanges may need back-to-back spacings to be on the narrow side of the standard.
Figure 4 Back-to-back spacing and flange thickness though the wheels are in gauge, there may be tracking issues because the wheel is riding on the fillet instead of the tread (figure 5). This can lead to unstable rocking and the train occasionally climbing the rails.
Switches
Nowhere are the relationships between wheel and rail more critical than at switches. Guard rails on a switch are there for a reason and they work best when everything is properly spaced. There are two critical pairs of dimensions when it comes to switches: the “span” of the switch (1.555" maximum) and the back-to-back spacing of the wheels (1.560" minimum—figure 6). If the span is wider than the back-to-back www.GardenRailways.com
13
GARDEN RAILWAY BASICS
Fillet
Back-to-back
Back-to-back
Span
Span Switch Frog
If the fillet (radius between the flange and the tread) is too large, the wheel may ride on the fillet instead of the tread, leading to wobbling as the wheel rolls down the track. The wheel may be in gauge, but the oversized fillet results in uneven running.
When the back-to-back dimension is greater than the span, wheels roll through the guard rails without problems.
Figure 5—Oversized fillet
Figure 6—Span and back-to-back
Check gauge (track)
Flangeway
The flangeway must be wider than the thickness of the flange or the wheel will ride up between the rail and the guard rail.
Figure 7 Flange and flangeway clearance
Check gauge (track) Switch frog
When the wheel check gauge is less than the track check gauge, the guard rail can do its job of keeping the flange away from the tip of the frog, ensuring the wheel heads the correct way through the switch.
Figure 8—Check gauge Check gauge (wheel)
Switch throw Switch points The throw of the switch (the distance the points move from one side to the other) must be sufficient to provide enough clearance for the wheels to pass through without hitting the ends of the points.
Figure 10 Clearance at points of a switch of the wheels, the wheels will ride up over the guard rails. It’s rare that the span on the switch is too wide. When this occurs, it usually means the flangeways are too narrow. If the flangeways are too narrow, there’s also the chance that the flanges won’t fit (figure 7). The other critical dimensional pairing is the “check gauge” of both the wheels
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Garden Railways | August 2015
If the back-to-back dimension is less than span, wheels will climb up over the guard rails.
Check gauge (wheel)
Check gauge (wheel)
Flange
Switch Frog
and the switch (figure 8). On the switch, the check gauge is the distance from the tip of the point of the frog to the outside edge of the outer guard rail (1.648"-1.674"). That outer guard rail has one job—to keep the flange of the opposite wheel from hitting the tip of the frog or, worse, heading the wrong way. The wheels’ check gauge is the back-to-back dimension plus the width of one flange (1.614"-1.648"). We often talk about the back-to-back spacing being the key dimension with our wheels, but the check gauge is really the driving dimension that allows smooth operation through switches, because it takes the flange width into consideration. The flanges on our models vary a lot, so adjusting the back-toback so that it meets the standard isn’t enough. The ranges exist to allow both back-to-back and check-gauge standards to be met. The check gauge of the switch must be equal to or greater than that of the wheel. If the check gauge of the switch is too nar-
Switch frog If the wheel check gauge is greater than the track check gauge, then the flange of the wheel can hit the tip of the frog, leading to a derailment as the wheel may want to head down the wrong side of the switch.
Figure 9 Improper check gauge as a cause for derailments row, the guard rail can’t do its job of keeping the flange from hitting the frog, but it needs help from the wheels, too. If the check gauge of the wheels is too wide, the guard rail also can’t do its job (figure 9). The check-gauge measurement also comes into play at the points of the switch, though in kind of an opposite application (figure 10). Here, the measurement from the stock rail to the point on the opposite side must be narrower than the check gauge of the wheel, so the wheel flange doesn’t bump against the
Online extras Learn more about scale and gauge by downloading our free chart. Go to www. GardenRailways. com and type “scale and gauge” in the search box.
open point. It’s rare that this poses an issue, as most commercial switches have more than enough throw, but it’s an important consideration for those who are handlaying their own switches. You might also notice things going “bump” at the frog of a switch, even though everything checks out with regard to the wheels and track. One measurement that is often not discussed is the flangeway depth. This is the “floor” of the switch frog, if you will (figure 11). If this is shallower than the depth of the flange on the wheel, the wheel will ride up on the flange and bump upward as it passes. If the flangeway is deeper, there’s a possibility the wheel may dip as it passes through the open area of the frog, just before getting to the point. Knowing what to look for and why things go “bump” on your track is half the battle. Fixing the problem is the next step. Wheels can be regauged and switches can be shimmed. That’s easy to write on the
Shallow flange, deep flangeway Generally no problem, except narrow wheel could drop into the open part of the frog.
Deep flange, deep flangeway No problem, as the wheel will ride on the tip of the flange if the tread loses contact with the railhead.
Figure 11—Flange and flangeway depth page; it’s not so clear-cut when you have a model or switch sitting on your workbench that needs to be adjusted. Next time, I’ll talk about how to fix these issues,
Trestles SPJRR 24" Howe Truss Bridge Kit
Deep flange, shallow flangeway Wheel rides up on the tip of the flange, bumping through the frog.
Shallow flange, shallow flangeway No problem.
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NANCY NORRIS
GREENING YOUR RAILWAY
The trains run on thyme
2. The pathway on the upper right, identified by occasional flagstones, merges with a meadow. Shadows under the fluffed-up left side compare to the thyme-worn mat on the right, a good access point for Richard and Melinda Murray in their Green Hills Railroad in Zone 10, California. A half-inch skipper butterfly sips on nectar. Bees also feed on 1/8" two-lipped flowers of T. serpyllum ‘Elfin’.
1. White moss thyme (Thymus praecox ‘Albiflorus’), 1-2" in height, with tiny white blooms in June, trails over the water’s edge. No need to trim this thyme, with the possible exception of shearing old growth in early spring. Two months beyond blooming thyme, Dan Saporito left a few gray twigs in place to give it the wild feel of his favorite fly-fishing stream, in his D&PRR on Long Island’s Zone 7. PHOTOS BY AUTHOR EXCEPT AS NOTED
T
hyme is on your side if the miniature-garden look is what you want. Leathery, evergreen, and sometimes hairy, thyme’s fragrant leaves take the heat, love the sun, and withstand the abuse we often dish out while maintaining our railroad gardens. And the herb is good in food, too. Outdoor railroaders in Zones 3-11 know that thyme is of the essence in creating flat meadows, low groundcover between trees, thickets of shrubby trees, as well as embankments for streams (photo 1).
Finding thyme
All thymes of the genus Thymus grow as perennials, either creeping or bushy. How horizontal or how shrubby they grow depends on both the species and the climate. (See the “Regional gardening reports.”) Photo 2 reveals a fact about creeping thyme within a pathway—it’s only a matter of thyme before it’s compressed under foot—so if your thyme isn’t low enough, walk on it. Photo 3 compares two thymes, one as a thicket, one as a field. When purchasing plants, look for the stated height.
3. Modeling Ophir Colorado’s milepost 45.0, silver-edge thyme (T. vulgaris ‘Argenteus’) mimics a clump of aspen saplings (right), while T. serpyllum ‘Pink Chintz’ spreads into a field between the tracks on Joe and Jeanne Becker’s Sunset & Southwestern Railroad in Kansas’ Zone 6. Other plants are sedums.
Showthyme
For ornamental value, more than 100 varieties of thyme take either a supporting role or steal the show. Some foliage glows with golden or white variegation (photo 4). Some turns reddish in winter. Others display seasonal trackside wildflowers that barely hide the wheels of your trains (photo 5). When 2" starts are planted in a pile of boulders, thyme flies from crevice to crag for a classic alpine look (photo 6). Plant your little starts 6" on center Continued on page 20 www.GardenRailways.com
17
GREENING YOUR RAILWAY
4. One way to show off taller thymes, like this T. citriodorus var., is to mass them, as on Andy and Eleanor Geiger’s Salal Kinikinnick & Ocean Spray Railroad. By mid summer, purple spikes emerge with lavender flowers here in Washington’s Zone 6. Showy leaves fill the air with lemony fragrance.
5. Mid-summer, in California’s Zone 9, creeping red thyme (T. praecox ‘Coccineus’) brightens a siding on Margi and Duane Hyer’s Ivy Hill & Gopherton Railroad. Gophers may dig some plants but they don’t dig thyme, which repels most pests. Make a cup of thyme tea with trimmings and spray around doorways.
REGIONAL GARDENING REPORT Zones listed are USDA Hardiness Zones Got the thyme?
Joan used to have a 5'x12' thyme field here. In this early stage (June 2010), Thymus praecox ‘Coccineus’ still gives that punch of bright red/purple. Later flowers fade to mauve. Although a few weeds sneaked in under Joan’s aluminum bridge, she assures us that if she had dug them out earlier (a stitch in thyme saves nine) she would not have had to spend years of weeding this area of her Big Sky Railroad.
Procrastination is the thief of thyme. Now I’ve dug up all the thyme plants (carefully separating them from weeds) and replanted them elsewhere as a carpet—I hope without broken grass roots, which act like seeds. Then I will re-dig the old beds for two years to make sure no grass comes up before planting anything. You can believe that I will be death on every blade of grass, digging it out until I see all the roots!
Dan Saporito Long Island, New York, Zone 7 High thyme to mow the lawn Thyme has been so easy to grow—no special needs, just average soil. It does well
Joan Scheiwiller Nanton, Alberta, Canada, Zone 3 Better luck next thyme I sure had to chuckle, seeing this photo of our red-creeping-thyme field—and the start of all those dandelions and the grass growing up and in between! It was 18 years ago that I transplanted that bunch of mother-of-thyme from a garden in Calgary. Knowing the date of this photo, I was shocked to remember that I had been fighting this weed patch over five years.
18
Garden Railways | August 2015
Dan likes trimming red creeping thyme for a lawn around the tidy little houses on his D&PRR (see Joan Scheiwiller’s in bloom, above left). This photo was taken two months after blooming.
with the automatic sprinklers, spreading slowly during the growing season. I use bluestone dust over weed block for my roads, and the thyme spreads, puts down roots, and grows in that too. I only trim what overgrows the road area and over the tracks. As far as a lawn, it grows low and can be easily trimmed if I want a manicured look. My thyme varieties are easy to keep trimmed with pruning scissors and they spread 12-18" in full sun. Jeepers Creepers is the brand name.
Richard Friedman Sacramento, California, Zone 9 Killing thyme I've had no luck with thyme. I know they grow here, as others have an easy thyme raising them. Me? Not so much. I don’t think they like my heavy adobe-clay soil. In the winter, it’s a sticky mud; in the summer, it’s a brick! I’ve tried planting it in small hills to improve drainage. That seems to work for a while but in the end I just run out of patience and thyme.
Ray Turner San Jose, California, Zone 9 Right place, right thyme I have planted thyme extensively—because it seems the most survivable groundcover that spreads reasonably, is
6. Sunny backlighting over Jim Scheller’s railroad of Maryland’s mountains highlights the 3" flower spikes on woolly thyme (T. pseudolanuginosus) compared to Elfin thyme’s lower foliage in front. Add dwarf Alberta spruce trees and boulders for a sure-fire mountain scene, here in California’s Zone 9. Woolly thyme may need trimming after blooming.
7. Blue-green woolly thyme softens the dry-stacked rock wall and extends the garden in Ed Assaf’s “Stretch of Track between Here and There,” a Zone 7 railway on Long Island. Given thyme, stems will trail all the way to the ground.
height and density, with a carpet of purple or purple/white flowers in the spring. It spreads readily but is easy to control by pruning around track and structures.
Keith Yundt Victoria, B.C., Canada, Zone 6b Never enough thyme Ray’s Mystic Mountain Railroad won’t be obscured by the low groundcovers under his trestle. Several species of thyme find footing between rocks. They spread by ground layering (rooting stems) when the thyme is ripe. RAY TURNER
easily pruned around track, and doesn’t spread out of control like Bolaz globaria or Herniaria ‘Green Carpet’. My soil is a mix of planter mix and California clay, watered by automatic drip. Some is in full sun and some is in partial shade. Sunny areas will grow faster but require more water. Don’t let the soil completely dry out—incorporate humus. Very little fertilizer (I use Miracle-Gro) in the spring goes a long way. Elfin thyme spreads slowly in a tight mound, low to the ground. In the spring it blooms profusely with tiny purple flowers. Lemon thyme is less dense, and taller, appearing somewhat rangy (it’s also good for cooking). It has yellow/green leaves and I like it where the additional height goes against a cliff. Woolly thyme is of medium
These groundcovers stand the test of thyme here because the deer don’t eat them—a good thing, considering the deer polish off just about everything else around our place! One glance at our railway and you’ll see many thymus varieties, each with its own unique characteristics. Woolly thyme (T. pseudolanuginosis) has a mild smell, quick growth, and good coverage for embankments but may get “leggy” if watered too much, and will tighten right down when dry. We’ve seen no sign of damage from snow or frost, and this species seems quite happy growing in shady areas. Due to its relatively “open” or less densely leaved nature, other plants can get in and cause troubles (see Joan Scheiwiller’s report). Lemon thyme (T. citriodorus) has a strong smell, especially when rubbed. Relatively quick growing and good for covering embankments, it tends to grow with thicker stems that make it less like a groundcover and more like a little bush.
Keith’s Elfin thyme has crept down over his dry-creek feature. Once the blooms are finished (because who could yank up all that beauty?), it’s easily pulled for transplanting into another spot. KEITH YUNDT
It seems to need sunlight the most, and does not like being shaded by other plants. It has died back from snow/frost damage but always recovers. Doone Valley thyme (T. citriodorus ‘Doone Valley’) has a very mild smell. It’s slow growing and can get quite “open” when older. One thing I have noticed that it does not like, is competition from stonecrop (Sedum sp). Keep it in good light. Elfin thyme (T. serpyllum ‘Elfin’), is my favorite! Once it gets established, it is hard for any other plants (like weeds or sedums) to get a foothold. It’s hard not to love it and think that it was meant for garden railways. One winter we had some extended, snowy, cold weather and it suffered quite a bit of die-back but slowly recovered.
www.GardenRailways.com
19
GREENING YOUR RAILWAY
Finding thyme These nurseries offer information on a range of thyme varieties. Mountain Valley Growers www.mountainvalleygrowers.com/ Thyme.htm (19 groundcovers and 10 culinary thymes) Portland Nursery http://portlandnursery.com/docs/ veggies/thyme-table.pdf (thyme table of 28 ornamental and culinary thymes, mostly shrubby) Stepables www.stepables.com/scripts/ prodList-plants.asp?idCategory=28 (11 thymes, mostly low groundcovers, with photos)
8. Jack and Pauline Verducci’s Crystal Springs Railroad in California’s Zone 9 demonstrates that Elfin thyme works wonders as the slowest, lowest planting above teeny stone walls. Elfin gets the job done, then steps back to let the structures tell their story.
Continued from page 17 for quick coverage. Two stone walls illustrate thyme’s versatility. First, woolly thyme fills gaps between natural stones in a 1:1 retaining wall (photo 7). Then, in photo 8’s 1:24scale railway, Elfin thyme arches above a scale retaining wall, like juniper in a fullscale garden. Elfin grows slowly; trimming the stems so they won’t obscure the little stone walls is no problem.
Sands of thyme
9. This farmer in the Pacific Northwest plans to incorporate some gravel into his field to allow good drainage at the root zone. So far he’s been successful growing white minus thyme (T. serpyllum ‘Minus’) on Marshall and Weylin Rose’s Triple Falls Lumber & Mining Company in Zone 6.
20
Garden Railways | August 2015
Gravel or sand incorporated into your planting bed (photo 9) will give necessary aeration so the roots won’t rot. If your soil is heavy clay, remove half of the soil where the thyme will grow and incorporate sand, gravel, lava rock, or other drainage material, plus some humus. Thyme hails from the Mediterranean, a sparsely forested, hilly region that gets little summer rain. To simulate its preferred home and keep it healthy, plant thyme in sunny ground. When tree branches grow over and shadow that bed, plant a shade-loving groundcover (native moss, baby tears, or Irish moss) in the less-lit section and let them blend as they will. By now, after enduring dozens of puns, you should have an easy thyme pronouncing this herb.
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Garden Railways | August 2015
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Groundcover Common name: Doone Valley lemon thyme
Cultural needs: Well-drained soil, full sun
Latin name: Thymus citriodora ‘Doone Valley’
Plant size: 3" high x 18" wide
USDA Hardiness Zones: 4-9
Doone Valley thyme’s evergreen leaves shine like the sun, with yellow edges that often cover the whole leaf with yellow-gold. This variegated cultivar of lemon thyme fills the air with lemony fragrance all year and its leaves make a lemony seasoning for salads or cooked fish. All variegated leaves have comparably less surface area for photosynthesis. In exchange for the pleasure they offer, it behooves us to offer them a sunny location; we’ll be rewarded with healthy plants. Like other Mediterranean imports, thyme needs excellent drainage. Insects rarely bother thyme leaves, due to their strong oil (thymol), used in medicines such as Listerine. Although referred to as an “herb,” most thymes have a woody-stem component (closest to the ground) and can last many years before needing replanting due to excessive wood. Trimming back after the purple flowers turn gray is one way to lengthen the life of this plant. Because thyme plants consistently grow some of the tiniest leaves in the plant kingdom, other plants are named after thyme, as if named for a favorite relative, ‘Thymifolia’. Doone Valley thyme bears leaves less than ¼" long. The whole plant normally grows about 3" high but you can see in the photo that lushness is a standard in gardens of the Pacific Northwest.
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23
ADVANCED PROJECT
Bachmann-to-Accucraft COUPLER CONVERSIONS This project eases compatibility problems
by Jim Kottkamp | Alexandria, Virginia |
PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR, ILLUSTRATION BY MARC HOROVITZ
1. Bachmann coupler. This Bachmann tank car (left) has been retrofitted with Accucraft couplers for better compatibility with the rest of the author’s Accucraft rolling stock.
B
oth Bachmann’s (photo 1) and Accucraft’s couplers (photo 2) work fine; they just don’t work well together. Since I predominately have Accucraft cars, the logical choice was to convert my Bachmann rolling stock’s couplers to Accucraft. However, I needed to find a way to use the existing Bachmann coupler pockets because, on some Bachmann cars, the coupler-pocket screws also hold car details in place. The conversion I describe here is reversible; if you decide to sell a car, it can be converted back to its original condition without difficulty.
Materials All pieces are brass, purchased from Special Shapes (http://specialshapes.com) 1/16" x 1/2" x 36" flat bar 1/64" x 3/16" x 36" flat bar 1/8" x 12" tube (.014" wall) or round, solid rod for the center post 5/32" x 12" tube (.014" wall) 3/32" x 12" tube (.014" wall) .002" sheet of shim stock .028" x 36" round, solid rod
24
Garden Railways | August 2015
Photo 3 shows a Bachmann caboose coupler pocket. The bottom of the coupler pocket has a 1/16"-deep rectangular depression near the open end. You will be making an appliance that will fit snugly into this depression to hold an Accucraft coupler. All dimensions here are based on the coupler pockets on Bachmann framed and unframed tank cars. Dimensions will vary slightly with other cars. The base plate is 1/16"-thick brass bar stock, cut and filed to the dimensions shown in figure 1. Once you have tested the rectangle to be sure it fits snugly into the depression, drill a 1/8" hole in the center, 3/32" from one edge (photo 4). Cut either a 1/8" brass tube or bar to 5/16" long, then insert it into the hole and solder it in place. This center post will have to be beefed up to properly fit the hole in the Accucraft coupler shank. Cut a 5/32"-diameter and a 3/16"-diameter piece of brass tubing, each 3/16" long. Insert the 5/32" tube into the 3/16" tube and solder them together. A small piece of .002"-thick shim stock, wrapped around the larger tube, will provide a proper fit for the coupler—snug enough that there is no slop but without binding the coupler’s movement.
2. Accucraft coupler.
3. A Bachmann caboose’s coupler pocket, opened up.
Spring supports are made from 1/64" x 3/16" sheet. You’ll need to drill a 3/32" hole for the spring retainer. I suggest you drill a small hole, then use successively larger drills to reach the 3/32" diameter. This will prevent the brass sheet from being deformed by the drill bit. The upright portion must be 3/16"; cut the base to a length of 3/8". Clamp and solder the two
4. The base plate, with the hole drilled, must fit snugly in the coupler pocket.
5. The spring supports are clamped and soldered to the base plate.
6. The spring-support rod is inserted, soldered in place, then trimmed off.
1⁄16" brass sheet n twee ce bpeports a p s 3⁄8" ring su sp 7. Finished coupler-retainer assemblies.
Figure 1
3⁄32"
1⁄8" hole
1⁄8" brass-rod center 5⁄32" brass tube
13⁄16"
3⁄16" brass tube
11⁄32"
.002" brass shim stock
Base plate Center post 3⁄32" brass rod
3⁄16"
¼"
Beveled edge 1⁄64" brass sheet
3⁄8"
3⁄16"
Spring supports (2)
Assembly
8. A coupler with springs installed on a coupler retainer.
spring supports onto the base plate, being sure to allow enough flat space (3/8" or so) for proper movement of the coupler shank (photo 5). Bevel the ends of the spring supports so the coupler springs will not catch on them. Insert a 3/32" brass rod 1/4" into the upright part of the spring holder, as shown in figure 1. Place a small piece of solder on the rod where it protrudes from the upright part of the spring holder, then heat the rod to melt the solder. This technique will prevent the spring supports from coming unsoldered from the base (photo 6). Saw off the backside of the spring-retaining rod to finish the coupler retainer (photo 7).
9. The final assembly in the coupler pocket.
10. A new link must be formed of wire to attach to the coupling pin.
Place the Accucraft coupler over the center post, with the .002" shim stock as a filler, and install the springs (photo 8). If the coupler does not center properly, cut off one coil at a time of the stronger spring until the coupler does center properly (photo 9). The 1/8" center post should be 1/16" longer than all the other parts. Hold the top of the coupler pocket in place and put the assembly in a vise. Tighten the vise to mark the location of the hole in the top of the coupler pocket. Drill and file this hole
until the 1/8" center post fits snugly into the top of the coupler pocket. This will provide top and bottom support for the center post. Reassemble the coupler pocket. You will need to cut a link or two off of the uncoupling chain. Bend a piece of .028" brass wire into the shape shown in photo 10. Slip one end through the last uncoupling-chain link and clamp it onto the Accucraft uncoupling pin, as can be seen in the left coupler in the lead photo, to complete the assembly. www.GardenRailways.com
25
HOW THE
ROSE CITY CLUB
PROMOTES GARDEN RAILROADING Part 1: Hosting a public garden-railway tour by Bill Derville | Beaverton, Oregon |
PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR EXCEPT WHERE NOTED
The author’s Colorado & Southern, seen here, is one of 11 on the Rose City Garden Railway Society’s Summer Tour.
W
hile our hobby doesn’t seem to be growing very fast, it doesn’t need to plateau. Consider joining the garden-railroad club in your city or starting your own if there isn’t one. Clubs are in a great position to promote this hobby and attract new people who have never heard of garden railroading, and joining one is a good way to meet new people with similar interests. In this two-part
26
Garden Railways | August 2015
article, I’ll discuss what the Rose City Garden Railway Society (GRS) in Portland, Oregon, has done to promote the hobby and grow its membership. The centerpiece of our club’s promotion of garden railroading is our annual Summer Tour of club railways, which is open to the public. In this installment I’ll focus on this annual tour; in the next issue, I’ll discuss other ways our club has both promoted garden railroading and
strengthened our organization’s activities and membership.
The Summer Tour
Our first Summer Tour was held in 2002. We hold these self-guided tours every year on the Saturday before Father’s Day, which is normally the third Saturday in June. We produce a book that describes each railway on the tour in non-technical terms. The description includes a picture
of the railway and driving directions from one railway to another. It includes the address but not the phone number of each home. Other pages show pictures (with captions) of fun club activities, tips and rules for the tour, and a letter from the club president that explains our club’s activities and invites people to join. In the center of the book is a membership application, which can be accepted at any house. (Our previous club president, Greg Martin, joined the hobby after attending several summer tours.) The book also includes a color cover showing a garden railway. This book is the ticket that entitles the entire family to tour all of the railways for the day. Most hosts provide free cookies and lemonade to guests, who sign in when they arrive, listing the number of people in their party. As many as 800 people have visited railways some years; the minimum in the last six years has been about 450. That may seem like a lot of people, but they come and go all day, so it usually isn’t crowded at any given railway most of the time. People stay longer at the larger railways, where there is more room. Tour hours are 10 a.m. until 5 p.m. The railways are spread out over a 30-mile radius, so hardly anyone can see them all in one day. This is fine because many people will buy a ticket the following year and visit a different part of the city. We usually limit the tour to 11 railways, as we cannot comfortably staff more. We augment the staff with friends and neighbors. One of the keys to a successful tour is for volunteers to run the trains, leaving the host to talk to guests. This usually requires one to three helpers per railway. Unlike the railways in most parts of the country, many of ours are not a series of independent loops but rather participatory/interactive railways, with long, single-track mainlines with passing sidings. This adds interest but requires an operator to run each train. Railways with independent loops do not require as many helpers. The Baker & Grande Ronde
Resources Rose City GRS website: www.rcgrs.com Find a club near you at: www.GardenRailways.com
The public is invited to visit local garden railways. Volunteers run the trains, leaving the hosts free to converse with guests.
Local vendors sell the books to the general public in return for a small cut and free advertising. Their connection to the public is key to tour promotion.
Railroad (April 2013 GR) and the Lone Pine & Western Railroad (June 2014 GR) are examples of this type of railway. In addition to realistic railways and rolling stock, some include Thomas the Tank Engine, which is a favorite with kids. Some railways include a list of items for people to find, for added interest.
Promotion
The secret to a successful tour is promotion. Seven major hobby shops and seven large garden centers in our area have been recruited to sell our books. To help them promote our tour, we give them a 9" x 11" color poster for their window, and a counter display, along with the books. The
books sell for $10 each. The store keeps $1 and gives the club $9 for each book sold. Unsold books are returned to us so it costs nothing to be a vendor. We do not allow any shop to purchase advertising in the book, as selling a book would then be advertising the competition. Instead, we list all of the stores stocking the books, their addresses, phone numbers, and websites on the back of our book, giving everyone free advertising. We print 700 books and sell about half of those printed. We have to make sure no one runs out so we call each vendor the week of the event to see if we need to deliver more books. The stores sell our books, not for the dollar they make on the www.GardenRailways.com
27
Each year the club publishes tour books. The cost of the book is more than covered by sales.
sale but so they can be on the back cover of a book that is used all day by hundreds of people, and which costs them nothing. We have never had a shop decide not to handle the books the following year. The club website also lists the tour and places where the books can be purchased. Alternatively, visitors can mail us a check and we will mail them a book. However, almost all books are sold in retail outlets, which brings people into the stores. We also advertise in the newspaper the day before and the day of the event, again listing retailers. This costs us about $400—our retailers pay nothing. We have also been successful in getting a mention on the local TV news the night before the tour. The tour is also mentioned on Internet sites where events are listed. Another key to successfully promoting the event is gathering e-mail addresses of those interested in the event. We collect them when people sign in at one popular railway in each region of the city. We also collect them at train shows where we exhibit. We now have over 1,000 current email addresses. After the books are delivered to our retailers in the first week of May, an email is sent to everyone on our list, announcing the dates of the tour and the names, addresses, and websites of our retailers (which is more free advertising for them).
Costs
Financially, the club does well on this event. Printing the books costs us about $850. Most years we pay about $300 to
28
Garden Railways | August 2015
An industrial scene on Allan Warrior’s Burlington & Missouri River Railroad. This line has been another stopping point on previous tours.
Gary and Jonette Lee’s beautiful Baker & Grande Ronde Railroad is always a favorite amongst guests. GARY LEE
have the book written and prepared for print on a thumb drive. Last year our total expenses were about $1,675. Our income from the sale of the 323 books was $2,960, creating a surplus of $1,283 for the club. The tour typically earns between $1,200 and $2,000 per year. How the club uses this money will be discussed in the next article, which will cover club activities and other venues for promoting our summer tour. The tour takes some work to plan and organize. One person organizes and writes the book, but each of the homeowners edits their railway’s description and driving instructions via email. The book requires careful editing before
printing. We always include a new railway or one that has not been on tour for a while. We also have several beautiful railways that are always on tour. One person usually organizes the volunteers who will work at each railway. Several people deliver books, a poster, and counter display to the vendors. Most club members are needed for tour day. While this is tiring, the time flies by. Who can complain about running trains and talking to people interested in our hobby? We all need to actively promote our hobby if it is to survive in the coming decades. I will discuss other ways the Rose City Garden Railway Society promotes our hobby in the next issue.
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INTERMEDIATE PROJECT
An LGB Mogul tests a new trestle on the author’s precast-concrete railway.
Build your own
precast-concrete roadbed A durable system for a raised railway by Eric Repaci | Guelph, Ontario |
I
’ve always had a love of trains. I grew up adjacent to a railway station and witnessed the transition from steam to diesel. It is now a comforting thing for me to replicate those experiences through model railroading. I have had train sets of sorts most of my life and have spent a lot of time modeling HO. Now that I am older, with eyesight not as acute as it once was, the smaller gauges are becoming more difficult to work with. My decision to enter large scale was influenced by
30
Garden Railways | August 2015
PHOTOS BY AUTHOR, ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARC HOROVITZ
seeing an outdoor railroad on a trip to Florida. I was completely awestruck by it. Now that I have a small home with a backyard, large scale makes a lot of sense. I live in Ontario, Canada, in the heart of the Great Lakes region, where winters can be cold and snowy and summers hot and humid, so building a permanent outdoor railway would have its challenges, maintenance-wise. I decided that my railway would run along the perimeter of the property and, since my property is
a corner lot, a dog-bone with a 90° bend in it could be operated as a continuous loop or could offer the appearance of point-to-point operation. Another decision to be made concerned the roadbed, which is important to longevity and problem-free running. Roadbeds on indoor railways are a piece of cake: build it in wood or Styrofoam, and that’s about it— no worries about rain, snow, frost, leaves, etc. Outdoors, that is not the case, as those with garden lines know.
When I was planning my railroad, I decided to elevate my track a minimum of about a foot, so as to not have to work directly on the ground and also to keep the track from low areas where water might pool after rainstorms or freeze during the winter. I also needed to decide what material to use to elevate the track. My research of current railroads indicated that wood was predominantly used. Just about everything else had been tried but there were always some issues. I came up with an idea one day as I was driving on the highway, where there were a lot of overpasses made of precast-concrete components. Why couldn’t smaller versions of these precast components be used for the outdoor railway?
The first generation
I chose 20'-diameter Aristo-Craft track that I had purchased earlier, and started to construct a roadbed to suit. I decided my roadbed spans would be about the same length as one section of the curved track, have overlapping joints, and be thick enough to support their own weight without reinforcement or the use of rebar. The result was a module 42" in length, 6" wide, and 3" thick, but I had no way to anchor the track. Having this prototype without any proven result was a risk because of the amount of work involved and no trial bases to see how it would work. My first precast-concrete form can be seen in photo 1. The first year became my test period. I built a short section of this roadbed and left it exposed to the Canadian elements to see if there would be any concerns with that design. Photos 2 and 3 shows my first generation of precast-concrete roadbed as I built it: three sections of precast spans, three sets of risers with three retainer clips to hold the roadbed together and, of course, the track, with my first ever locomotive on top. The footings for this trial section were 24" x 24" patio squares purchased at my local building store. After the trial sections spent a year outdoors, I learned a lot. We endured one of the coldest, long winters that southern Ontario had ever recorded and, to my delight, after the spring thaw, that section of roadbed did not shift, crack, or anything else imaginable, but was exactly as I had left it. This provided the proof I needed. With some modifications, I could now
1. A span being cast in a first-generation form. The first series showed areas that could be improved.
2. A concrete retainer “clip” used on the first-generation test sections.
3. The assembled first-generation test unit. All pieces are mortared together.
4. Plywood form bases for 5'- and 10'-radius track. www.GardenRailways.com
31
get down to the business of proceeding with construction of the second-generation system.
Form construction for precast roadbed
5. All of the bases have been treated with urethane to make them moisture resistant.
End piece ¾" x 6" x 3"
Floating lap-joint block (red cedar) 1½" x 1½" x 6"
Figure 1— Side view of form (walls removed)
Laminated walls—three layers, each 1⁄8" thick x 3¾" high x 8' long, cut to length 6"
¾"-thick plywood Base foot 1½" x 1½" x 10"
Figure 2— End view of form 32
Garden Railways | August 2015
Retainer— 1½" x 1½" x 3⁄8" thick
To construct the curved form, I started with a 20'-diameter Aristo-Craft track section. Using the track as a template, I cut out the base of the form with a jigsaw, using 3/4" finished-one-side plywood. I increased the base width to 6" so that it would be wider than the track profile. Once the bases were cut out (photo 4) I sealed all of the plywood pieces with urethane to make them water resistant (photo 5). Wet concrete will sit in these forms for a couple of days and water and bare wood do not do well together. After allowing the urethane finish to fully cure, cedar blocks were installed beneath the bases (photo 6). These gave further strength to the bases and allowed retainers for the form walls to be screwed in place, giving the forms their shape. The walls of the forms are constructed of 1/8" laminate plywood, which I cut into 8' lengths, 33/4" high. For assembly, I used several good-quality spring clamps, waterproof wood glue, and patience. Building the forms was a lengthy procedure that took days to complete. Each wall was built up of three laminates, glued together and clamped until the glue was fully set. I placed each laminate against the form to get the required contour, then applied glue with a small roller, sandwiching the laminates in place with the clamps as I went. Photos 7 and 8 will give you an idea of how it was done. All wood components were treated with urethane to protect my investment in these forms; they can be reused for a long time to come. The end pieces for the forms were also cut from 3/4" plywood, 6" wide x 3" high. The reason the ends were not 33/4" is so that, if I needed to make a precast piece shorter than the full length, I could move the end piece to suit and clamp it in the desired position. I also cut lap blocks for each end of the form. I used red cedar for this for further water resistance. I cut my blocks from a 4" x 4" cedar post and ripped them into 11/2" x 11/2" sections, trimming them to 6" long. These were also finished and placed at each end to form the lap joints in the
6. Wooden feet have been added to the bases.
7. Laminated plywood sides are being added to the bases. They are glued in place and clamped until set.
concrete (see figures 1 and 2). Before pouring the cement, I brushed all of the contact areas with regular automotive motor oil. This provided the forms with further protection and allowed the concrete to be removed with ease. The precast track spans need at least four days to cure before I remove the forms. Track anchors are simply drywall screw anchors with #8 Robertson (square recess) screws in them, both inserted into the fresh cement, which was then allowed to set. Once the cement had cured, I could then just back out the screw and use it to secure the track to the roadbed.
Construction of the roadbed risers
My raised, precast roadbed needed risers of some sort and, because the spans are made of concrete, it was a logical choice to use concrete as well for the risers. My initial design used custom-made risers with a cast-concrete U-clip to keep the precast sections together but, after a year in use, I realized that this was not necessary and too complex to produce. Since there was no shifting of the roadbed without the clip, it was easier to go with materials that were readily available at most buildingsupply stores. The previously used 24" x 24" patio stones, purchased for about $12, were replaced with a 12" x 12" x 3" footing form (photo 9) that I could pour myself with half a bag of fast setting, ready-mix concrete. This saved about $8 for every two footings and because I was pouring the mix on top of the ground, I didn’t need to pre-level the ground for a patio stone, then level the risers again. The forms were
8. The finished sides are nicely curved. Form walls are held in place with wall retainers, screwed to the feet below.
9. Forms for the footings are made from four pieces. www.GardenRailways.com
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10. Footing forms in the foreground are held together with spring clamps, ready for the pour. A string is in place where the roadbed will go. A straight span is on its side at the right.
11. A mason’s line is used to guide the placement of the risers. Mortar is used to bring the risers to their proper height. A line level can be seen at the far right of the picture.
12. Spans rest on the risers without actually being attached.
13. The finished system provides a firm and attractive roadbed.
constructed in four pieces. I use spring clamps to hold them together—no screws or nails. Photo 10 shows the forms aligned with a mason line. Once the concrete is in, I smooth the top with a trowel, wait 40 minutes, remove the clamps, and allow the concrete to set for a full cure of 24 hours before working on them. Leveling of the forms is simple: just pour and set, then move on. Coincidentally, the form for the precast-concrete span and the one for the footing each used one 66-pound bag of ready-mix cement so calculating the cost of concrete was easy, as each span form was same length as a section of track. The next step was to determine the height of the risers. Using two wooden stakes and a mason line, I determined the height and position of my track and pulled a tight line between the stakes. I leveled the
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Garden Railways | August 2015
mason line with a line level. I used readymix mortar mix, a pointed hand trowel, a pail, a garden hose for water, and a wheelbarrow for mixing. I used standard concrete paver stones for the actual risers, which are also readily available at any building store (photo 11). The line level can be seen at the far right side of the picture. I dry-stack the paver stones as close to the mason line as I can get them, then I measure the difference. For example if I was using two pavers and there was a 1" gap between the top and the string, I would make two mortar joints, each 1/2" thick, to bring the pavers up to the proper height. I repeated this method as I moved on to each footing. I allowed a day to let the mortar set fully before attempting to place the spans on the risers. This is a floating system, so the spans don’t need to be mortared in place—they
just sit on top, with the lapped joint directly over top of the risers. Photo 12 shows the risers and footing, with the level spans resting on top. Risers are basically floating, with some mortar to achieve proper heights to level. The precast system is a floating system, which allows it to expand and contract without cracking or heaving. It is reusable or movable. Because of the weight of these pieces, their placement on the ground does not appear to be affected by the frost, which is advantageous. This method of roadbed might be for a more experienced builder. I learned construction early in my working life, along with woodworking and machining, but with the knowledge you will gain here, I believe that anyone can replicate this system for their own use. Photo 13 shows it in place, with track laying under way.
Live steam in a
Japanese 36
Garden Railways | August 2015
1. The arch bridge spans the koi pond. The abutment is a block of mortar that was poured in place, then stained and inscribed.
garden
The Green Hills Railway beautifully incorporates water, rocks, and plants by Richard Murray | Millbrae, California |
PHOTOS BY RUSS MILLER, ILLUSTRATION BY MARC HOROVITZ
www.GardenRailways.com
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n
A 5
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Pond E 8
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The Green Hills Railway 9
House
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hen we bought our house in 1973, my goal was to build a Japanese-style garden. The three parts of a Japanese garden are water, plants, and rocks. For the water feature, I dug a hole for a koi pond and used the excavated dirt to build a mountain. I then built a concrete waterfall and a concrete pond. The waterfall leaked badly, so I turned it off for the next 30 years. The pond became so full of algae that the koi could not be seen. The waterworks were a failure. The second part of a Japanese garden is rock. I ordered feather rocks but they were very sharp to the touch. Even after 30 years of weathering, they were still capable of making knuckles bloody. The third phase of a Japanese garden is the selection of plants. I planted a few forest-size conifers, some middle-sized ones, and lots of smaller ones. To provide variety, I made a conscious effort to select different textures and colors. A few blue and a few yellow plants provided nice contrast. A couple of the big trees have now
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K
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ectio
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Shack Church Sturgeon’s sawmill Brothel Truss bridge Farm house Station Kingpost bridge Pony truss bridge
G a ll
N O P Q R S T U V
Arch bridge Hell’s Gate bridge Log bridge Stores Bridge on the River Kwai Deck bridge Offset bridge Cabin Hotel Bridge Lift bridge Stone bridge Rock Tower bridge
Fence
A B C D E F G H I J K L M
Garden Railways | August 2015
J
N S
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Patio
Garage
The Green Hills Railway at a glance Size of railway: About 60' x 30' Scale: 1:20.3 Gauge: No 1 (45mm) Era: Turn of the century Theme: Steam Age: 12 years Motive power: (All live steam) Catatonk Heisler, Roundhouse Forney, Accucraft C-16, Accucraft Flying Scotsman, Accucraft 0-6-0 (S-12), Pearse 0-4-0, Regner Saxonia, Regner Shay, Regner Vincent
grown to 40 feet. The miniatures have grown, too. Even a miniature that grows just two inches a year will still grow to six feet over a period of 40 years. One of my biggest worries in building the garden railroad was that the large plants would overwhelm the little railroad plants. Eventually, I realized that the large trees were one of the greatest strengths of the railroad. They provide a desirable mature contrast to the small railroad plants.
Length of mainline: Two loops, total of 550' Maximum gradient: 6% Type of track: Aristo-Craft code-332 stainless steel Minimum radius: 4' Structures: Scratchbuilt sawmill; misc. freebies from bankrupt railroads Control: Mostly manual, some radio control
In summary, the original Japanese garden had great mature plants but the rocks and the concrete waterworks were quite unsatisfactory. When I began to build the railroad in 2000, the first thing I did was to jackhammer out all of the concrete waterworks, and removed the feather rocks. It took about five years to successfully build the railroad with all new ponds, waterfalls, and rocks. After enjoying the railroad for five years, my wife
2. The new section. The Bridge on the River Kwai is at the bottom of the photo. This winter scene, planted in evergreen conifers will look similar in July. Blues balance yellows and shrubby conifers mingle with conical trees.
Melinda gave me a large section of her vegetable patch. This new section of the railroad (see the trackplan) took five more years to build.
Plants
Our San Francisco Bay Area garden is located in a mild climate. Summer highs average about 75 degrees, while winter lows average about 45 degrees. We are fortunate that we can grow most things and can garden year round. With a mature garden already in place, I did not need any more large plants. Instead, I planted about 300 small specimens. I bought about 20 of everyone’s favorite railroad plant, dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca ‘Conica’), but pruning them every year became time consuming. To reduce maintenance, I got some dwarf white cedars (Chamaecyparis thyoides ‘Andelyensis’), which need almost no trimming. In both forest areas I have interspersed a few other varieties so that there is not a monoculture. As bare areas began to fill up with
3. Passing in front of St. Francis Church, a Heisler hauls a load of freshly cut lumber from the sawmill. The flashy colored plant to the left is Plum Crazy wood sorrel (Oxalis ‘Plum Crazy‘).
groupings of similar plants, I started to collect single varieties. Over a period of years I have collected about 250 varieties, mostly conifers but also leafy varieties. In fact, one of my favorite parts of the garden
is what I call the “Arboretum Pathway.” It consists of 22 different leafy plants lining a pathway. All of these plants are kept under 12" and most flower. Because of the success of grouping www.GardenRailways.com
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4. The sawmill (with the roof up) is modeled after Sturgeon’s Mill, an existing steam-powered sawmill just two hours away from the railway.
single varieties of leafy plants, I did the same for conifers in several areas. In one of these areas I planted a half dozen tiny plants, including Norway spruce (Picea abies ‘Little Gem’) and Canadian mountain hemlock (Tsuga canadensis ‘Minuta’). After a dozen years these plants are still under six inches tall. I had grown fond of the look of many diverse plants in an area and, when the new section became available, I decided to plant almost the entire area with individual varieties. I first planted a large number of plants in 4" and one-gallon pots. Even though there were different colors and textures, they didn’t look right: all the plants were of a similar height. I then planted some three- and five-gallon conifers. Now the new section looks “old” and I look happy.
Live steam 5. A Regner “Vincent” runs through a bridge modeled after a wooden highway bridge in the Midwest.
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Garden Railways | August 2015
Live steam is fun. My e-mail address is “steamer.” My dog is named Steamer. I host several steamups each year. Unlike most tracks made for live steam, mine has
6. Twenty-two leafy plants border the “Arboretum Pathway.” To the far left is a firethorn (Pyracantha ‘Navaho’).
7. Hell Gate bridge is the centerpiece of the new section. It took seven months to build. The dwarf golden Hinoki cypress brightens a gray winter day.
3% and 6% grades built into the railroad. The trick is to have a long, gradual upgrade and a short steep down-grade. The value of having grades is that over-andunder track configurations become possible. Also, speeds change naturally, just as on full-scale railroads. All live-steam engines can handle the long 1% up-grade. The problem is avoiding an engine getting out of control on the 3% downgrade, which continues through a sharp, four-foot-radius circle. Not all
8. At the top of the picture is the brilliantly colored dwarf Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens ‘Globosa’). On the left is an uncommon coastal redwood variety (Sequoia sempervirens ‘Kelly’s Prostrate’).
engines can do this. When there is a steamup, guests bring geared engines, radio controlled engines, or certain rod engines that don’t run out of control on steep down grades. Part of the excitement is that, about a third of the time, the engine is blocked from view because of tunnels and mountains. In the new section there is a 6% down-grade. This grade is actually easier to negotiate because it continues in a straight line at the bottom.
One of the most difficult things about drawing up the trackplan was to find a place for the steamup bay in a spot that would be waist high. I finally had to take out a couple of 6'-tall plants to get the necessary space for the steamup bay. After building the steamup area, I found that the mainline track was about 10" too low, so I had to dig out that much dirt along the whole length of the steamup bay. That undermined a two-foot tall rock wall, so I had to redo the entire wall, too.
A sampling of plants on the Green Hills Railway Millbrae, California | USDA Hardiness Zone 10a CONIFERS Dwarf Korean fir
Abies koreana ‘Silberkugel’ Short needle Atlantic cedar
Cedrus atlantica
Dwarf golden Hinoki cypress
Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Aurea Nana’
Dwarf blueberry
Dwarf Alberta spruce
Rosalie alpine heath
Dwarf Colorado blue spruce
Dwarf flowering Jasmine
Picea abies ‘Nidiformis Kalous’ Picea glauca ‘Conica’
Picea pungens ‘Globosa’
Vaccinium x ‘Top Hat’ Erica carnea ‘Rosalie’ Jasminum parkeri
Sherwood Compact bristlecone pine
Pinus aristata ‘Sherwood Compact’
Alpine mint bush
Baby Blue sawara cypress
Dwarf podocarpus, mountain plum pine
Navaho firethorn
Dwarf gold thread leaf cypress
Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Baby Blue’ Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Filifera Aurea Nana’ Dwarf coastal white cedar
Chamaecyparis thyoides ‘Andelyensis’ Eric’s white cedar
Chamaecyparis thyoides ‘Ericoides’
Podocarpus lawrencei ‘Red Tip’ Little Sam dwarf sequoia
Sequoiadendron gigantica ‘Little Sam’ Taxus cuspidata ‘Dwarf Bright Gold’ Everitt Golden Canadian hemlock
Tsuga canadensis ‘Everitt Golden’
Little Leo dwarf Chinese fir
BROADLEAF PLANTS Barberry, Dwarf coral hedge
Cunninghamia konishii ‘Little Leo’ Weeping European larch
Larix decidua ‘Pendula’
Garden Railways | August 2015
Prostanthera cuneata Pyracantha ‘Navaho’ Rhododendron
Rhododendron calostrotum ssp. keleticum
Japanese yew, dwarf Bright Gold yew
Tenzan Japanese cedar
Cryptomeria japonica ‘Tenzan’
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Dwarf Norway spruce
GROUNDCOVERS Shore juniper
Juniperus conferta Plum Crazy wood sorrel
Berberis x stenophylla ‘Corallina Compacta’
Oxalis ‘Plum Crazy’
Australian astroturf
Scleranthus biflorus Elfin thyme
Thymus serpyllum ‘Elfin’
Bridges
Who doesn’t like bridges? They add interest and always become focal points. When I began to run out of places to put bridges, I created some dry waterfalls that would require bridges. Including the new section, I have 20 bridges. I wanted each to be different. Some were generic while others were copied from full-scale bridges. I found a couple of websites that had 9,000 photos of bridges. High-quality wood is hard to find. All of the wood for the bridges came from old neighborhood fences that had fallen down. Knotholes, nail holes, and rotted sections were cut out. Only tight-grained sections were saved. All of the bridges are stained with an Olympic solid stain and are removable for maintenance. The first big bridge I built was a through-arch bridge that called for laminated arches. Since it was about 8' long, I used a full panel of plywood for the jig. The finished bridge was installed over the koi pond, and it has become part of the iconic photo of the railroad. The five bridges in the new section took about a year of 40-hour work weeks. One of them is a model of the famous bridge from the Academy Award-winning 1957 movie, Bridge on the River Kwai. The centerpiece of the new section is modeled after the Hell Gate Bridge in New York. The only deviations from accuracy were the colors and the changes made necessary by 1:20.3-scale engines trying to run through a 1:130-scale bridge. I used about 1,000 lag screws, 100 bolts, and I made about 200 gussets. Although the bridge is painted black to resemble steel, it is actually made mostly of redwood. Making the abutments first required building redwood forms. Each abutment then had about 2,500 tiles individually fitted and glued, about a fifth of which needed to be ground with a Dremel to get the pieces to fit. Each abutment weighs 55 pounds.
The future
This railroad will be one of 50 open in the San Francisco Bay Area for the 2016 National Garden Railway Convention, so the sawmill needs to be completed, with a table with rollers, a proper cutoff saw, and a gang saw. Be sure to visit us when you’re out here. Our convention website is ngrc2016.org
9. This iconic overview of the Green Hills Railway gives an idea of how well the railway is integrated into the garden. All sizes of conifers are kept in check with regular pruning, and Elfin thyme effectively carpets the ground between them.
10. The middle of the three bridges was modeled after a pedestrian bridge. Although it has no guardrail, no engine has ever fallen into the water. The stone arch bridge is a concrete bridge that was faced with travertine stones. Clockwise from 9 o’clock: one leaning shortneedle Atlantic cedar, five dwarf Alberta spruce, eight Eric’s white cedar above a Japanese dwarf garden juniper, five dwarf golden Hinoki cypress, a white azalea, shore juniper, a golden threadleaf false cypress and several dwarf coastal white cedars (see the plant list).
About the author Richard Murray was a dentist for 29 years. He joined the Bay Area Garden Railway Society in 1999 and has been an enthusiastic member of its live-steam club. His other interests are hiking with his wife Melinda and their dog Steamer, and he is active in an old-British-car club. Richard is currently helping to organize the National Garden Railway Convention to be held in the San Francisco Bay Area in 2016.
www.GardenRailways.com
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INTERMEDIATE PROJECT
Build an
infrared train detector
Automatically activate signals and more: Part 2 by David G. Bodnar | Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
Signal wiring and train detection is not as hard as it might sound, using infrared technology as described in this two-part series. M. HOROVITZ
PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR EXCEPT WHERE NOTED
I
n the first part of this two-part series (June 2015 GR), I discussed infrared technology and described how to make an infrared-sensing installation for outdoor use. In this issue I’ll talk about how to construct the circuit, as well as ways to use it with various types of signals.
Building the circuit
I built up the circuit using a piece of prototype board (photo 8). The wiring is quite straightforward and closely follows the schematic (figure 3). I also added a #7805 voltage regulator so that the sensor can be powered by a higher-voltage
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Garden Railways | August 2015
8. This circuit, built on prototype board, is shown in figure 3.
9. Most of the wiring is done on the backside of the board.
10. The trigger inputs (“trig 1” and “trig 2”) can be seen at the top of the photo.
battery or power supply. (See www.train electronics.com/artcles/voltage_regulator_ article/ for details on using voltage regulators.) Most of the wiring is done on the back of the board (photo 9).
+5V Q1 R1
NC NO
PNP
1k
D1
Microcontroller connection
See the circuit in action A brief video of this circuit controlling a crossing signal can be found at: http://youtu.be/vV-lqG1DL6o
RLY
D2
1k LED
+5V 11. Connections are made using three-wire servo cables.
ply added two, three-wire cables that plug into the sensor’s cable. The red and black wires go to +5V and ground, respectively. The yellow wires from the two sensors (the sensor’s output leads) go to the two trigger inputs on the circuit board, as shown in photo 10 (top of the picture). The two red LEDs blink back and forth as they would on a crossing signal. The two green LEDs show the status of the two sensors. No matter what the red LEDs are doing, the green LEDs are “off” if the sensor is not seeing reflected IR, and “on” if IR is detected. These are not necessary but are useful when setting up the sensors. Details of the connections are shown in photo 11. I used three-wire servo cables to connect to the sensors. The red wires go to 5V, the black to ground, and the white wires (which connect to the yellow wires on the infrared sensors) go to the trigger inputs. These connections allow the picaxe software to read the state of each sensor.
Output (High when no IR)
IR sensor
C1 +
Figure 3 Circuit to power a relay from the IR sensor The schematic (figure 4) shows the two IR sensors and a single crossing signal. D1 and D2 are red LEDs that are in the signal. LEDs D3 and D4 are optional LEDs that light up whenever one of the IR sensors detects reflected light, no matter what state the crossing is in. If you have two crossing signals, one on either side of the track, just wire two additional LEDs and resistors in parallel with D1 and D2.
Software
Crossing signals. The program that controls the crossing signal is based on one from the previous picaxe article but with some additions. The code at the end of the program delays turning off the signal until the second sensor has detected that the train has completely passed. This is www.GardenRailways.com
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ILLUSTRATIONS BY MARC HOROVITZ
For situations where you don’t have an existing circuit that drives a crossing or other signal, the IR sensors can be connected to a microcontroller. This offers many more capabilities, including the use of two sensors. When two sensors are used, one is installed before the crossing or signal and one is installed after. When the first sensor is triggered by a passing train, the signal starts flashing. When the second sensor is triggered, the microcontroller waits until no more triggering is detected before the signal stops flashing. This feature is necessary, especially with long trains, as the signal could easily stop flashing before the last car has passed if the flashing was based solely on time. The two sensors can connect directly to the circuit board that was used in my earlier Garden Railways article, “Make a crossing signal light, traffic signal, and more with a picaxe” (August 2014). I sim-
R1
12. First sensor activated—red on.
13. Second sensor (only) activated—yellows on.
+5V (High when no IR)
IR sensor
2 3 5
R5 22k R5 10k Gnd
+5V
2
serin
3
in4 /adc4
4
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in2 out c5 in1 out c4 in0 out c3
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PICAXE 14M
To programmer
+5V gnd in0/ serout/ infrtaout out1
14
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Gnd
+5V Gnd R9 R2 Gnd 470
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470
D1
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Gnd (High when no IR)
Figure 4—Crossing-signal schematic
IR sensor
+5V IR sensor
(High when no IR)
D1
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R5 22k R5 10k Gnd
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+5V gnd in0/ serout/ infrtaout out1
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Gnd
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Garden Railways | August 2015
Gnd
R4 470
+5V
Gnd D2 Gnd
R2 470 R1
(High when no IR)
Figure 5—Signal-bridge schematic
+5V R7
D3
470 R3 470
IR sensor
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Gnd
done by constantly rechecking the sensor for reflected light and resetting a counter each time a reflection is detected. This method of detection allows for cars that are not particularly reflective or spaces between cars. The signal stays on until at least a few seconds pass without any IR detection. See the sidebar below on how to find this code on GR’s website. Mainline signals. Mainline signals are normally made up of three lights: one green, one yellow, and one red. When a block of track ahead of the signal is occupied, the signal is red. When the block ahead of the next block is occupied, the signal is yellow. When both upcoming blocks are not occupied, the signal is green. This sequence can easily be programmed into the picaxe. See the sidebar below on how to find this code. Photo 12 shows the first sensor seeing an engine (red light on bridge), photo 13 shows the second sensor seeing an engine (yellow lights), and in photo 14 (green light) the sensors see no engines. If both sensors see a train, the signal stays red. The schematic diagram in figure 5 shows the hardware for the signal bridge. On the signal bridge that I used, there are four lights: one green on top, two yellows in the middle, and one red at the bottom. If your signal has only a single yellow, just leave out LED D3 and resistor R4.
Online extras Find all related links and code for this series on our website at www.GardenRailways.com. Type ”train detection” in the search box.
15. LED connections. Wire color indicates LED color. LED cathodes are wired together.
14. Both sensors clear—green on.
The wiring on the back of the circuit board can be seen in photo 15. These connections are to the three LED outputs (the red, green, and yellow wires), to the common cathode connection (the white wire), and to the two sensors (two, three-wire cables: red, black, and white). I completely rewired my Aristo-Craft signal bridge, which had four rather dim LEDs and extremely colorful and visible wiring. I replaced the LEDs with bright red, yellow, and green ones and wired them with their cathodes wired together. Common-cathode wiring connects all of the cathodes (the shorter wire that connects to ground). That is what is shown in the schematic. I used four strands of black wire to connect the signal LEDs to the base of the bridge. Even though it can be a challenge to use all-black wire, it does make for a much more attractive signal, since the wiring all but disappears. Signal bridge with only two lights (red and green). Many signals have only two lights—a green one that says that the next block is clear and a red one that indicates that the next block is occupied. The hardware and software for the three-light signal can easily be modified for a twolight signal. The circuit for the two-light signal is the same as for the three light, except that the yellow LEDs (they go to pin “9” on the picaxe) are omitted, as is the second IR sensor (which connects to pin “4”). The revised software is the same as that for the three-light signals but the yellow LED and second trigger references have been removed. Whenever the IR sensor sees a train, the signal goes red; otherwise it is green. The program for the two-light
Let’s detect over a greater distance As the infrared detector is delivered, it reliably senses reflective things like our trains at a distance of 6" to 12". There is, however, an easy trick that can extend this to many feet, or even yards. While experimenting with these IR sensors, I tested the reflectivity of various surfaces, including the sides of freight cars and locomotives, to see how well they were detected. Just about any reasonably flat surface reflects enough IR for the sensor to “see” it. I also tested the sensor with a patch of reflective fabric, similar to that which is sewn into emergency workers’ clothing or into cyclists’ jerseys. I was amazed at how well it worked! By placing a 2"-square patch of this material a distance away from the sensor, I have reliably detected objects passing through the IR beam over distances of up to 12 feet! This material is available from a number of vendors on eBay. Just search for “reflective fabric,” “reflective tape,” or “3M Scotchlite Reflective Tape 8910.” The two photos below show the difference in brightness when shot without a flash (left photo) and with a flash. This opens up a number of things that could be done with these sensors, like counting people passing through an area, detecting trains at greater distance, or triggering a camera when an animal passes by. Just remember that the relay contacts will be closed most of the time and will only open when the beam is broken, the opposite of what we get with directly reflected IR.
Reflective material can greatly increase the distance over which IR light can be detected. The picture on the left was taken with no flash, while the one on the right was taken with a flash. The amount of reflectivity is dramatic.
signal can be found online (see the sidebar for instructions).
Conclusion
I have found these sensors to be a reliable
and cost-effective way of triggering a number of signaling and related circuits. I think you will find them useful as well. Please let me know if you have any questions at
[email protected] www.GardenRailways.com
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BEGINNER PROJECT
1. This tool, made from readily available parts, is useful for making precise cuts in stripwood and styrene.
Build a low-cost cutting tool This device makes precision cutting of stripwood easy by Neptali Martinez | Douglaston, New York |
PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
L-angle
12" strap tie 9" strap tie
Sheet-metal screws
Cut line
Hex nuts Round-head Flat washers machine screws
2. Most of the required parts (the hinge pin is not in the picture).
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Garden Railways | August 2015
Wing nuts Round-head machine screws Lock washers
W
ith the track completed on my one-year-old garden railway, I began working on details and scenery. However, the sticker shock I got from the cost of large-scale buildings, windows, doors, trims, etc. got me thinking about alternatives, such as building my own structures from scratch. As I began this phase, the biggest challenge I faced was making precise cuts for windows, doors, trims, moldings, etc. My 1:1 woodworking tools are too big and too powerful for scale lumber. I knew I needed a single-edge cutting tool. I could not locate such tool, so I resolved to build a tabletop cutting board that had an arm to which a replaceable blade could be attached. The parts needed to be inexpensive and available locally. After giving it some thought and visiting my favorite home-building-supply store, I came up with my version of a single-edge cutting board (photo 1) using the following parts (photo 2): • 2 Simpson ML24Z, 2" x 4", 12-gauge L-angle (cutter base) • 1 Simpson HRS12, 12" x 13/8" strap tie (cutter arm) • 1 Simpson LSTA9, 9" x 11/2" strap tie (cut a 31/4" piece to hold blade)
Enlarge hole to ¼" for hinge pin
Be sure holes align
Grind away 1⁄8" 3. The arm with the pin and the 33/4" blade-holder piece.
6. The cutter can make precision cuts in stripwood and styrene. It can also be used for making shingles.
4. The arm-and-blade assembly, with the hinge pin in place.
7. The cutter making a square cut.
5. The entire assembly, ready to be mounted to the board.
• 4 #10-24 x 3/4" round-head machine screws (two to join the angles, two to hold the blade) • 2 #10-24 wing nuts (to hold the blade) • 2 #10-24 hex nuts (to join the angles) • 6 to 8 #10 flat washers (spacers between angles) • 2 #10 lock washers (for blade screws) • 6 #8 x 3/4" pan-head Phillips sheetmetal screws (to attach the angles to the board) • 1 16"L x 111/2"W board (pine, plywood, particle board, etc.) • 1 Kobalt #0506125, five-piece package of 4" straight blades (or similar) • 1 1/4" x 3/4" steel pin (for cutting-arm hinge) The angles provide a solid base for the strap-tie “arm” to swing up and down steadily when cutting. These parts, together with the package of five blades, cost around $20. Hardware: I had most of the screws, nuts, and washers on hand; I bought the two wing nuts. The 1/4" pin used as the hinge for the cutting arm came from one of my junk boxes but an old 1/4" drill bit could also be used; cut off a 3/4"-long piece from the shank with a Dremel and a cut-off disc. Arm: With a 1/4" drill bit, enlarge the hole in the 12" strap tie, where the hinge
8. With the use of a guide, perfect 45° cuts are possible.
pin goes (photo 3). Insert the pin in the arm about halfway. Note: In my case, the pin fitted tightly in the arm, but loosely in the angle holes, allowing a smooth and steady up-and-down movement. Blade holder: Making sure the two holes align, cut a 33/4"-long piece from the 9" strap tie (photos 2-3). File or grind about 1/8" from the end that will be near the hinge, in order to clear the angles (photo 3). Base: The holes in the angles are not aligned straight. On one side, the holes form a “peak;” on other side they form a “valley.” The “peak” side is where the arm is attached, and the “valley” side is used to attach the base to the board. Assembly: Using two #10-24 machine screws, lock washers (for the head-side of the screws), and wing nuts, attach the blade to arm by sandwiching the blade between the 33/4" cut piece and the 12" strap tie “arm” (photo 4). (Note: I had to enlarge the two holes for the #10 screws a bit.) Photo 5 shows the assembly ready to
9. Using the ruler as a guide, uniformthickness shingles can be quickly and easily made.
be screwed to the board. Using six sheetmetal screws, attach the whole assembly to board. Voilà—you have a cutting board. Just be careful with the sharp edge! Photo 6 shows some of the materials that can be easily cut with this tool. Photos 7 through 9 show the tool in use. I marked a 1" grid on the cutting board with a fine-point Sharpie to guide the cuts. I used my cutter to make a couple of ladders. I needed about 34, 1" rungs. By placing a stopper 1" away from the blade, I cut all the rungs exactly 1" long. www.GardenRailways.com
49
STAFF CORNER: MARC HOROVITZ
A member of GR’s staff discusses recent projects
The joy (?) of painting
A finished, painted day coach. This project, like most at the author’s house, took far longer than it should have. PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
A
s much as I dislike painting, I do like a pretty paint job; so, after a great deal of procrastination, I prepared to put myself through the mill yet again. Almost two years ago I built a brace of day coaches (“Staff corner,” October 2014 GR). I often thought about painting them but the prospect of it was too horrible to contemplate in any depth so, for almost two years, they sat in naked splendor on the shelf. Once I got serious about it, though, I started thinking about color schemes. These were excursion cars. Excursions are usually festive, happy events, so the coach’s paint job needed to reflect that, which suggested lots of colors—perhaps something both garish and tasteful, if that combination were possible. Once I had a color scheme worked up, I set out. The first thing to do was to disassemble the coaches. I then had to thoroughly degrease all of the parts in the hope that the paint would stick better. This was eventually accomplished, with the aid of a sponge, a toothbrush, and some Dove dish detergent. I began painting what I figured were
50
Garden Railways | August 2015
The coaches before painting. They were constructed almost entirely of tinplate.
the simplest parts—the roofs—which were to be just a single color. I primed them with trusty Rust-Oleum primer, then shot them with their final color. While it takes but a few seconds to describe the process, the actual painting of the roofs took a few days. That is, the actual painting just took a few minutes;
prepping the metal, priming it, allowing the primer to cure, then painting it the final color and allowing that to dry thoroughly took several days. And so it was with all of the parts. The floors/frames came next. They required a little masking after the main color was applied, as the end beams are black. The
The uprights and roof supports in the spray booth, after a coat of red paint.
The benches, after painting and before lining.
A detail of a finished car, showing the lining.
cars’ end panels also requiring masking. The yellow spray paint did not cover well, even though I was using white primer, so several coats were necessary. On to the seats, 18 total. All had to be cleaned, primed, painted, masked, painted again, and the masking removed. Several days more were consumed. Once the seats were finally finished, I started on the roof supports and frames, which were soldered assemblies. These were to be the most complicated parts, paint-wise, as they had to be three colors. After priming, the red uprights were painted first. They were then masked and the letterboards were painted yellow. Once those were dry and masked, the remainder was painted the same brown as the floor. The main painting was finally finished. All that remained was the lining and reassembly. Lining a project, I feel, helps bring it to life. There are people who do beautiful lining. I’m not one of them. I use a ruling pen and have developed a few simple tricks that allow me to do some basic lining—just enough to add a little bling to my projects. Seats and end panels I lined in red. Letterboards each got a red line. The frames received a yellow line, as did the seat backs. The lining looks fine. . . from a distance. Reassembly took a long time but I finally got there. The end result is, to my eye, pleasing. Close scrutiny will reveal all sorts of flaws but, in the garden setting, these recede. Now all I need are about 75 seated figures to go on excursions.
Frames were painted brown all around, with black end beams and couplers.
The completed, painted train, all ready for a society picnic trip.
Marc Horovitz has been a model railroader since he was a child. He enjoys scratchbuilding locomotives, rolling stock, and structures out of wood and metal, usually to his own freelance designs.
www.GardenRailways.com
51
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Succulents
1. Hardy African iceplant makes a great groundcover, here blooming in late May. On the right is Angelina stonecrop, with yellow-green leaves, rising to 4-5" tall. (All photos were taken on the author’s Hoot ’n’ Holler Railroad unless noted.) PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
J
ust the name “succulent” makes me think of something juicy. Indeed, plants in this class are full of fluid— plant juices, if you will. Their leaf structures and stems are swollen with liquid, hoarded against the frequent droughts they would face in their native territory. Their skins are tough, waxy, hairy, or thorny—all mechanisms to reduce water loss from evaporation. Succulents are the camels of the plant world. For the garden railroad, succulents are essential to any area you would want to look like a desert but their use does not have to be limited exclusively to arid landscapes. Many small succulents can look quite at home as groundcovers or specimen plants in a variety of garden-railroad settings. In this column, I’ll describe a selection of succulent plants that I’ve used or seen used, and others I would consider to be good candidates for garden railroads.
Ice plants
One of the prettiest groundcover succulents is ice plant (most commonly Delosperma spp.). Hardy yellow African ice plant (Delosperma nubigenum ‘Basutoland’, Zones 4-10) makes an evergreen, slowly spreading, dense groundcover. Its jelly-bean-like foliage is bright green in summer and pink or reddish in winter. In May and June it is covered with brilliant, yellow, daisy-like flowers (photo 1). Hardy purple ice plant (Delosperma cooperi, Zones 5-9) is similar, except for its fuchsia-purple flowers that bloom midsummer. Starburst (Delosperma floribundum) has pink flowers with white centers, while hardy white (Delosperma herbeau) has striking pure-white flowers. Ice plants prefer full sun but can tolerate some light shade. They like welldraining soils that are low in nutrients, such as sandy or gravelly soils. Like most
2. This small, yellow-flowering stonecrop (probably Sedum acer ‘Aureum’) is spreading nicely on Pat and Chuck Elsworth’s garden railroad in Mason, Ohio.
succulents, ice plants do not tolerate wet soil. In fact, wet soil, especially during the winter months, is likely to kill the plants.
Stonecrops
The smaller, creeping stonecrops (Sedum spp.) are easy of culture, which makes them a frequent choice for groundcover in www.GardenRailways.com
53
MINISCAPING garden railroads. Most stonecrops grow in Zones 3-9, are tolerant of heat and drought, forgiving of neglect, and longlived. Again, wet roots are their enemy. Some stonecrops have attractive flowers that appear in mid-summer, such as Sedum acer ‘Aureum’, with yellow flowers (photo 2), and S. spurium ‘Dragon’s Blood’, with red blooms. Stonecrops tend to spread, rooting as they go, so are best used where there is room to spread out. The exception may be miniature stonecrop, S. requienii. This variety has pinhead-size leaves and grows very slowly (photo 3). Some stonecrops are grown for their interesting foliage, such as tricolor sedum (S. spurium ‘Tricolor’, Zones 4-9). It grows 3-4" tall, with striking, variegated green leaves edged with pink and creamy-white (photo 4). It blooms soft pink in midsummer and the foliage turns a rosy-pink in the winter, giving lots of color to the garden in all seasons. A smaller colorful sedum with less tendency for wanderlust is dwarf Spanish sedum (S. hispanicum minus ‘Pink Form’ or S.h.m. ‘Frosted Blue’, Zones 5-10), growing 1-2" tall (photo 5). Its tiny leaves are blue, tipped with pink, and it blooms with pink and white flowers in mid-summer. It looks right at home nestled among rocks.
3. The smallest stonecrop imaginable, Sedum requienii, looks great mimicking a shrub or tangled vine.
House leeks
PHOTO TAKEN AT THE MULBERRY CREEK HERB FARM IN HURON, OHIO
4. Tricolor sedum adds color as a 3-4"-tall groundcover.
5. Dwarf Spanish sedum’s foliage color is a subtle blue with pink overtones.
54
Garden Railways | August 2015
Also known as hen-and-chicks (Sempervivum spp.), this genus of succulents is especially tough and tolerant of neglect. They can be grown as very dense groundcover in dry sites where other plants would languish. Many species of house leeks are cold hardy in Zones 3-8. Small varieties make great miniature cabbages in garden plots (photo 6). Small offshoots (the “chicks”) can be easily picked off the parent plant (photo 7) and pushed into sandy soil with almost 100% certainty of growing. I have planted tiny starts in small
Online extras Subscribers can learn more about succulents on our website at www.GardenRailways.com. Type in the word “succulent” into the search box.
6. Small house leeks make a believable cabbage patch.
ceramic pots that my wife makes for the farm-and-garden store in my railroad.
8. A small cactus, probably a mammilaria, would look right at home in a desert area. (Taken at the Kendal at Oberlin miniaturecactus display.)
Cactuses
Cactuses (or cacti, if you like) are succulents, but spines are not what sets them apart. Some non-cactus succulents have spines and some cactuses do not. I won’t get into that botanical detail, except to say, use common sense when handling the spiny ones. Cactuses come in all sizes, with the iconic western saguaro cactus growing up to 70' tall. If you want that western look in your garden railroad, there are miniature cacti that fit the bill splendidly. Some of these are slow growing and will never exceed 6-7" tall. Examples can be found in the genera Mammilaria (photo 8) and Echinopsis (photo 9). A spiny non-cactus succulent, Euphorbia aeruginosa, also makes a great replica of the western saguaro. It grows slowly to 6-12" high, with a dark green, upright stem that branches like the saguaro. It requires sandy, well-draining soil and infrequent watering when the soil is dry. Many of these cacti will flower, but not reliably and not for very long. If you want a cactus with long-lasting color, grow a ruby ball cactus (Gymnocalycium mihanovichii ‘Hibotan’, Zones 9-11—photo 10). This unusual cactus is produced by grafting a red cactus (which has no chlorophyll to keep it growing) onto a green cactus that supplies the graft with nutrients. The arrangement works for several years but the graft eventually dies. All these cacti are desert plants and hardy outdoors only in the southern-most tier of states in the US. Winter-hardy cacti
7. This is the nursery where the little “chicks” are grown to make a cabbage patch.
are available but tend to be a bit large for the scale of our railroads. However, most of the desert cacti are easy to overwinter inside and can be lifted from the garden in the fall and kept indoors in a sunny window. To make it even easier, plant the pot containing the cactus outside; then all you need to do before frost in the fall is pull the pot out of the ground and take the plant indoors. You can buy miniature cacti cheaply from Amazon at nine for $17 (or 20 for $29 from Etsy). These usually come without identification tags and are the result of hybridization and mass production for the popular market. Their botanical heritage doesn’t matter as long as you like how they look and they grow well for you.
9. This cactus (probably an echinopsis) could be a miniature saguaro. (Taken at the Kendal at Oberlin miniature-cactus display.)
10. A beautiful oddity, this ruby ball cactus is made by grafting a red cactus onto a green cactus. (Taken at the Kendal at Oberlin miniature-cactus display.) www.GardenRailways.com
55
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Garden Railways | August 2015
JEFF YOUNG
INTERMEDIATE PROJECT
RAISING STEAM
Building a steam-locomotive chassis from a kit
Completed Roundhouse “Lady Anne” chassis. PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
T
he best way to learn how a livesteam locomotive works is to build one from a kit. I have not built one in long time so, when friend (who is building a coal-fired locomotive kit) asked me if I would be interested in building the chassis for him, I jumped at the chance. Here are some thoughts on the experience. The kit was a “Lady Anne” 0-6-0 chassis, manufactured by Roundhouse Engineering in the UK. This is a “screwdriver” kit, requiring no machining, drilling, or tapping. Upon opening the box of goodies, I found a number of plastic bags of parts, a detailed set of instructions, a set of BA wrenches, and a pair of Allen keys. The first thing I did was to familiarize myself with the instructions and the vast number of parts. Roundhouse put a great deal of thought into their kits, with all the parts for a particular assembly sealed into a particular section of a plastic bag. The frame, spacers, and buffer beams were the first things to assemble. To ensure that the frame was perfectly square, I built it on a sheet of thick plate glass. Good frame alignment is key to ensuring that the chassis is as
58
Garden Railways | August 2015
free running as possible. At this point, I spray painted the chassis and buffers matte black, per the owner’s request. Short pieces of tight-fitting silicone tubing were inserted into the wheel bearings to mask them when painting. With the frame complete, the wheels, axles, and cranks were added. Roundhouse uses axles with square ends, which automatically ensures that the cranks are perfectly quartered. The cranks have square holes in them to mate with the axles but a bit of touch up with a needle file was required so that they sat squarely on the ends of the axles. At this point, I rolled the chassis back and forth on a piece of track on my workbench to check that there was no binding. This became the norm as I progressed through the assembly process. When new parts were added, I ensured that they were lined up as precisely as possible and that the assembly still moved freely before progressing on to the next step. The manufacturing process that Roundhouse uses for the connecting rods and other linkages leaves some burrs around the holes. Again, I used needle files to true up the holes so there was no
Valve chests with covers removed to set the valve timing.
binding when assembled. This is not a big deal and was expected, as it is mentioned in the instructions. It is one of those things where a little patience and attention to detail will pay off down the road. With the chassis fully assembled, setting up the valve timing was next. This was first done visually, with the cylinder covers removed. Once this was completed, I rigged the chassis to an air tank and the regulator from my airbrush to test it under air pressure. I used the air tank rather than a compressor so that I could easily hear the exhaust beats as I tuned it. After a few minutes of adjusting the valve settings, the chassis was running well, both forward and reverse. Along with plenty of lubrication, I ran the chassis on air for an hour or so before sending it on to its owner to be mated with the coalfired boiler. Roundhouse notes that additional tuning will be needed when the engine is tested on steam; therefore, the steel pins that are used to lock the parts in place were omitted from my assembly until this could be completed. All and all, this was an enjoyable activity, where patience and precision are rewarded with a well-running chassis.
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GRW • 08/01/2013 • 2C • 1/12
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Garden Railways | August 2015
EVENTS 6-11 July, 2015: National Garden Railway Convention, sponsored by the Denver Garden Railway Society • Crowne Plaza Hotel, Denver CO • Doug Mayes •
[email protected] • www.ngrc2015.com 15-19 July, 2015: National Summer Steamup, Lions Gate Hotel, McClellan (Sacramento), CA • steamup@summer steamup.com • www.summersteamup.com 10-17 January, 2016: Diamondhead International Small Scale Steamup, Diamondhead, MS • Pat Darby, K5pat@ bellsouth.net, 985-867-8695 • Terry Smel– ser,
[email protected], 985-373-7593 • www.Diamondhead.org Future Garden Railway Conventions 2016: Bay Area, CA http://ngrc2016.com 2017: Tulsa, OK www.thinktulsa17.com 2018: Atlanta, GA http://ggrs.info/GGRS/In_the_ News/Entries/2014/5/16_2018_ National_Convention_is_ Coming_to_Atlanta!!.html Event notices are published at no charge. We will accept, at our discretion, listings that pertain to predominantly garden-railway or small-scale-live-steam events. Listings that reach us before our deadline and fit the space available will be published. Send your listings to Garden Railways, PO Box 460222, Denver CO 80246, or e-mail them to mhorovitz@ gardenrailways.com. Be sure to include the date, location, contact information, and website, if applicable.
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ONLINE STATION VANCE BASS
I
f you’re a regular reader, you know I’m a fan of the Maker Movement. There is a boatload of good modeling advice and how-tos on the makezine.com site, but this one takes the cake. Movie-prop artist Shawn Thorsson made a life-size robot from the movie Robocop for last year’s Maker Faire, from scratch. It’s the wrong scale (huge) but most of the techniques he demonstrates are scalable to our size and it’s a thrill to watch how he does his job. Go to makezine.com/building-up-tomaker-faire and immerse yourself in some really inspirational modeling. Here’s a run-down of the series, to get you excited: Part 1: building casting masters from MDF and auto-body filler. Part 2: casting fiberglass. Part 3: simple silicone molds for resin-casting small parts. Part 4: vacuum-forming sheet styrene. Part 5: complex silicone-rubber molds and making hollow resin parts by rotocasting. Part 6: assembly, painting, and weathering. Part 7: the finished robot. Shawn makes us believe that his plastic-and-wood project is a 10-ton metal monster. A less ambitious Make Magazine tutorial shows how to do basic weathering with two paints (dark for grunge in low spots, metallic for rubbed metal edges in high spots): makezine.com/projects/simplepaint-weathering-in-3-easy-steps Ray Dunakin has contributed some fine articles to GR but there’s much more where those came from. He has a website (raydunakin.com) with lots of good information for garden railroaders. Find the link to “Modelers Resource,” which has a ton of prototype photos of building parts and materials, mostly quite weathered and aged. These would be great inspiration for the weathering techniques above. The “Ghost Towns and Mines” page puts those parts into their natural context, while the “Vintage Machinery and Vehicles” page focuses on mechanical details. Finally, speaking of cool things on the Internet, did you know you can get Garden Railways in an electronic edition? I carry it with me on my tablet to show people when I’m out and about. Unlike the other things I post here, this one is not free but I trust my Editor will let it pass: http://grw.trains.com/digitaleditions www.GardenRailways.com
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PRODUCT REVIEWS
Slow mover
A
ccucraft’s 28 ton, class-B Shay will appeal to fans of geared locomotives. The engine is part of the company’s Classic series and appears to represent a generic, midsized, three-cylinder locomotive. The model comes packed in a plain but stur-
VITAL STATISTICS 1:20.3 scale, gauge 1, live-steam Shay Accucraft 33268 Central Avenue Union City CA 94587 Price: $2,299 Website: www.accucraft.com 1:20.3 scale, gauge 1, live-steam model of a 28-ton, three-cylinder Shay; steel, brass, and stainless-steel construction; butane fired— gas tank in bunker; hand pump in bunker; blow-off pressure, 55 psi; fittings include safety valve, throttle, water glass, pressure gauge, adjustable displacement lubricator; piston-valve reversing gear controlled from the cab; comes packed in wooden box; option of coal bunker or oil bunker; minimum radius, 4'. Dimensions: 17 7/8" long over the end beams; 4" wide; 6" high over the stack. In 1:20.3 scale, this works out to 30'3" x 6'9" x 10'2", respectively
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Garden Railways | August 2015
dy wooden carrying case. The case is held together with latches, and three of the sides hinge down for access when the latches are undone, making it both an ideal carrying case and a prep platform for the engine. Supplied with the locomotive are the usual items: syringes for water and oil, wrenches for the hex screws, Allen keys for set screws, and a removable pump handle. A pair of cotton driving gloves is also included to prevent burned fingers. The locomotive is well detailed but additional detail is also supplied. Unfortunately, there is nothing in the instructions to tell you what these extra bits are or where they go on the engine. Some are obvious—the dummy whistle and safety valve—but others, such as the generator
PROS and CONS PROS: Relatively good instructions; excellent construction; relatively easy operation; long running time; hand pump in bunker; excellent running characteristics; fully fitted backhead; high level of detail; excellent finish; reusable wooden carrying case included; tools included CONS: Lubricator adjustment knob too stiff; pressure gauge faces out the far-side window
exhaust pipe, are not. The engine is supplied with three piston-valve cylinders. These drive a crankshaft, with the cranks set 120° apart, as opposed to the usual 90° on a two-cylinder locomotive. The engine is reversed via an additional piston valve, hidden behind the steam motor, and controlled by a traditional reversing quadrant in the cab. The purchaser is offered the option of a coal bunker or an oil bunker. Our review sample has the coal bunker. Removing the top of the bunker gives access to the gas tank and the hand pump. The tank is functional and holds water. The water both keeps the temperature of the gas tank at a workable level and it can also be pumped into the boiler. Boiler fittings include a safety valve set at 55 psi, a throttle, a water glass, and a pressure gauge—a complete complement. The pressure gauge faces out the fireman’s-side window, which I found to be inconvenient, as all the action is on the engineer’s side. I repositioned the pressure gauge to point backward, an easy task. This way it is visible from either side of the locomotive, or by peeking into the back of the cab as the engine passes. The locomotive rides on two standard Shay trucks, with their associated gears and hardware. The square drive shaft,
with its telescoping sections, functions in the same way as that on a full-size Shay. The engine is geared down around 3:1, with small bevel gears on the drive shaft and larger ones on the wheels. All wheels are driven, making this a slow moving but powerful locomotive. The engine comes with a pretty good set of operating instructions, which is helpful if you’re unfamiliar with live-steam operation. If you already have some live-steam experience, you’ll find the operation of this engine to be straightforward. The instructions appear to have been written for a different, similar engine, however. For instance, they say that the gas tank is the square box in the cab when, in fact, it is a cylindrical tank located in the bunker. However, the instructions are complete enough that anyone should have success running the locomotive. To prepare the engine for operation, I went through the usual procedure. I first oiled all of the moving parts with a lightgrade machine oil. I then removed the lubricator cap and filled the locomotive’s lubricator with steam-cylinder oil. Since the engine was new, there was no residual water in the lubricator to drain. There is an adjustment screw on the lubricator. I found this difficult to turn—it was quite stiff. However, I managed to open it up some. Adjustable lubricators are a little iffy, in my opinion. It’s too easy for the steam cylinders to be under lubricated. Too much oil is usually not a problem, even though a lot of it might land on the roof of the engine. If, at the end of the run, you get a fair amount of water out of the lubricator, your engine is probably getting enough oil. Once the engine was properly oiled, I removed the filler cap atop the boiler and added distilled water directly into it, until the sight glass showed half full. Since there is a hand pump in the bunker, there’s no need to fill the boiler all the way. The water will heat up faster this way and the boiler can be quickly and easily topped up during the run. Fuel came next. This locomotive has a relatively large fuel tank, so it took a little while to fill completely. When the fuel started sputtering at the valve, I knew the tank was full. Finally, I filled the bunker
with distilled water, which would be used to top up the boiler as well as to keep the temperature of the fuel tank from dropping too low. I placed the engine on the track, opened the smokebox door, cracked the gas valve, and lit the fire, which properly flashed back into the large flue immediately. I fiddled with the air-adjustment sleeve on the back of the burner until I felt the fire was burning at its optimum. There was some gurgling and spluttering at the beginning of the burn, as liquid gas from the top of the tank got into the line. However, this quickly abated and the burner settled down just fine. While steam was coming up, I did a quick survey of the track, making sure there was no debris to impede progress. The weather was warm and sunny. Pressure came up to 40 psi in around seven minutes, the repositioned gauge being easily readable. I opened the throttle with the engine in forward gear. There was the usual condensate in the cylinders but this cleared quickly and the engine was off. Performance of the manually controlled locomotive was excellent. It could be throttled down to a walking pace and was easily kept at realistic speeds through manipulation of the throttle lever. Reverse running was just as good as forward. The run lasted around 30 minutes, with a couple of stops to add water to the boiler. The bunker’s hand pump worked well with the included removable pump handle. While the engine is supplied manually controlled, it may be possible to radio control it. Space in the cab is a little tight, so you might have to get creative with servo, receiver, and battery placement. This is a good looking, fine-performing locomotive that would be an asset to the roster of any logging company or a railway needing a powerful hauler. —M. Horovitz
Online extras For subscribers: Watch a video of this locomotive. Visit www.GardenRailways.com and click on “Product reviews“ under “Products & Hobby news.”
Wavy sheets
C
orrugated steel sheet was (and is) an inexpensive, durable, and easy-to-use building material in the full-size world. It was used to roof and sheath all sorts of industrial, agricultural, and railroad structures, as well as lots of others. In Britain, for instance, corrugated metal was even used for churches, called “tin tabernacles,” supplied in kit form. G-Scale Corrugated Metal is a new company that has one product—you guessed it—corrugated metal. The company’s website calls the product “G scale” but the actual scale (in numbers) is not stated. However, it is mentioned that the 5"-long corrugated panels were scaled off of a prototypical corrugated sheet from 1900 that was 10' long, which would put this product in the 1/2"-scale range. The company’s product is supplied in panels, each 11/4" wide x 5" long. The material is tinplate, which is actually steel with a thin layer of tin plating on both sides. (The company will also provide copper or aluminum on special request.) This material is relatively soft and easy to work
VITAL STATISTICS Corrugated metal G-Scale Corrugated Metal http://gscalecorrugatedmetal.com Price: 45¢ per ¼" x 5" panel + s&h Corrugated tinplate panels; 11/4" wide x 5" long x .006" thick
www.GardenRailways.com
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PRODUCT REVIEWS with. Unlike aluminum, it can be easily soldered. It can also be drilled, so can be attached to a wooden frame with pins. The corrugations are evenly spaced and the panels interlock well. The product is supplied in flat sheets but it can be easily bent, too, especially along the lines of corrugation. A shallow radius can be bent just with the fingers. For a tighter radius, a panel could be pressed around a round object. For grins, I wanted to see if it could be bent perpendicular to the corrugations, using a set of bending rolls. This could be useful in making structures like silos, culverts, and Quonset huts (also developed in Britain). I got out my set of miniature rolls and put a sheet through several times. I was able to get a surprisingly tight bend (and could easily have gotten an even tighter one) without squashing the corrugations. Cutting these sheets (like any corrugated sheet) is a little problematic. They can be cut with scissors. This leaves a clean cut but it flattens the corrugations at the end, which might be okay for some applications. However, if the corrugations need to be left intact—so that one panel will mate with the next, for instance—a better alternative would be a jeweler’s saw or a Dremel with a cut-off disc in it. Most full-size corrugated metal today is galvanized, or zinc coated. These panels replicate that with their tin coating. Ancient corrugated metal is often found rusted, sometimes severely so. This product can be rusted but you’ll have to remove the tin coating first. This could be done chemically with various acids, or mechanically with abrasives or wirebrushes. Once the tin is gone, the metal can be rusted with various chemicals (look online for recipes). This is a good product that should find a wide variety of uses on your railroad, regardless of the era you’re modeling. —M. Horovitz
PROS and CONS PROS: Good corrugated profile; prototypical material; easy to work; can be prototypically weathered CONS: Actual scale not quoted
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Garden Railways | August 2015
Sound choice
S
ound can make or break a model. You can put a good sound system inside a cardboard box, and the box takes on a new life. Conversely, you can put a poor sound system inside a museum-quality model, and any sense of realism quickly disappears. As digital technology continues to improve, our high-end sound systems are getting more realistic. Unfortunately, they’re also getting more expensive. That’s where MyLocoSound comes in. Their products fill a void for folks who want good sound on a budget. I reviewed
VITAL STATISTICS Analog/digital sound system for steam and diesel locomotives MyLocoSound Available in the US through G-Scale Graphics 4118 Clayton Ct. Fort Collins CO 80525 Price: $79 Website: www.mylocosound.com Locomotive sound boards with analog and digitals sounds; programmable—lots of user flexibility; steam or diesel available; a variety of sounds on either board
their first sound systems five years ago and was, for the most part, pleased with what was provided. MyLocoSound has completely re-engineered their sound boards. These new boards are a mixture of analog and digital sounds, and include some new features commonly found on today’s high-end sound systems. There are many adjustments that can be made on these boards with respect to the sounds, giving the user a lot of flexibility to customize the sounds for a given locomotive. Two boards are offered: one steam and one diesel. These are designed to be used in “traditional” track-powered environments or they can be controlled by a commandcontrol system of your choice, though they are not DCC compatible. The steam board offers a chuff, air pump, bell, a few different styles of whistles (programmable), safety valve pop off, and a conductor saying “all aboard.” The sounds are a mixture of analog syntheses (chuff, air pump, safety, whistle) and digital recordings (bell and conductor). The digital bell is a definite improvement over the older board. It’s an air-run bell, so it rings at a constant rate. The whistle is programmable to either a single- or double-chime whistle. The diesel board offers four different motor sounds, a choice between a US
PROS and CONS PROS: Good overall sound quality; easy installation and adjustment; individual volume control for each specific sound CONS: Bell and whistle sounds cannot play at the same time; “turbo” sound on diesel board is distracting (can be turned off); bell only works when chime whistle is turned on
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PRODUCT REVIEWS Continued chime horn and UK two-tone horn (where the tones are played in succession, not simultaneously), bell, conductor, air release, and turbocharger. The biggest change over the old boards comes in how you program them. You use (of all things) a TV remote. If you have a universal remote already, you can use that. (MyLocoSound will tell you which code to use.) Otherwise, you can purchase one with your board. The buttons’ functions are explained in the (online) instructions. While the remote you use may not match the remote shown in the photo, the buttons all work the same. The remote works via infrared (like most remotes), and the board is equipped with an IR sensor on the board itself as well as a remote IR sensor that plugs into the board. This can be placed inconspicuously inside a cab window, in a toolbox, or on the hood of a diesel—somewhere where it’s easy to “see” the signal coming from the remote. The remote is used to program the board and can also be used to trigger the sounds in operation. The online instructions show how to wire the board into your locomotive. If you’re installing this system in a locomotive that’s powered by traditional track power, you’ll need to buy a rechargeable 9V battery to provide power to the sound board when the locomotive is stopped or moving slowly. I chose to install mine in one of my locomotives controlled by a Crest “Revolution” control system. Other control systems are similar, so the illustrations in the instructions will guide you, whether your system is specifically covered or not. I hooked up the steam sound first, per the instructions. When I turned it on, I heard a loud hissing sound. Using the remote, I could raise and lower the volume of the hiss without issue. I then checked the whistle, bell, and other sounds. All seemed to work well and I was able to change the pitch of the whistle, and the volumes of all the sounds as per the instructions. This board can put out quite a bit of volume, though I prefer mine on the quieter side. If you opt for the single-chime whistle, you lose the ability to ring the bell. The function button that would control the
Online extras Product video
Online forum
Topics include all aspects of the hobby. Interact with fellow members of the garden-railway community.
Find a club Subscribers can watch a video of Accucraft’s Shay. Click on “Product videos” under “Products & Hobby news.”
Find a directory of gardenrailway societies on our website under “For beginners.” Those without Internet access may call our editorial office at 262-796-8776 for assistance.
Related links Everyone can access the links provided in David Bodnar’s article, “Build an infrared train detector.” Type “infrared train detector” in the search box.
bell allows instead a very short “toot” of the whistle. Note also that the whistle and bell sounds cannot play at the same time. If you’ve got the bell ringing and then blow the whistle, the bell will stop while the whistle is blowing, then resume once the whistle stops. Prototypically, the whistle would drown out the bell anyway. However, at the volume levels I had set, it was a bit more noticeable. The steam board has three operating modes: manual (all sounds controlled from the remote), automatic (whistle blows once on startup and periodically while running), and American automatic (whistle sounds two toots when starting to move forward, three toots when starting backwards). You can control the sounds manually in the two “automatic” modes as well. The whistle sounds pretty good. It’s a synthesized sound and, as you adjust the tone of the whistle up and down, you’ll hear some weird harmonics fade in and out as you go up the scale. Pick a tone that is pleasing to your ear. The chuff can work either off of motor voltage or off of a chuff cam. The voltagecontrolled chuff is there for those who want chuff sounds without a lot of fuss. It’s not going to be properly quartered to
the drivers, though. You can adjust it, but it will not be in sync throughout the speed range. The chuff is a well-done analog synthesis of a chuff sound. I liked the chuff on the old board, and this one improves upon that. MyLocoSound added another feature to the chuff, making it load sensitive. When you start accelerating, the chuff will play louder while you’re accelerating or under a heavy load. Once at a “normal” load, the chuff volume backs off a bit. If you slow down or go downhill, the chuff quiets as if the throttle on the locomotive was closed. There’s a sensitivity adjustment that allows you to tune that feature to the locomotive. My only gripe is that the volume sometimes changes mid chuff instead of waiting until the individual chuff sound is done. Because this works off of the motor’s back EMF (BEMF), each locomotive will be different in how it responds to this feature. The air-pump sound can be turned on and off. It has a completely different tone from the chuff, so you can differentiate it when the locomotive is running. Likewise, the safety valve popping off is a fun feature. Both sound quite good. On the diesel board, there are four different diesel-motor sounds. These are www.GardenRailways.com
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PRODUCT REVIEWS analog synthesized sounds. Three of them sound somewhat similar to each other but there are subtle differences. None of them would fool your neighbor into thinking Amtrak is running through your backyard but the sounds are pleasingly reminiscent of an internal-combustion engine. The speed of the engine is controlled by the motor voltage, and you can adjust the rate of change via the remote. Horns are also synthesized. You can adjust the tone of the horn via the remote. Like the steam whistle, there are some odd harmonics that come in and out. You notice them when adjusting the tone but, once it’s set and you just blow the horn by itself, they’re not nearly as noticeable. The bell is the same digital bell recording that was used on the steam board. Like the steam board, it also cuts out
COMING IN THE
Next issue
In part two of our “Clubs” series Bill Derville discusses how the Rose City GRS promotes the hobby through hosting clinics and seminars that are open to the public. Learn how to build a beautiful and complex cantilever bridge using standard aluminum shapes. “Greening your railway” discusses how we can use miniature fruit trees to enhance our railways.
ON SALE Sept. 8
www.GardenRailways.com 68
Garden Railways | August 2015
when the horn is blown, then picks up where it left off. If there’s a weak part of the diesel board, it’s the “turbo” sound. I wasn’t impressed with it. I tried adjusting the pitch up and down the scale, but no matter what I did, it didn’t sound right, and distracted from the other sounds. It’s easy enough to turn off , however (function 5). Operationally, both the steam and diesel boards performed well. There were some differences when it came to triggering sounds from the Revolution vs. the TV remote. If you’re using the TV remote, it sends out repetitive pulses, so quick key presses are the order of the day. If you want to blow a long whistle, you press the “1” button once to start the whistle, then press it again to stop it. On the Revolution remote, the whistle sounds for as long as you hold down the button. However, you’ve got to double-punch the “2” button to trigger the bell, then double-punch it to turn it off. Other controls may be the same or different—you’ll have to experiment. I found the IR control from the remote to be reliable outdoors up to about eight feet (which is a lot farther than I expected, especially in our Colorado sun). I did notice a bit of odd behavior when it came to triggering the bell and conductor sounds with the Revolution receiver, though it seems to be specific to certain versions of the receivers. When the motor is running, triggering the bell or conductor (F2, F3) via the Revolution remote causes it to stutter for a second before it plays normally. When the motor is stopped, it triggered fine. I asked MyLocoSound about this and they ran some tests, finding the same things I noticed. A few days later, they e-mailed me saying they found the software bug that was causing this erratic behavior and have since fixed it. Technical hiccups aside, I think MyLocoSound’s board is a great value. They did a good job putting features normally seen only in the high-end digital boards, into a budget-friendly board. The sound quality is good and I like the level of customization you can do. The company’s website has videos where you can hear the sounds for yourself. These are representative of what you’d hear in person. —K. Strong
The art of metalwork
M
odelers today often turn to plastics to represent sheet metal in their work, ignoring the real thing. It is commonly felt that working with metal requires a lot of specialized tooling. While it is certainly true that there is a vast number of tools available for doing various things to sheet metal, quite satisfactory results can be attained using simple hand tools. Sheet Metal Work, while not aimed specifically at the railroad modeler, contains lots of useful information for those wishing to expand their skill sets. The book could be considered an introduction to sheetmetal work as an industrial (as opposed to artistic) endeavor. It has a total of ten chapters, followed by seven stepby-step projects utilizing different types and weights of sheet metal. Chapter topics include materials,
BOOK REVIEW Sheet Metal Work by Dr. Marcus Bowman Crowood Press United Kingdom Available in the US from: Trafalgar Square Publishing Independent Publishers Group 814 N. Franklin Street Chicago IL 60610 8¾" x 10½", 160 pages, color drawings and photos throughout, hardbound Price: $28.95 Website: www.ipgbook.com
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BRASS 6’ FLEX TRACK 12 PC. - $395 STAINLESS 6’ FLEX TRACK 12 PC - $679 STAINLESS 6’ FLEX TRACK 6 PC - $343 ALUMINUM 6’ FLEX TRACK 12 PC-$191 8’ DIA. STAINLESS STL SWITCH - $125
EVERYTHING YOU NEED FOR YOUR GARDEN RAILWAY 1/32, 1/29, 1/24, & 1/20.3
TRACK RAILCLAMPS BRIDGES STRUCTURES LOCOMOTIVES FREIGHT CARS PASSENGER CARS FIGURES ACCESSORIES
WE BUY COLLECTIONS
PRICES AND AVAILABILITY SUBJECT TO CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE
OTHER SCALES AVAILABLE
1/32
GRM 08/2015
PRODUCT REVIEWS Continued measuring and marking out, cutting sheet metal, making holes, bending, joining (riveting, soldering, welding), and surface finishing. Sheet-metal work is a pretty broad and deep subject that cannot be covered in depth in any single volume. This one touches on a wide variety of different methods of working with the material, giving the reader an insight into the
Learn about live steam
I
f ever there was an appropriately titled book, it has to be this one. The first time I met Marc Horovitz, in the early 1980s, he visited our garden railway in Maryland, bringing with him a small steam-powered tram engine he had built. It was my introduction to the world of live steam. That was fairly early in Marc’s journey (Garden Railways was just getting started) and it was easy to see that there was something about these fire-breathing mechanical contraptions that captured his imagination in a rare but deep way. A Passion for Steam reflects this connection well. The first chapter tells the story of Marc’s journey; his early influences, and how he came to be bitten—and bitten hard—by the live-steam bug. He tells of how live steam pretty much directed his life since that time; importing early live-steam locomotives, starting Garden
70
Garden Railways | August 2015
possibilities of this versatile material. Many different tools and their uses are mentioned, although detailed instructions on their use are generally not covered. The tools mentioned, for the most part, are within the realm and budget of the home workshop. The projects covered at the end of the book, while not model-train related, take
the craftsman through a variety of different processes, most of which can be completed using simple hand tools. By attempting these projects, or even just by reading about them, a great deal of knowledge can be acquired. If you are interested in learning about sheet metal, this book will open the door to an area of fascinating study. —M. Horovitz
Railways magazine, building three railroads, and amassing a collection of livesteam locomotives from around the world of pretty much every era and genre. This is the second edition of this book (the first was published in 2008), and has an additional 32 pages and 18 engines in the gallery of live-steam locomotives that makes up the back half of the book. While the book has 12 chapters, it’s really two halves. The first half (chapters 1-11) cover live-steam locomotives in general, the different types, how they work, boilers, cylinders, fittings, and other technical aspects of live-steam locomotives. These concepts are illustrated by easy-to-understand drawings and photos of locomotives from Marc’s collection. Marc combines those drawings and photos with text that is also easy to understand, while still being technical enough to teach a novice reading the book how steam locomotives—and the parts and pieces on them— work, as well as why they work. Someone reading this book could easily look at a live-steam locomotive and be able to understand what they’re seeing: how it’s fired, how the cylinders work, and identify what fittings are what and why they’re there. Aided by Marc’s extensive collection of even some pretty esoteric locomotives, you’d be hard-pressed to find a style of locomotive not explained in this book (even including Chip Rosenbloom’s whimsical creations!). The second half of the book (chapter 12) contains much of the collection of live-steam locomotives that Marc has amassed over the years. These pages are an outgrowth of Marc’s “Locomotive of the Month” feature that used to run on his website. There are (if I counted correctly) 101 locomotives covered in this section, each covering one or two pages.
The descriptions talk about the history of the prototypes or inspiration for the model (if there was one), the history of the model itself, features that might make it unique in the live-steam world, and a few comments on how the locomotive steams. Each loco is shown in a classic “threequarters” view, with additional photos showing unique features or other interesting details. The locomotives are arranged chronologically, the oldest locomotives first. It’s fascinating in its own right to look at the engines and see how certain things changed over the years while others remained the same. (We are, after all, talking about a technology that’s nearly 200 years old.) I enjoyed seeing models that I remember from my early days in the hobby and learning their history. All in all, this book is a good combination of enjoyable text, great photos and illustrations, and an author who clearly knows and loves his subject matter. If you’re one who may be even remotely fascinated by these little fire-breathing dragons, this book is a great addition to the library. Fair warning, though—you’ll want to make sure to save shelf space for the steamers you’ll be inspired to have a go with. —K. Strong
BOOK REVIEW A Passion for Steam (2nd edition) by Marc Horovitz Cal-Pac Trading Company 33268 Central Ave. Union City CA 94587 8¾" x 11", 240 pages, color, hardbound with dust jacket Price: $45 Website: www.accucraft.com
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p. 42
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A detailed set of F3s lead the Super Chief as an excursionthe in train heads on opposite direction Railroad. the MANNM
or call 800-533-6644 Monday– Friday 8:30 A. M.– 4:30 P. M. Central Time. Outside the U.S. and Canada, call 262-796-8776, ext. 661 A3AG
Directory of large-scale train retailers Say you saw their Directory ad in Garden Railways Spaces are sold on a year’s basis (six issues) at $177 per year (payable in advance) or at $36 per month (billed to established account s for one year minimum). Ads will be set in standard listing typography. All insertions must be consecutive and may be invoiced if you have credit established with us. No mention of wholesale or mail order business permitted. Send your ads to: Garden Railways Directory, 21027 Crossroads Circle, PO Box 1612, Waukesha, WI 53187-1612. For additional information 1-888-558-1544 ext. 815. April closes Jan. 16, June closes Mar. 20, Aug. closes May 14, Oct. closes July 17, Dec. closes Sept. 18.
KANSAS • Wichita
GARDEN RAILWAY GIZMOS
1425 N. Broadway
Largest selection of trains in the East Bay. Scratchbuilding supplies for all scales. Discount prices and friendly help. Open Tuesday - Sunday. Website: www.just-trains.com
JUST TRAINS
5650-H Imhoff Dr.
925-685-6566
CALIFORNIA • La Mirada
R HOBBIES
Largest Selection of O/G in So. Cal! Discount Prices, Open 7 Days a Week! Authorized Lionel, MTH, LGB, PIKO Dealer! www.milepost38.com
MILEPOST 38 TOY TRAINS
6462 Industry Way
If we don't have it, we'll get it! LGB, Woodland Scenics, Walthers Dealer, Aristo, Accucraft, Delton, Pola, Lionel, Bachmann, Hartland, Spectrum, Proto 2000. Mon - Sat 10-6. Full line Kalmbach!
STAR HOBBY
562-777-9492
CABOOSE HOBBIES, INC.
500 S. Broadway
FLORIDA • Orlando
119 Vernon St.
634 North Mills
RAILROAD HOBBIES
916-782-6067
CALIFORNIA • Sacramento Specializing in 'G' scale LGB, Accucraft, USA Trains, Piko, Aristo-Craft. Working layout. Mon. thru Fri. 10:30-7:00; Sat. 10:00-5:00.
R/C COUNTRY HOBBIES
916-731-5868
CALIFORNIA • San Diego (La Mesa)
Exclusively trains. Craft kits, detail parts, scratch supplies, books. Ride the trolley to Reed's. Open Mon through Sat 10:00-6:00; Sun 12-4. www.reeds-hobbies.com
REED’S HOBBY SHOP
8039 La Mesa Blvd.
619-464-1672
CALIFORNIA • Santa Clara
LGB, USA, Accucraft, Live Steam Great Prices Huge book selection Mon 9:30am-3:30pm Tues - Sat 9:30am- 6:00pm, Closed Sun Dennis Cole E-mail:
[email protected]
THE TRAIN SHOP, LLC
1829 Pruneridge Ave.
408-296-1050
303-777-6766
One of Florida's largest model train & hobby shops. All scales. Authorized Lionel & MTH service station. Mon-Thu 9-7:30, Fri 9-9, Sat 9-6. 20 min. from Disney.
COLONIAL PHOTO & HOBBY
800-841-1485
GEORGIA • Alpharetta
MICHIGAN • Bridgeport
Scales Z to G. All at discount prices. Am. Models, Aristo, Athearn, Atlas, Bachmann, Con-Cor, IHC, USA, Kadee, Kato, K-Line, Lionel, MTH, Walthers, LGB, HLW. www.jvrailroad.com JUNCTION VALLEY RR HOBBY SHOP 7065 Dixie Hwy. 989-777-3480 FORMERLY MERRI-SEVEN • NEW LOCATION All scales Z thru G, new and used Complete selection of RR equipment/supplies BUY • SELL • REPAIR • PARTS Tues - Fri 11-7, Sat. 11-6
EMPIRE TRAINS & HOBBIES
3278 Rochester Rd.
248-680-6500
MINNESOTA • Buffalo (Twin Cities Area) G-Scale only featuring large selection of LGB, USA, Massoth, Piko, Pola & Preiser. Mon - Fri 9-5. 1-800-789-5738 www.onlytrains.com
ONLY TRAINS
308-B Brighton Ave.
ROLLING STOCK TRAINS
770-714-5545
GEORGIA • Atlanta (Lilburn)
Lionel Train Top 10 Dealer MTH Train Mega Dealer 400 s.f. layout, HUGE selection, service, repair www.legacystation.com 800-964-8724
LEGACY STATION TRAINS
Trains & supplies for all scales Z-G. We are DCC ready & installation service available. Service work, repairs, technical support. Family owned since 1938. Mon-Fri 8:00-5:30; and Sat 10:00-5:00 www.houseoftrains.com
HOUSE OF TRAINS
8106 Maple
402-934-RAIL (7245)
NEW JERSEY • Somerville
THE BIG LITTLE RAILROAD SHOP
63 W. Main St.
IOWA • Polk City (Des Moines)
NEW YORK • Horseheads
Accucraft-Airwire-AML-Aristo-Bachmann Cordless Renov.-Digitrax-HLW-Kadee-JPF LGB-Massoth-Ozark-Phoenix PIKO-QSI Split Jaw-Sunset Valley-TrainLi USA Trains Min. from I-80/35 www.ReindeerPass.com REINDEER PASS AT KIDMAN TREE FARM 3665 NW 98th Avenue 515-984-6946
908-685-8892
LOCOMOTION WORKS
205 Mountainside Drive/ I-26
828-712-3429
PENNSYLVANIA • Philadelphia (Feasterville) Lionel, American Flyer, LGB, MTH, Marklin, Bachmann, Williams. HO, N & Z. We buy, sell & repair. Mon-Fri 12-8; Sat 10-5 (Closed Sat. July & Aug.) Sun. in Dec.10-5 www.JoesTrainStation.com
JOE’S TRAIN STATION
21 East Street Rd.
215-322-5182
TEXAS • Dallas (Addison) Great discounts on thousands of G to Z scale items. NCE & Digitrax dealer. Monday - Saturday 10-6.
DISCOUNT MODEL TRAINS
4641 Ratliff Lane
972-931-8135
CANADA–AB • Nanton
Specializing in G gauge & Thomas wooden, Aristo-Craft, LGB, USATrains, Massoth, Phoenix Sound, Piko, Pola. Mail order welcome. Open all year. No. Amer.’s busiest garden RR. 5/1-10/1. www.ultimatetrains.com
ULTIMATE TRAINS, LTD.
2121 18th Street
403-646-1190
CANADA–ON • Alliston
HO, N , G, On30, Steam and Diesel. Limited Edition Art, Books and Videos. Live steam. 5 days a week (closed Mon & Tues). www.hvrr.ca
HOCKLEY VALLEY RAILROAD
4492 Adjala-Tecumseth Townline
705-435-7024
CANADA–ON • Castleton
Aristo-craft, U.S.A. Trains, Bachmann, Accucraft, Kadee, Phoenix Sound, Revolution System and more. www.kingshollowgardentrains.com Contact: Doug Kingsmill & Jean Jones
KINGS HOLLOW GARDEN TRAINS
111 Dingwall Road
905-344-8363
Large scale trains only. Accucraft, Bachmann, Crest, USA Trains, Phoenix Sound, and much more. R/C & battery conversions. See our web site for monthly sales. Open 6 days, closed Sun. www.wgrr.ca
WINONA GARDEN RAILWAY
7457 Boyce Drive
519-763-9477
CANADA–ON • Toronto (Markham)
N, HO, O, & G scales. Authorized Lionel dealer. www.wholesaletrains.com
LANTZ TRAIN SHOP
3312 S. Main St.
The Carolina’s newest G SCALE headquarters. Remote control, battery conversions & sound systems. Exclusive track ballast system. E-mail:
[email protected] www.locomotionworks.com
CANADA–ON • Guelph/Puslinch
Specializing in service. Tues to Fri 11 am - 7 pm, Sat 11 am - 5 pm, Sun 12 pm - 4 pm. www.biglittle.com Fax # 908-685-8894
4153 Lawrenceville Hwy., #12 770-339-7780
ADVERTISER INDEX
763-684-4131
NEBRASKA • Omaha
Large selection of G-scale trains and accessories: LGB, MTH, USA, AristoCraft, Bachmann, PIKO and Marklin www.rollingstocktrains.com 375 Winkler Dr., Suite D
410-349-4290/4291
MICHIGAN • Troy
Since 1938! All scales & gauges. Open daily! See all this & more in our on-line catalog. http://www.caboosehobbies.com
CALIFORNIA • Roseville (Sacramento) Exclusively model trains since 1989. Athearn, Kato, MDC, Lionel, Atlas, LGB, Märklin, Brass Imports, books, detail parts. Everyday low prices. Open 7 days. www.rrhobbies.com
6011 Folsom Blvd.
714-892-9471
COLORADO • Denver
We now carry Z, N, HO, S, O and G. Lionel, LGB, S-Helper and MTH. Mon-Sat 10-6. Closed Sun. 14269 Imperial Hwy.
CALIFORNIA • Westminster (Orange Co.)
316-262-4300
MARYLAND • Annapolis
1564 Whitehall Rd.
CALIFORNIA • Concord
NORTH CAROLINA • Columbus
Aristo, Bridgewerks, Hartland, Phoenix, Piko, Woodland Scenics & others. Books puzzles, children’s items. Service & repair. Thur., Fri. 12-7; Sat. 10-7; Sun. 12-5
607-215-0019
Model Railroad Specialists since 1962 Lionel Authorized Distributor & Repair Center All Scales - Special Orders Closed Mondays www.georgestrains.com
GEORGE’S TRAINS LTD.
550 Alden Rd., Unit 101
905-470-6200
The Advertiser Index is provided as a service to Garden Railways magazine readers. The magazine is not responsible for omissions or for typographical errors in names or page numbers.
32nd Annual Garden Railway Conv...........4
Garden Railways magazine....................59
Model Decal Depot................................71
Shawmut Car Shops..............................72
Above All Railways.................................71
Gardenlines.net.....................................71
MTH Electric Trains, Inc............................3
Silver State Trains..................................72
Accucraft Company...............................10
Gary Raymond Wheels...........................72
MyLocoSound........................................56
SLM.......................................................10
Art Knapp Plantland, Ltd.........................15
GLX Scale Models, Inc............................71
Ozark Miniatures.....................................4
Smith Pond Junction..............................15
Bachmann Industries, Inc.......................21
Graham Industries...................................3
Pacific Coast Garden Railway.................72
Something Different...............................72
Bridgemasters.......................................56
Hartland Locomotive Works...................29
Phoenix Unlimited, Ltd...........................23
South Bend Signal Company....................3
Bridgewerks......................................4, 22
Hockley Valley Railroad..........................23
PIKO America.........................................76
Cab Forwards By RMC...........................72
Innovative Train Technology...................71
Polk’s GeneratioNext LLC.......................35
Caboose Hobbies.....................................3
Iron Horse Engraving.............................71
R & G Railroad Co..................................56
Cedarleaf Custom Decals.......................71
JS Woodcraft.........................................22
R & S Enterprises...................................22
Charles Ro Supply Co.............................57
Keithco, Inc............................................60
Railbed Systems....................................56
Creative Zest, LLC..................................10
Larry G Scale...........................................4
Rainbow Ridge......................................72
Crest Electronics......................................3
LGB ......................................................16
Ralph Williams Landscape Design..........71
CVP Products.........................................61
LGB Train Shop......................................56
Ram Track.............................................65
Dallee Electronics, Inc............................15
Loco-Boose Hobbies..............................69
RCS America..........................................66
DCC-BitSwitch.......................................71
Locomotion Works.................................71
RCS of New England..............................72
Split Jaw Products.................................22 Stoneworks...........................................71 Sunset Valley Railroad............................69 SwitchCrafters.......................................72 Train Collector’s Assn.............................65 Train-li-USA...........................................52 TrainWorld...............................................7 Trainz.com...............................................9 Upland Trains.........................................15 USA Trains...............................................2
Eaglewings Iron Craft...................9, 60, 69
Lynell Model Supply...............................71
Reindeer Pass Railroad..........................75
East Gary Car Co....................................22
M & M Nursery........................................3
RGSRR Hobbies.....................................60
Valley Train Station..................................9
Fall Creek Railroad Structures................60
Massoth Elektronik GmbH, Germany........9
RLD Hobbies..........................................65
Vanco Log Dollhouses and Barns...........71
Flexxbed Roadbed.................................71
ME Taylor Engineering, Inc.....................71
Charles Ro Supply Co............................57
VES Enterprises.....................................71
G Scale Graphics...................................10
Micro Engineering..................................22
Roundhouse Engineering.......................23
Windy Point Garden Railroads................71
G Scale Junction....................................69
Micro Fasteners.....................................65
RR Concepts..........................................72
Z-Stuff for Trains....................................10
Garden Railways Books.........................59
Mini Forests by Sky................................71
Safe Train Case......................................72
Zionsville Train Depot, LLC.....................60 www.GardenRailways.com
73
BEGINNER PROJECT
ONE-PAGE PROJECT
Make simple building foundations by Steve Kann | Oklahoma City, Oklahoma |
PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
Have you done a garden-railway-related project that can be described in a single page? Send us 300-600 words with up to three photos and/or illustrations. E-mail mhorovitz@garden railways.com with “One-page project” in the subject line.
I
nspiration can come from many places. In his article, “Build a weather-resistant retaining wall” (Garden Railways, December 2012), author David Kalata described how he used a tile product called Solistone to construct trackside retaining walls for his outdoor railroad. These tiles, which measure 3/8" x 3/4" are sold in sheets attached to a 12" x 12" backing. David suggested the tiles might also be used to make building foundations. Taking this idea as inspiration, I decided to try making a cutstone foundation for a plastic building kit I was putting together for a friend. After reading David’s article, I purchased a similar sheet of ceramic tiles from Lowe’s. It seemed that two rows, or courses, of tiles could make a cut-stone foundation for the plastic building. Filling the interior of the foundation with concrete would make a heavy, durable base for the building. Once the plastic kit was assembled, I measured the length (front to back) and width of the base. In order to include a walkway/boardwalk across the building front, I added 2" to the length measurement. Next, I counted out the number of tiles that would match these dimensions. In order to avoid cutting tiles, I slightly extended the measurements to include only whole tiles. I then nailed together a rectangular wooden form using scrap 3/4" stock. To aid in later separating the form from the concrete, I placed a sheet of waxed paper in the bottom of the form. The tiles, still attached to the backing sheets, were placed along the inside edges of the form. For reinforcement, a piece of 1/2"-grid wire mesh was cut and placed in the form. Photo 1 shows the form,
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Garden Railways | August 2015
Commercial stone tile from a big-box store makes a simple-but-effective foundation for a plastic-kit structure.
1. The wooden form, with the stones in place around the edge and the metal grid in the center, ready for cement to be poured.
2. The finished foundation. The wood blocks, glued in place, ensure the proper placement of the structure on the foundation.
ready for the next step. A batch of vinyl concrete patcher was mixed up and poured into the hollow form to hold the tiles and create a heavy base. Tapping the form helped release air bubbles in the cement. Once the concrete had thoroughly set, I removed the wood forms. A few loose tiles were reattached using Gorilla glue. I mixed up a soupy batch of grout and used an old toothbrush to fill in the spaces between the tiles. To improve water resistance, I gave the entire
foundation a coat of DuPont Grout Sealer. Photo 2 shows the completed foundation, with positioning blocks and the boardwalk Gorilla-glued in place. Thanks to David’s idea, the plastic building is firmly anchored and protected from contact with the ground. Furthermore, as the lead photo shows, the foundation has a pleasing appearance. As only a portion of the Solistone tiles were used for this project, I have material for making more foundations in the future.
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