Garden Railways 2015-12

HOW TO build a lift-out bridge p. 12 DECEMBER 2015

KADEE TRUCKS: one of 7 reviews! p. 62

Adventures in outdoor model railroading

Visit an old favorite Jack Verducci adds a new division to his well-known line p. 34

21 HO

W TO

PAGES

A passenger train, hauled by a live-steam Forney, crosses the trestle after departing Fairmont on Jack Verducci’s Crystal Springs Railroad.

Detail an F3 diesel p. 44

Prune miniature trees p. 51 Build a rerailer track section p. 30

BONUS ONLINE CONTENT CODE p. 5

Vol. 32 • Issue 6

HOW TO Kitbash Piko structures p. 42

www.GardenRailways.com

BACHMANN G SCALE LARGE TRAINS

SUPER SALE BACHMANN

G SCALE BRASS TRACK

STRAIGHT 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

SIGN UP FOR TRAINWORLD E-MAIL SALES & NEWS 0-4-0 PORTER STEAM

#91197 UNLETTERED, black #91198 UNLETTERED, red window #91199 UNLETTERED, green/black

STARTER SETS

#89399 PAINTED, UNLETTERED

COMBINE SALE $67.99

#91196 SOUTHERN 2-4-2 STEAM LOCOMOTIVE SALE $199.99

2-4-2 STEAM LOCOMOTIVE SUPER SALE $124.99 EA.

BAGGAGE SALE $67.99 Ea. #89693 EAST BROAD TOP

COACH SALE $79.99

#80997 SANDY RIVER (Inside) #80998 BLACK UNLETTERED (Outside) #80999 BLACK UNLETTERED (Inside)

#89692 EAST BROAD TOP

OBSERVATION SALE $85.99 Ea. #89694 EAST BROAD TOP

SUPER SALE

$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

#98120 4-6-0 STEAM LOCOMOTIVE WITH TENDER & LIGHT, SMOKE & SYNCHRO EAST TENNESSEE & WEST NORTH CAROLINA STOCK CAR SOUND SUPER SALE $219.99 #91601 #91602 #91603 #91604 #91605 #91606 #91607

EAST BROAD TOP DENVER RIO GRANDE RIO GRANDE SOUTHERN SOUTHERN PACIFIC COAST DENVER RIO GRANDE WESTERN EAST TENNESSEE WESTERN NORTH CAROLINA UNLETTERED, BLACK

SUPER SALE $39.99

ANIMATED STOCK CARS SALE $62.99 Ea.

2-6-0 LOCOMOTIVE WITH SMOKE & SOUND SUPER SALE $159.99 EA.

#98701 HORSE CAR

SOUND, DCC ON-BOARD SUPER SALE $599.99 #86093 CLEAR LAKE BOX CARS #86094 ELK RIVER SALE #86095 DEMO $62.99 Ea. #86096 BAYSIDE #86097 UNLETTERED #93301 DENVER RIO GRANDE #86098 UNLETTERED #93302 RED DATA ONLY #93311 GREAT NORTHERN #93318 RIO GRANDE #93328 SOUTHERN PACIFIC COAST #93364 GREAT CENTRAL

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 SALE $499.99 EA.

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

www.trainworld.com 90196 90197 90198 91498 91499

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

HOPPER SALE $19.99 EA.

SALE $62.99 Ea.

#88999 Die-Cast Shay Power Trucks 1/pair SALE $209.99 #81399 UNLETTERED 4-4-0 STEAM ENGINE & TENDER SUPER SALE $499.99

98086 BLUE/SILVER 98087 YELLOW/BLACK 98099 GREEN/BLACK

RINGLING BROS. CIRCUS ITEMS

#82896 OREGON

SALE $749.99 Ea. #82898 UNLETTERED BLACK #82899 UNLETTERED RED

C19 STEAM LOCOMOTIVE, DCC READY SUPER SALE $799.99 EA. Short Tender

SALE $49.99

ZERO LEAN CONOCO WHITE PASS & YUKON TEXACO TIDEWATER GRAMPS

#93465 #93470 #93471 #93473

HOPPERS 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

91701 91702 91703 91704

BALTIMORE TRANSIT COMPANY LOS ANGELES RAILWAY TORONTO CHICAGO SURFACE LINES

WATER TANK CAR. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .74.99 FLAT w/Elephant Tableau Wagon . . . . .84.99 FLAT w/Lady Artists Tableau Wagon . .84.99 BOXCAR w/Tiger . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .64.99 BOBBER CABOOSE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .59.99 RINGLING GONDOLA. . . . . . . . . . . . . .59.99 PERFORMER’S OBSERVATION . SALE 64.99 CIRCUS POLE CAR . . . . . . . . . . SALE 49.99 CIRCUS WATER TANK CAR . . . . SALE 44.99

#98203 EAST BROAD TOP #98206 RED DATE ONLY #98278 CHRISTMAS

#92504 V DUMP CAR SALE $47.99 EA.

8’ WIDE RADIUS REQUIRED

BOXCAR, MURPHY ROOF SUPER SALE $99.99 Ea.

FRAMED TANK CAR SUPER SALE $99.99 Ea.

#88695 COLORADO & SOUTHERN #88697 FLORENCE & C.C. #88698 UNLETTERED, red

#88197 UNLETTERED, black #88198 UNLETTERED, silver #88199 UNLETTERED, red

FRAMELESS TANK CAR SUPER SALE $99.99 Ea.

LONG CABOOSE SUPER SALE $149.99 Ea.

LIGHTED & #88493 GRAMPS #88795 DENVER RIO GRANDE #88798 UNLETTERED, oxide brown DETAILED INTERIOR FRAMELESS #88799 UNLETTERED, oxide red

TANK CARS SALE $64.99 Ea. #93401 #93402 #93419 #93432 #93433 #93445

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BACHMANN SUPER DETAILED ROLLING STOCK

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#95368 PENNSYLVANIA 20’ BOX CAR

SUPER SALE $499.9

2-6-6-2 SADDLE TANK, DCC READY

RIO GRANDE FLYING GRANDE BUMBLE BEE RGS SUNRISE HERALD PAINTED, UNLETTERED

CABOOSE SALE $19.99 EA.

97088 RED/BLACK 97092 GREEN/BLACK 97096 YELLOW/SILVER

CIRCUS

#93201 #93202 #93203 #93204 #93224 #93265 #93266 #93267 #93276

98088 BUDS CHOCOLATE 98089 SPECTRUM PAINTS 98098 NORTH STAR

98090 JUMPIN JACK JELLY BEANS 98091 KING COAL 98097 GOLDEN NUGGET MINING

REEFERS

#82699 UNLETTERED 55Ton 3-TRUCK SHAY DCC & SOUND ON-BOARD SALE $599.99

TANK CAR SALE $19.99 EA.

97089 RED/BLACK 97093 GREEN/BLACK 97097 YELLOW/SILVER

90083 RINGLING BROS. CIRCUS SET . . 299.99 90194 LIL’ BIG TOP RINGLING BROS. SET .189.99 SUPER SALE $39.99 Ea. #93320 EAST TENNESSEE & WEST NORTH CAROLINA 92711 JACKSON SHARP COACH . . . . . . . . . .89.99 #93330 EAST BROAD TOP

#82494 OREGOON LUMBER #82496 MEADOW RIVER #82499 UNLETTERED, black

#93938 OPEN STREET CAR, YELLOW/BEIGE SALE $124.99

269.99 237.99 299.99 324.99

BAGGAGE SALE $19.99 EA. #98702 CATTLE CAR

2-TRUCK CLIMAX

#96201 HAND CAR W/TRAILER, gray

SILVERADO FREIGHT TRAIN SET . . THE PLAINSMAN SET . . . . . . . . . RINGLING BROS. CIRCUS SET . . NORTH WOODS LOGGER SET . . .

COACH SALE $19.99 EA.

#91552 MIDWEST #91554 COLORADO

#83194 #83195 #83197 #83198

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

#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

with TRACK & TRANSFORMER 90050 90078 90083 90122

BILLBOARD REEFERS

SUPER SALE $99.99 EA.

#91401 THOMAS THE TANK LOCO W/MOVING EYES SALE $179.99

#90069 #90087 #91402 #91403 #91404 #91405 #97001 #97002 #98001 #98002 #98003

JACKSON SHARP PASSENGER CARS

SUPER SALE $89.99 EA. 2-4-4 FORNEY SUPER SALE #80996 SANDY RIVER (Outside) $499.99 EA.

TRAINWORLD® ORDERS ONLY 1-800-541-7010 THOMAS AND FRIENDS

TANK CAR SUPER SALE $99.99 Ea.

UNION FRAMED UNLETTERED FIRE PREVENTION TANK CAR UNLETTERED, silver SUPER SALE $99.99 #88195 WHITE PASS & YUKON

#88496 #88497 #88498 #88499

SHOP ON-LINE AT

trainworld.com SALE $62.99 Ea.

#93827 EAST BROAD TOP CABOOSE

UTLX UNLETTERED, black UNLETTERED, silver UNLETTERED, red

CABOOSE with CENTER CUPOLA & INTERIOR SALE $83.99 Ea.

SUPER SALE $59.99

#98490 SHORT #92503 WOODSIDE DUMP CAR LOG CAR SALE $47.99 EA. W/LOGS #98470 LOG CAR W/LOGS, PAINTED UNLETTTERED #92502 SIDE DUMP SALE $59.99 ORE CAR SALE $47.99 EA.

#88494 GRAMPS

#93830 ELY THOMAS CO.

#93851 UNION PACIFIC

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.

TRAINWORLD® TRAINLAND®

TOLL FREE 1-800-541-7010 INFO 1-718-436-7072 MON-SAT 10-6 751 McDonald Ave. Brooklyn, NY 11218 E-MAIL: [email protected] www.trainworld.com

ONLINE SHOPPING: www.trainworld.com

- 15% Re-Stocking Fee on returns 12/15F - Minimum UPS standard shipping & handling charge $10.99 - Prices are subject to change without notice - Limited Quantities All Rights Reserved

ONLINE CONTENT CODE: GRW1512 Enter this code at: www.gardenrailways.com/code to gain access to web-exclusive content

DECEMBER 2015 | Volume 32, Number 6

CONTENTS HOW TO build a lift-out bridge p. 12

COVER PHOTO: JACK VERDUCCI

DECEMBER 2015

KADEE TRUCKS: one of 7 reviews! p. 62

Adventures in outdoor model railroading

Visit an old favorite Jack Verducci adds a new division to his well-known line p. 34

21

HOW TO PAGES

A passenger train, hauled by a live-steam Forney, crosses the trestle after departing Fairmont on Jack Verducci’s Crystal Springs Railroad.

HOW TO Kitbash Piko structures p. 42 Detail an F3 diesel p. 44

Prune miniature trees p. 51 Build a rerailer track section p. 30

• How to build a lift-out bridge 12 • Kadee trucks: One of 7 reviews 62 • Visit an old favorite 34 • Detail an F3 diesel 44 • Kitbash Piko structures 42 • Prune miniature trees 51 • Build a rerailer track section 30

28

FEATURES 28 Staff corner: Nancy Norris Putting out fire! by Nancy Norris

30 Rerailer design and construction This simple device makes life easier by David Outteridge COVER STORY

34 Adding a new division to an old favorite The Fairmont Division of the Crystal Springs Railroad by Jack Verducci

12

42 Kitbashing Piko’s Village Furniture Shop A simple conversion produces a more interesting structure by Don McClure

44 Modifying a USA Trains F3 Prototype research results in a more accurate model by Gavin Smart

48 An N-scale garden railway Building a downsized railway in a flower pot by Paul Smith

48 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 Building a lift-out bridge

17 Greening your railway Even trains can get the blues

25 Plant portraits Sanders Blue dwarf Alberta spruce

51 Miniscaping A modified bonsai technique for miniaturizing trees

55 Raising steam In praise of small locomotives

Online extras 58 Events Upcoming shows and exhibits

59 Online station A large-scale guide to the Internet

62 Product reviews Just Plain Folk structure, Kadee trucks, and more

74 One-page project Build a railroad telephone booth

• Bonus article: Build a rerailer from the October 2010 issue • Related gardening reading • Bonus article: Kitbash AristoCraft Alcos into dummy units from the August 2011 issue

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

Who is qualified to write an article for GR?

Editor Marc Horovitz Production Editor Rene Schweitzer Art Director LuAnn Williams Belter Senior Graphic Designer Chuck Braasch Production Coordinator Jodi Jeranek Horticultural Editor Nancy Norris Technical Editor Vance Bass Contributing Editors Don Parker, Kevin Strong, Jeff Young Circulation Manager Cathy Daniels Single Copy Specialist Kim Redmond

6

Garden Railways | December 2015

PHOTO BY ETZEL WILLHOIT

I

have been a model railroader for most of my life. In an early family photograph, I can be seen on the floor with my Marx windup train, around age four. I started reading Model Railroader and Railroad Model Craftsman as a pre-teen. I found all the articles fascinating, whether or not I even understood them and whether or not they were anywhere near my skill level (few were back then). I was always amazed at the apparent high level of knowledge and skill that every author seemed to possess. Thus, I suppose I had it ingrained in me that, to write for a publication (any publication), you had to have decades of experience and an amazingly high level of skill. Certainly, if you are writing for a scientific or technical professional journal, you must not only know your stuff, you must have the credentials to back it up—otherwise, you’ll have no credibility with your readers and peers, despite how competent you may be on your subject. It was not until I was much older that I realized that was not necessarily the case when writing for a hobby publication such as Garden Railways. GR, obviously, is neither a scientific publication nor is it a professional journal. I suppose it might be categorized as a pleasurable periodical, one whose primary function is to help people advance in a pursuit they enjoy—their hobby. While we make every effort to provide a quality publication and to ensure the accuracy of the material we publish, we are not dealing with life-and-death issues or topics that will have a material impact on the future of the world, except perhaps in the most minute sense. Given that, we can relax to a certain extent about credentials, experience, and even the skill level of our authors. We like to present a broad range of material in our pages, touching, over time, on every topic of interest to garden railroaders, and every skill level. I especially like to present new ideas or novel ways of approaching old problems. These ideas often come from those who are new to the game and who don’t know the “right” way of doing things. In that context, the notion of “that’s the way we’ve always done it” doesn’t really hold much water. What I’m saying is that anyone who has done something that might be of interest to others is qualified to write a story about it. My father used an expression I’ve always liked: “You can’t argue with success.” If you’ve done something and it works, tell people about it. What you’ve done may seem obvious to you but it may not be so to the next person. Write it down and send it in. While we may not be able to accept everything we receive, every potential story is carefully read and considered. One excuse I hear with some regularity is, “I’m not a writer.” Well, join the club— none of us are. You need not worry about prose, spelling, syntax, or any of those other hobgoblins—that’s my job. Just write clearly about your project. If I don’t understand everything you’ve said, I’ll ask you to clarify it. I look forward to hearing from you.

Kalmbach Publishing Co. President Charles R. Croft Vice President, Editorial Kevin P. Keefe Vice President and General Manager Jim McCann Senior Vice President, Sales & Marketing Daniel R. Lance Vice President, Consumer Marketing Nicole McGuire Executive Editor Neil Besougloff Corporate Advertising Director Scott Bong Corporate Art Director Maureen M. Schimmel Art and Production Manager Michael Soliday

Advertising 888-558-1544 Fax: 262-796-0126 Group Ad Sales Manager Scott Redmond Advertising Sales Representative Steve Dake E-mail: [email protected] Advertising Service Representative Jen Zalesky E-mail: [email protected] Selling Garden Railways magazine or products in your store 800-558-1544, Press 3 Outside U.S. and Canada: 262-796-8776, ext. 818 Fax: 262-798-6592 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.Retailers.Kalmbach.com Customer service inquiries 800-533-6644 Weekdays, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. Central time Outside U.S. and Canada: 262-796-8776, ext. 421 E-mail: [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: [email protected] PO Box 460222 Denver CO 80246 or Rene Schweitzer 262-796-8776 Fax: 262-796-1142 E-mail: [email protected] PO Box 1612 21027 Crossroads Circle Waukesha WI 53187-1612

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.

Suspended Railway Systems for

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www.GardenRailways.com

7

NOTES & NEWS PRODUCTS

Engines & rolling stock

Great American Locomotion—The GAL Line, 472 East Holly Avenue, Pitman NJ 08071, is offering a 53' wood express reefer (#Gal 70 431) in 1:32 scale. This craftsman project includes all lasercut and etched-styrene parts, express trucks, brass bearings, and 36" Sierra Valley steel wheels. A milk-tank-car variant is available on request. Price: $320. Website: www.thegalline.com

working knuckles and manual trip pins. They come pre-assembled and chemically blackened. The couplers will mate with Kadee #1-scale couplers and can be mounted in Kadee #1-scale coupler boxes. Prices: type-E coupler, $30/pair; type-E double-shelf coupler, $35/pair; $5.95 priority-mail shipping. Website: http://burlrice.com

Bridges & structures

VES Enterprises, PO Box 11672, Casa Grande AZ 85130, has a coal-fired powerplant complex in 1:24 scale, consisting of three individual buildings that can be arranged in a multitude of ways to fit your available space. These include an administration building, a furnace building with three stacks, and an open-ended hopper bay. All are provided assembled, painted, and ready for installation. Construction is all wood, with exterior grade-paints and glues. Doors and windows are molded UV-treated plastic from Precision Products. Price for all three: $209 + s&h. Website: www.gtrainbuildings.com

Accessories & details Burl Rice, 316 N Spring Street, Sparta TN 38583, is making AAR type-E couplers and type-E double-shelf couplers in 1:29 scale. The couplers are brass, with

8

Garden Railways | December 2015

Electronics & software Dallee Electronics, Inc., 246 W. Main Street, Leola PA 17540, is releasing the first of a series of new sound systems. These are smaller in size and will work with all types of input. HiLine Sound Systems’ first release is the Diesel (#1510). Main features include 10 horns, three bells, and seven prime movers, all in one unit. Other selectable features include motor sound with eight notches; brakerelease sound; compressor relief-valve sound; and more. Dimensions: 2.2" long x 0.95" wide x 0.5" high. The unit is electrically compatible with all scales and gauges. Price: $149.95. Also from Dallee is a variety of small speakers in sealed enclosures. Each comes with a two-pin header to directly plug into a Dallee sound system. Complete info at: www.dallee.com

Tools b2bReplicas, b2bReplicas.com, is offering a new release from Universal Hobbies, a 1:32-scale Claas Arion 550 Tractor with front weight (#4298, shown). Features include realistic tread and hub detail; detailed mirrors, headlights, warning lights, and wiper; detailed operators cab and controls; and free rolling wheels. Price: $58. The firm also has a variety of die-cast metal lift devices in 1:32 scale: Genie-SX 180 Telescopic Boom Lift (#922), featuring movable axles; steerable function at all four wheels; 360° rotation of carriage; telescopic boom; and poseable in transport position. Price: $194.95. Genie-GS 4069RT Scissor Lift (EU version, #929) and Genie-GS 4069RT Scissor Lift (US version, shown, #9291). Features include steerable front axle; tiltable front axle; scissor lift function; and extendable platform. Price: $137.99 ea. Website: http://b2breplicas.com

K.I.S.S. Method Inc., 9199 So. Mountain Laurel Ln., West Jordan UT 84081, has the Super-V G Cradle, a foam cradle, 24" long x 4" high x 8" wide. The unit is firm enough to hold engines and cars in any position, yet soft enough not to damage delicate parts. Price: $19.95 + $3 s&h. Website: www.kissmethodinc.com MISCELLANEOUS

Piko Spielwaren GmbH, Lutherstr. 30, 96515 Sonneberg, Germany, has released a catalog of their US offerings for 2015. For more information, visit www.piko.de

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EMAIL: [email protected]

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LETTERS Scratchbuilding in tinplate While reading the article “Scratchbuilding day coaches in tinplate” by Marc Horovitz in the October 2014 issue of Garden Railways, I got the urge to try tinplate modeling myself. The major incentive was to use the techniques and videos on the tinplategirl.com website mentioned in the GR article.

there are a couple of NMRA Master Modelers, as well as a collection of other serious modelers in the district, I consider this an indication of the both the usefulness of the plans and the fabrication in my humble hands. —Bob Charles, deer [email protected]

Jim Cary In the October 2015 issue, I was so im– pressed with Jim Cary’s article that I looked up his website. There is no word for how impressed I was. Every detail of construction was meticulously thought out and built. I e-mailed him a couple of questions and he answered immediately. I would label him “Master Builder” second to no one. Kudos to Jim. —Irwin (Sonny) Alansky, Rockledge, Florida

A kitbashed switcher

Here are a couple of pictures (taken by my wife Lisa) of my side-dump ore cars, fabricated following the excellent instructions obtained from tinplategirl.com I watched all of the videos on the site. As a novice at soldering, the soldering video was instrumental in overcoming my initial pangs in fabricating tinplate with solder. The exhaustive instructions and the carefully illustrated steps in fabrication made assembly (with a little practice) a snap. I did not use a bending brake, but instead used a vise, and built all of the necessary fabrication tools as illustrated. Although the drawings are in ⅞" scale, the frame is designed for 45mm-gauge track and, along with the tub, looks just fine when compared to the various plastic ore cars manufactured for my scale— 1:20.3. You could reduce the tub size by the appropriate amount if you were really picky. Redesign of the tub supports would also be necessary. I’ve made four cars so far and am planning to add a further six in due course. Our local NMRA club in Sheridan, Wyoming, has asked me to put on a clinic about this construction at our district NMRA meeting this fall. Considering

After a long construction period, the shops rolled out Nº 1. The power block, the deck, and the upper part of the hood started off in a Rivarossi 0-scale diesel switcher. I raised the hood, built the cab using styrene stock, and replaced the wheels with large-scale wheels, but kept the 0-gauge track gauge. I also added the headlight and the stack. The headlight has an LED in it; there is a battery box in the cab, the roof of which is a press fit. The propulsion battery (probably on the order of 9V NiMH) will go behind the engine in a Hartland minigon, three of which are on order. I am not going to install R/C. I’ll just turn it on and let it go at whatever speed the battery will deliver for as long as it can make the little train move. I installed 0-scale Kadee couplers on the engine. The three mini-gons will most likely be tied together with link-and-pin couplers. When I can find an appropriatesized single-chime air horn and a bell,

they will go on Nº 1’s roof. —John D’Aloia, St. Marys, Kansas

Call before you dig It was good to see you presenting the information on calling 811 before digging (Oct. 2015 GR). However, not all utilities are members of 811 so you may need to contact them directly. Also, everyone needs to know that all utilities have a right-of-way for their equipment and that if anything is in that right-of-way, they have the right to remove it as needed. — Doug Mangold, Newport, North Carolina

Keeping indoor track clean I have been operating my indoor layout for 14 years and I have never used a cleaner of any kind. Trains run the first time, every time, even after a few weeks of rest. Some conditions apply. 1. My layout remains wired from my DC days. Drop lines are about eight-toten feet apart. 2. I now use Airwire/CVP drop-in radio control and run exclusively USA Trains diesels. I do not use onboard batteries in those engines but, rather, supply my track with steady, heavy duty, wellregulated 14.5V DC current, fed to the track and up through steel wheels (no traction tires) and sliders to a full-wave bridge that stabilizes polarity to the circuit boards. 3. My rolling stock has steel wheels. 4. I live in the Okanagan Valley, which offers a dry, semi-desert climate of hot summers and cool winters. My furnace shuts itself down for a greater part of the year but continues to filter the air and control the humidity, such as it is. Still, even using organic DC, as I did for 10 years, I find that the USA Trains engines are quite heavy and, despite what non-believers suggest, gravity works. I don’t think dirty track will be as much a concern as you fear. —Dave Winter, Peachland BC Canada

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 them to mhorovitz@gardenrailways. com

www.GardenRailways.com

11

KEVIN STRONG

GARDEN RAILWAY BASICS

Building a lift-out bridge

1. These two bridges lift to provide access to the garden on Mark Melichar’s Curmudgeon & St. Anita Railroad in Denver. The bridge on the right is hinged against the storage shed and will fold up, out of the way, when not in use.

Tuscarora Railroad Nº 5 leads the daily passenger train across Three Lick Creek on the author’s line. This bridge can be lifted out to allow access to the side yard whenever tools or other large items that cannot be easily carried over the track need to be moved. PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR

W

hen designing a garden railroad, it’s often necessary for the track to pass over a walkway or in front of a door. If the track is at ground level, it might be possible to build a grade crossing over which you could walk or roll the lawnmower. In many cases the track is not on the ground—it’s elevated a few inches or even a few feet. In those cases, it’s not practical to step over the track and I’m not about to lift the lawnmower. Instead, we can turn to lift-out bridges or similar means of temporarily moving the track out of the way. In the prototype world, when railroads encountered crossings where they’d have to move the track, they used various arrangements of drawbridges, swing bridges, or other engineering marvels. In the garden, there’s nothing wrong with duplicating the prototype. If you’ve got the mechanical-engineering chops to go that route, more power to you. However, such bridges—while certainly cool— aren’t always practical or even desirable. Our garden-railway bridges are often simple and utilitarian, with little effort to make them look prototypical (photo 1).

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Garden Railways | December 2015

I have one lift-out bridge on my Tuscarora Railroad—the bridge over Three Lick Creek. This bridge crosses a pathway from the backyard to the side yard, with the track about 12" above grade. I knew when building my railroad that I’d need a liftout bridge across this section. The East Broad Top Railroad (upon which my TRR is based) never had fancy drawbridges or anything like that, so whatever I put in that spot would be a simple affair. I had a 48" Garden Metal Models deck girder bridge (sadly, no longer made) which would be perfect to span the gap. For the first few years I had bridged this gap with a non-removable 2 x 4. After years of tripping over the thing, I decided I’d be better served by installing a lift-out bridge. The first step entailed building a proper foundation for the bridge. In this case, I wanted cut-stone abutments on either side of the gap. These would have to be built in place, as they had to blend into the existing rockwork edging of the garden. I cut Styrofoam sheet to build a form, then lined the inside of the form with Precision Products’ cut-stone styrene sheet to create the pattern I was after in the cement (photos 2a-2c).

With the abutments dry, I set the bridge in place and it was ready for track. When I was laying track on this stretch, I thought ahead and bridged this gap with a single five-foot section of flex track. I could simply remove this section of track, then remove the bridge, and voila! Goal achieved, and I’d get around to building a proper wood deck for the bridge later. As projects often go with me, “later” ended up being about seven years. I was surprisingly content with my two-part “lift out” bridge, given how seldom I actually lifted it out. The one downside was that the flex track, not being secured to the bridge, tended to get bent and misaligned whenever I removed it, or even just from kids and dogs going over it. But the annoyance wasn’t quite enough (yet) to convince me to actually finish the project. That would take something a bit more pressing, like potentially 400 people traipsing through my backyard during a national convention. It’s amazing how much work you can get done in six weeks when your local garden-railway society is hosting a national convention. Lots of “eventually” projects suddenly found themselves on the front burner, and this bridge was at the top of the list. There would be two parts to this project: the deck on the bridge and the ties on the wood cribbing leading up to the bridge on either side. The lift-out section

INTERMEDIATE PROJECT

2a. The forms for the bridge supports are made from Styrofoam lined with Precision Products’ sheet.

2b. The forms, filled with concrete. The bridge will rest atop these supports once they’ve set.

2c. The finished forms and cribbing. The flex-track strip just sits insecurely on top of the bridge.

3. These lower two battens will hold the deck of the bridge onto the girder section.

4. Bridge ties are 7" long. To keep things even, a guide piece is taped to the floor so that the ties will be centered over the two battens.

5. The ties are glued onto the battens using Titebond II waterproof glue.

6. After the glue dried, the author pinned the battens to the ties using a small pin nailer.

7. The top battens were then glued and pinned in place.

8. Small screws with large heads hold the decking to the girders from below.

would be made up of the Garden Metal Models bridge, the wood deck, and the rails, all as one assembly. The two “ends” of the original five-foot section of track would be spiked to the ties laid on the wood cribbing. I cut the ties out of cedar fence slats I got at Lowe’s, which I had stored in my garage for a few years. They’re usually quite damp when I buy them, so “seasoning” them in the garage for a while

removes some of their tendency to warp when ripped into thin (scale) strips. I made them the same width and height as the plastic AMS ties I had used elsewhere in the garden but lengthened them to 7", using the rationale that the ties should be long enough for a train to be on the bridge and still have just enough room for a crewmember to safely walk alongside it. I also cut long, thin battens to run the length of the bridge; two on top, on the

outer edges of the ties, and two underneath that would lie next to the bridge girders, to keep the deck from sliding side to side. To space these lower battens, I set the bridge upside down on the floor of my garage and taped the battens in place on the floor (photo 3). Knowing my bridge ties are 7" long, I taped a guide next to the battens so the ties would be centered on the bridge (photo 4). Then I laid a bead of www.GardenRailways.com

13

GARDEN RAILWAY BASICS

9. With the decking in place on both the bridge and the cribbing, the rails were set in place to be spiked.

10. One rail was spiked in place, then the second rail was set using a track gauge.

11. Gaps in the rails at the end of the bridges were cut after the rails were temporarily set in place. The cut-off wheel was also used to cut away the ties so the rail joiners could slide onto the rails.

12. Rails were firmly spiked in place using pliers to push them into pre-drilled holes.

13. Rail joiners slide along the rails into notches cut into the end ties.

14. Footers on the bridge fit into these pockets on the abutments to keep the bridge aligned with the cribbing.

15a & 15b. The finished bridge removed for access, then set back in place.

Titebond II glue along the battens, then set the ties in place (photo 5).Once the glue had set, I went back with a pin nailer to reinforce the joints (photo 6). I flipped the assembly over and glued and pinned the outer battens to the top of the deck (photo 7). The final step in this assembly was to screw the deck onto the girder bridge. To do this, I used small screws with large heads to secure the deck (photo 8). The head of the screw holds things in place; I opted not to drill through the metal of the girder. With everything assembled, it was time to lay the rails. I set the bridge on the abutments and connected one length of rail across the deck, eyeballing it to get

14

Garden Railways | December 2015

the track smooth from one end to the other (photo 9). I spiked this rail down, with spikes every 10 or so ties, just to get it attached to the ties. Then, using a track gauge, I spiked the second rail in place (photo 10). With the rails in place, I used a cut-off disk in my Dremel tool to cut gaps in the rail at the end of the bridge section (photo 11). With everything test fitted, the rest of the spikes could be put in (photo 12). While cedar is soft enough to simply push the spikes into the ties, I pre-drill the holes to make my life easier. To connect the rails, I use ordinary slide-on rail joiners (photo 13). I notched the ties on the ends of the bridge so the joiners can slide back on the rails. If

you’re running track power, you’d probably want an additional electrical connection to carry power across the bridge, rather than just relying on the rail joiners to make the connection. Rail clamps would work well, though you’d have to loosen them every time you wanted to remove the bridge. Split-Jaw makes rail clamps for removable bridges, though only for code-332 rail. The Tuscarora Railroad finally has a proper lift-out bridge that comes out easily and stays in one piece as it’s removed (photos 15a and 15b). I’ve still got some detailing to do (guard rails, fire barrels, etc.) but it’s taken me 10 years to get this far, so all in good time. . . .

NANCY NORRIS

GREENING YOUR RAILWAY

Even trains can get the blues

1. The Lady of Loch Leven, pride of Scott Gould’s Ballachulish & Pitlochry Railway, awaits the boarding of passengers in front of the depot roofed in Welsh blue slate. Okay, it just looks like slate. SCOTT GOULD (PHOTOS BY NANCY NORRIS EXCEPT WHERE NOTED)

O

ther than the sky, blue is rarely found in gardens. The leastcommon color for flowers is blue. Even rarer are blue leaves. Blues in the garden range from natural, hazy-blue mountain ranges to man-made Thomas the Tank Engine. We can also paint shades of blue that look natural, as in the slate roof on the depot in photo 1.

To blue or not to blue Some garden-railway enthusiasts perceive any color other than green as taking away

from the visual uniformity of a countryside that should highlight moving trains. They like the peace and calm of green. But blue is the quietest of all colors and acts like a mediator to tone down the dark greens and yellow greens, as in photo 2. Too much, and we might feel the blues. Photo 3 shows several blue-colored plants at noon, slightly washed out from the sun. However, during cloudy days or at night, they shine like the moon and draw attention to a beautiful water feature. There’s nothing sad about photo 4, taken under a

Further reading June 2010: Color me content October 2011: Yellow gold June 2014: Using the color red in your garden railway Subscribers can read these “Greening your railway” articles free on our website. Visit. www.GardenRailways.com and find links on the December issue’s table of contents.

www.GardenRailways.com

17

GREENING YOUR RAILWAY

tree—a light-blue native stonecrop outlines the structures placed in shade.

Dry climate? If you’ve been to the desert, “down under,” or to any area with exceptionally dry or sandy soil, you’ll find blue plants. In California, due to drought, the Cooperative Extension Service recommends natives from Australia, where most of the country is dry. The Aussie import, silver bush or cushion bush (photo 5), like many bluish plants, is covered with a waxy substance that holds in moisture. The wax reflects light, causing the silvery look. Colorado blue spruce hails from the high desert but railroaders in any state can trim it into the bonsai formal style continued on page 22

2. Rick and Susan Manfredi’s Peculiar Junction Railroad enjoys multiple mainlines passing through dwarf trees. Two golden conifers frame the train: the creeping juniper is Juniperus horizontalis ‘Mother Lode’ (Zones 3-10) and the shrub above is goldthread cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Filifera Aurea’, Zones 4-8). The slow-growing star of the show is blue star juniper (Juniperus squamata ‘Blue Star’, Zones 4-8).

4. Tom Manoff’s Bear Mountain Railroad cools down a hot day with the stonecrop groundcover Sedum spathulifolium ‘Cape Blanco’ (Zones 5-9). This evergreen wildflower from coastal Oregon needs excellent drainage to overwinter.

3. The center of the mountain stream on Jerry and Alison Ogden’s Possum Creek Railroad is surrounded by a bevy of blue plants. The tallest tree, at 2 o’clock, is Boulevard cypress (Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Boulevard’, Zones 4-8). Woolly thyme (Thymus pseudolanuginosis, Zones 4-9) drapes over river cliffs. At lower left, the silver-blue lavender cotton (Santolina chamaecyparissus, Zones 6-9) has been pruned to show an aging trunk.

18

Garden Railways | December 2015

5. Silver bush (Calocephalus brownii, Zones 10-12), a native to Australia, blends into the travertine-stone bridge but contrasts nicely with the author’s Shay, running on Richard and Melinda Murray’s Green Hills Railroad.

REGIONAL GARDENING REPORT Zones listed are USDA Hardiness Zones Has your railway garden got the blues?

Kathleen Clayton Calgary, Alberta, Canada, Zone 3 True blue

Scott Gould Cape Elizabeth, Maine, Zone 5 Too blue

Creeping bellflower (Campanula cocclearifolia or C. pusilla, Zones 3-8) is a tough little plant at only 3 to 4" high when blooming. After blooming, cut stems with scissors to leave a nice, tidy plant. It grows well in sun or part shade in ordinary well-drained soil. This alpine perennial, with curving, spoonshaped leaves, forms dense mats and is useful for dwarf groundcover. It grows over and around stones or other objects but it’s easy to propagate—just move a small mass and replant. Caution: Campanulas will take over if you fertilize a lot. To control this, we use pickling vinegar (7% acetic acid) in a spray

I like lobelia for its color (it comes in at least three colors: dark and light blue, and purple). [Also white and pink—NN] It’s sold as an annual but usually overwinters pretty well here, although it may get rangy after a while. I love the flowers on the blue-eyed grass. This perennial spreads slowly, a little each year. I wish it bloomed for a longer time—just a few months, it seems.

Saskatoon Sal rests on a rock in the Clayton’s garden railway. She is holding a blue bellflower, commonly known as fairies’ thimbles for the delicate little cup-shaped blooms.

Also known as creeping bellflower, this groundcover looks innocent enough but Kathleen Clayton has a good way to control it near tracks. KATHLEEN CLAYTON

In front of the inn and depot, passengers await their ride on the Lady of Loch Leven, pride of the Ballachulish & Pitlochry Railway. That’s the same outfit that built the Aberdaron, Pwllheli & Criccieth Railway down in Wales. I’m going to replace the station but I’ve already gone to a more subdued roof treatment—it still has blue, but also purple and green—more like Welsh slate.

Scott’s roof used to be a little too blue for his liking. See photo 1 in “Greening” for the modification that made the slate more realistic and aged.

Ray Turner likes to grow dark-blue lobelia (Lobelia erinus, annual) to complement nearby buildings. It starts as a bush then flattens out and spreads somewhat. Eventually it will need replacing.

bottle to keep plants away from track. The roots are very fine so they’re sometimes hard to control by digging, as each piece left behind could grow.

Ray Turner San Jose, California, Zone 9 Hues of blue

Spring-blooming 4" blue-eyed grass (Sisyrinchium sp.) grows slowly on Ray’s Mystic Mountain Railroad. The native blue-eyed grass in the northeast US grows taller. RAY TURNER

www.GardenRailways.com

19

GREENING YOUR RAILWAY Continued

6. Jack and Pauline Verducci’s Crystal Springs Railroad backdrops their forest in a painted blue sky. The tallest tree is a replica (unknown species) of a Colorado blue spruce (Picea pungens, Zones 3-8).

8. Blue flowers of speedwell (Veronica whitleyi, Zones 3-7) mirror the blue truck and workers on Lucia and Robin Edmond’s Rocktown Railroad in Alberta, Canada.

continued from page 18 (photo 6). Be sure to avoid spraying your blue-leaved conifers with horticultural oil, which will take away the powder-blue color and make leaves shiny and dark. Another native to Colorado, prairie sage, when paired with partridge feather, creates billowy mountains in the rear of a Colorado railway garden (photo 7). Also from the southwest, drought-tolerant dwarf Arizona cypress (Cupressus arizonica ‘Blue Ice’, Zones 6-9) makes a good forest tree.

Singing the blues Like the blues in music, which deviates

22

Garden Railways | December 2015

7. Two blue subshrubs reflect the borrowed view of the Rocky Mountains. It was in her Colorado prairie that Margaret Manfredi found fringed sagebrush (Artemisia frigida, Zones 3-10, on the left) and sidled it up to partridge feather (Tanacetum densum ssp. amani, Zones 4-9 up to 8,000' elevation), a Turkish import.

9. Turquoise-veneer ledger rocks from Utah easily fit together to make a scenic waterway. Both river and waterfall have been set in a bed of gravel to create access and contrast to the stacked natural flagstone cliffs in the Train Man of Oakland’s railway.

10. Blue glass and pebbles call attention to an old Norwegian folk tale in which “three billygoats gruff” outsmart the hungry troll so they can cross the bridge to greener meadows—here told by Ed and Joyce Wist in their Silver Gulch Railroad.

from the typical scales, blue plants change the garden, visually softening the scenery with their light blue-green shades. Originating in African-American communities, the musical blues were often sung in a calland-response pattern to reiterate the sense of community. In photo 8 a bright-blue panel truck calls out its color and a chorus of veronica flowers responds in kind. Repetition is an effective design technique, almost lyrical. Are you feeling a bit blue? It may be time to branch out a bit. Choose some blue for moist shade, like Japanese painted fern (Athyrium niponicum var. pictum, Zones 4-9) or moss rock encrusted with

blue-green lichen. For sunny areas, try a hillock of blue grasses (Festuca glauca ‘Sea Urchin, Zones 4-9).

Faux water Maybe you’re inspired to walk on water. A river of stones (photo 9) adds interest and a way into the scene. Some landscape-material yards offer chunks of recycled blue auto glass to add to dry or wet creeks. Apparently reflecting the blue sky above, flat glass marbles make a fun river (photo 10), accented by a scary story. Momentarily the shiny glass and blue pebbles beguile us into believing a dry creek is a water feature.

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We will start in Cape town to explore Cape Point, and Kirstenbosch National Botanical Garden. We will continue along the Garden Route to Oudtshoorn, the center of the ostrich industry. Next stops will be in Knysna and George, home of the historical Outeniqua Choo Tjoe steam train museum. During our stay in Durban, we will vist the nearby Sandstone Estates, a fantastic historic railway collection. Then the highlight of the tour begins: A 6-day safari on board the Rovos Rail, one of the world’s most luxurious trains through the heart of Africa. During this week we will explore the best nature reserves like Mkhaya Reserve, Hwange Nationalpark and of course Krueger Nationalpark. The train tour continues to Victoria Falls. We spend several days directly inside the Pilanesberg Nationalpark, where almost every animal of South Africa is found.

Train Safari South Africa – September/October 2016

The tour will start and end in Hamburg, where we will visit the Miniature Wonderland and enjoy an Elbe River cruise. We will continue to Bruchhausen-Vilsen to join the 50th anniversary festival of the Deutsche Eisenbahn Verein. The program includes fantastic steam train excursions. Next, we will visit Wernigerode, a colorful town with magnificent half-timbered houses. The steam powered Harzer Schmalspurbahn and the Brocken Bahn will take us through the beautiful scenery of the Harz Mountains. The trip continues to Berlin, where we will visit the German Museum of Technology. Then we will visit Ruegen, Germany’s largest island, where we will stay at the beautiful seaside resort of Binz. Highlights will be exciting train rides on board the famous steam powered “Rasender Roland” and the “Mollibahn” in Bad Doberan.

A journey through Northern Germany – August 2016

7KLVWRXUZLOOVWDUWLQ6WRFNKROP)LUVWZHZLOOWUDYHOZLWKWKHIDPRXV,QODQG5DLOZD\WKURXJK6ZHGHQ¶V untouched wilderness, along beautiful lakes and amazing glaciers. The journey starts through Lapland, further across the Arctic Circle and to the Atlantic coast. Afterwards, we will take a cruise with the famous Hurtigruten and travel through the spectacular scenery of the Norwegian coastline with more than 1,000 islands to Bergen. Next, a special fjord cruise will take us from Bergen to Flam, passing through the Sognefjord and proceeding up the dramatic Aurlandsfjord. Another highlight will be a fjord cruise of the amazingly beautiful Nærøyfjord. At the end of our tour we will ride the famous Flåm Railway and Bergen Railway to Oslo, where the tour ends.

Midnight Sun in Sweden and Norway (inclusive Hurtigruten cruise) – July 2016

This tour includes the enchanting cities of Munich, Prague, Vienna, Salzburg and Budapest. We will travel through the beautiful scenery of Austria on board famous steam railways like the Zillertalbahn, Achenseebahn, Mariazellerbahn, Murtalbahn, and the Schneebergbahn. We will travel to the Czech Republic WRULGHWKHKLVWRULFDOQDUURZJDXJHUDLOZD\RI-LQGĜLFKĤY+UDGHFGDWLQJEDFNWR,Q+XQJDU\ZHZLOOYLVLW the famous Hungarian Railway Museum, ride the Children’s Railway and enjoy a dinner cruise on the impressive Danube River. A special tour is planned at the Märklin production facility in Györ/Hungary where Märklin, LGB and Trix are in production side by side.

Train journey through Austria, Czech Republic and Hungary – June 2016

2016

Photos by courtesy of Hurtigruten and Rovos Rail.

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Garden Railways | December 2015

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Plant size: 4-6' high by 2-3' wide in 10 years, if not pruned

Among railroad gardeners, dwarf Alberta spruce is number one in popularity, for its fuzzy, conical shape and needles that stay small. It’s easily pruned into a sparsely limbed rugged-mountain survivor or a street tree with branches resting on a scale lawn. Whereas the famous Colorado blue spruce hails from Colorado, a high dry climate far south of Alberta Canada, this spruce also originated in high, dry-desert plains, where it is much colder in winter and cooler in summer. Keep them watered because these dwarf varieties do not have as much hardiness as their native parents. To grow them in Zones 3-5, water them well in late fall before the ground freezes. Evergreen leaves will continue to dry out all winter, causing desiccation unless covered, as with burlap or plywood A-frames. In the south, most damage is caused by prolonged sun exposure without sufficient irrigation, sometimes browning a whole side of the little tree. Like many cultivars, this one can revert back to its parent, as you can see in the photo, where the top left side of the tree is growing “sports” (difficult to see) of the green variety (which is also shown growing behind, slightly bigger than the blue). Just remove the sports for a nice, conical, blue tree.

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26

Garden Railways | December 2015

STAFF CORNER: NANCY NORRIS

A member of GR’s staff discusses recent projects

Putting out fire! old SP depot in San Leandro, California. It’s also home to a two-scale outdoor railway behind the depot. The G&O (both a club and the railroad it operates) runs large-scale trains around the lower outside of the raised planter box, while 0-scale trains run higher and inside. We club members wanted to pack some magic into an area between a set of interesting bridges crossing a canyon on one side and the highly detailed children’s area on the other. This would help to distribute guests evenly around the walkway. SLHRS hosts many open houses throughout the year and this is the only public garden railway in northern California. The club’s mission is to promote model railroading as well as railroad safety for children through Operation Lifesaver (“Stop, Look, Listen, and Live.”) Look for upcoming open houses at slhrs.org and visit us during the 2016 National Garden Railway Convention.

PHOTOS AND ILLUSTRATION BY THE AUTHOR

The big dig

0-scale trains decked in holiday color rush by as a full crew of fire fighters do their best. Trees are still smoking, most of the house is a total loss but the firemen will continue their duties until the open house is over at the G&O outdoor railway in San Leandro, California.

W

hile picking up my supply of filtered water, I was “amazed and mystified” by the counter display—a faucet floating in mid air, spouting a stream of water that never quite filled a bucket. When the owner showed me the clear plastic tube that had been inserted into the spout-end of the faucet and held vertically while hooked to a fountain pump, a light bulb turned on over my head.

28

Garden Railways | December 2015

Because I happened to own an 0-scalesize tin helicopter, I had already spent some time trying to figure out how to use it in my garden railway. At last I saw its purpose—a hovering fire engine dowsing flames over an 0-scale burning house.

Public garden railway San Leandro Historical Railway Society (SLHRS) has a model of the Southern Pacific in HO-scale, within its century-

Once the finish grade was identified (marked stake), I dug out enough space for a 20-gallon HDPE (high-density polyethelene) pond liner (a tub about 2' deep x 2' in diameter), plus 2" deeper for a layer of sand to level it. Inside the tub, the pump (second-smallest Beckett) was placed on a brick so that the dirtiest water would not enter the filter. By gluing up a framework of ¾" schedule-40 PVC pipe, I made a manifold that pressed against the sides of the tub to hold everything in place. I adapted the pump outlet with a T-fitting to have two outlets. The main pipe rises vertically from the center of the tub (and a hole in the roof of the house) and the other is fitted with an adaptor to a compression fitting for 2' of black ½" poly tubing (for drip irrigation). I sealed the end with a figure-eight closure. In two places on that ½" tubing I inserted barbed couplers for 2' lengths of ¼" poly tubing (for drip irrigation). Each of these ends was fastened to the top end of a ⅜" rebar post, just outside the edge of the tub, to support two little firemen holding

ADVANCED PROJECT

their fire hoses. Their nozzles are ¼" barbed couplers. The center pipe was fastened with glue to a clear plastic tube. The top of the tube was notched to allow water to escape, and a black plastic spice-bottle top was glued to that for the “Bambi basket,” which would seemingly spill the water. I attached the helicopter to the top of the spice-jar cap with wire and epoxy. To be sure that we didn’t run the pump dry, I made room while building the manifold for a short float valve (Watts Flippen ⅜"), so city water could refill the tub as needed. This also has its own shut-off ball valve nearby to turn off the filler valve when not in use.

Bambi basket Trees burned with torch Backdrop rocks/view block

To 110V with groundfault circuit interrupter (GFCI)

Smoke out Behind the G&O display, members built a staging area of Hardibacker board that stretches along the backside, with a yard for members to set up trains or steam up engines. Underneath that, our electrician installed a waterproof electrical quad box for plugging in the pump and the smoke unit. The smoke unit (a Visual Effects V915 400-watt Fog Machine) rests on a shelf under the track table. I fastened PVC pipe to the smoke outlet but the “smoke” will condense and drip back into the unit, so I drilled a hole for the oil to escape prior to reentering the unit. The drawing shows where smoke is diverted: two pipes on either side of the ceramic house and one pipe inside, so smoke comes out of the windows. The rest is left to the viewer’s imagination, but black, red, and orange plants help to tell the story.

Nancy Norris dedicates this report to fellow G&O member, Edward Van Pelt, who “gophered” for her from his wheelchair while she built this water feature. JOE BARKER

¼" tubing ½" tubing Part of PVC manifold Pump

Float valve Smoke/fog unit Cut/drill hole Bricks built up to support house

Firefighters to the rescue! Animation from smoke, water, wind, and whatever else you want to add.

In front of the left fire hose, sweet allysum (Lobularia maritima ‘Easter basket’, annual or Zones 9-11) smolders in rose flowers. Enveloped in smoke, the fireman on the right hose keeps the homeowner on the ladder from burning. To his right, red-leaved thrift (Armeria maritima ‘Rubrifolia’, Zones 4-8) hangs on to a few dark-rose flowers. Adding height is red barberry (Berberis thunbergii ‘Orange Rocket’, Zones 5-7). Looking wet and burnt, bugleweed (Ajuga reptans ‘Black Scallop’, Zones 3-9) covers the foreground. www.GardenRailways.com

29

INTERMEDIATE PROJECT

Rerailer design and constructıon This simple device makes life easier

by David Outteridge | Highlands Ranch, Colorado |

PHOTO BY THE AUTHOR, DRAWINGS BY MARC HOROVITZ

A rerailer like the one shown in this picture allows an entire train, including the locomotive, to be quickly and efficiently loaded onto the track, regardless of an individual car’s length or weight.

M

aking a rerailer for your garden railway is well worth the effort. If you run large dieseloutline engines, steam engines with floppy tenders, or long trains of cars with trucks at each end, a rerailer is a great convenience. They are easy, quick, and cheap to make, and the payoff of essentially being able to effortlessly put your stock on the rails is large and will continue for as long as your railway exists.

30

Garden Railways | December 2015

To facilitate getting trains onto the track on my now-defunct garden railway, I made a rerailer. The photograph shows that the rerailer was on the end of the steamup bay.

Siting the rerailer When siting your rerailer, there are a number of things to consider. First, do not do what is shown in the picture! My rerailer was a later addition to the

steamup bay. The problem that emerged was that the rerailer quickly became the preferred method for loading trains but there always seemed to be a locomotive sitting on the track, blocking the line. The best site for a rerailer is at the end of a siding that is both dedicated to loading trains and is long enough to accommodate whole trains (figure 1). If you want both a steaming bay and a loading siding, reverse the order of the rerailer and the steaming bay. This will require creative thinking and additional space, since the rerailer is now in the middle of the line; but it can be done and will work. There are other solutions, too, such as using two sidings or a switch just before the rerailer, so a single siding has a forked end, one for the steamup bay, one for the rerailer. Another siting consideration is the distance from the storage area, driveway, back door, etc., which will determine how far you’ll have to carry rolling stock to the rerailer table. The other major lesson I learned is that the rerailer shown in the picture is not long enough. Its base is made of an end panel from a desktop computer. After some time, I decided that the base should have been two computer panels mounted end to end. I thought about retrofitting this, but it was about this time that it became apparent that the railway was going to be dismantled, so modification went no further. The reason that more rerailer real estate is desirable is that, if there is plenty of room on the surface, a large, heavy, or cumbersome piece of rolling stock can be placed on the surface without the need to simultaneously feed

Design principles The heading of this section could be “How it works,” and you may think that how it works is obvious. Surely a rerailer is just a funnel for train components, used to load them onto the end of a track? The rerailer is symmetrical about the center of the track; you just line up the item to be loaded and push. These statements contain a lot of truth. However, if you think about carrying a heavy locomotive or large passenger car, you are probably holding it by the ends with your hands and carrying the item across your body. When you get to the rerailer and put it down, you are facing the side of the track, not the end. Thus, lining up something heavy or awkward is not always easy. It is the details that matter, and the design principles presented here assume that things will be awkward. They address each task in turn. The resultant design asymmetry of the rerailer can be seen in the photo. My experiences with that rerailer strongly tended to support the features of this approach. The requirements for the design emerged from the consideration of what happens and what is desirable, when a person is walking from the storage shed, car, or back door to the rerailer, carrying something long and heavy, then trying to load it onto the siding. • A large, flat surface at rerailer level is highly desirable. This surface should be longer than the longest item of rolling stock to be loaded and wide enough to obviate concern that something may fall off the side. From a functional point of view, this “table” can be neither too long nor too deep, as long as the track is close enough to the front edge of the surface that it can be easily reached. • Next comes lining up the rolling stock up with the track. A good way to do this is to provide a fence on the rerailer baseboard that is high enough to catch on the wheel rims when the stock is resting

To mainline

One train length

Rerailer

1. Rerailer placed at the end of a dedicated siding Steaming bay

To mainline

Rerailer

2. When combined with a steaming bay, the rerailer comes second To mainline

Steaming bay Rerailer 3. Steaming bay and rerailers each have their own siding

Figure 1—Siting possibilities for rerailer on its flanges. The stock can be pushed sideways against the fence along its length so that all of the wheels, including swiveling-truck wheels, are lined up. In practice, this lining up is not necessarily completed prior to the next step but the fence is there to do the lining up as the stock is moved toward the siding track. The fence in the photo can be seen on the far side of the baseboard, extending from the feed end of the baseboard (lower right) to a point a little short of the far rail of the steam-upbay track. This gap avoids pinching wheels across their width during the transition from rerailer to track. • When the rolling stock is close to the siding track, axle alignment is handled by the familiar A-shaped guide that registers on the inside surfaces of the wheels. This A-guide can extend into the track but at no point can it be wider than the minimum back-to-back dimension for the wheel-gauge standard (40mm or 1.574"). (Note: The dimensions are from The Gauge One Model Railway Association [G1MRA—http://www.g1mra.com/ resources-links/standard-guidance], as are others used in this text.) In the photo, since the track is dual gauge,

the wide-gauge A-guide has a clearance slot for the narrower gauge. • The wheels should be lowered onto the track so that the weight of the stock is transferred from the flanges to the treads of the wheels. In the picture, the rerailer baseboard rests on, but is not part of, the steamup-bay track. The steamup-bay track is made of steel bar, which also forms the load-bearing structure of the bay. The separation of the rerailer baseboard and the steamup-bay rail necessitated small ramps in the baseboard material to effect the lowering. (These ramps are in the picture but are difficult to see.)

A conceptual design Figures 2 and 3 are conceptual sketches of a rerailer conforming to the above design principles. Figure 1 is a general arrangement of what is described; figure 2 shows more detail of the key parts. The most obvious feature of figure 1 is the large apron on the baseboard, onto which the rolling stock is placed prior to loading it into the rerailer. As already indicated: the larger, heavier, or more cumbersome the stock, the more important is this apron space in the baseboard. Fence

Siding

D

the rolling stock into the rerailer and support it by hand. Nice-to-have features include lots of elbow room and an elevated rerailer to minimize bending over. These, of course, can sometimes be difficult to arrange and depend on the terrain of the garden and the elevation of the railway.

Rail joiner

Baseboard

L

Figure 2—Rerailer general arrangement www.GardenRailways.com

31

A C

rerailer could be made of wood, for example; although a wood rerailer may not last as long outdoors.

B

G

W

Potential problems

A-guide

R

V

Figure 3—Rerailer detail

The apron length (L) should be greater than the overall length of the longest stock item to be loaded. The apron depth (D) should be large enough that precise placement is not required. Thus, for gauge 1, this apron easily can exceed three feet in length and one foot in depth. The length of the A-guide (dimension A) controls its taper. For gauge 1, and for a complete A-guide as shown, “A” is around 8". Since the taper is shallow, it works in a similar manner to the fence by straightening the alignment of each wheelset. The point of the taper can be chopped off and/or the taper can be made less shallow, both of which will shorten the overall length of the A-guide. At the track end, the A-guide should be filed, machined, or otherwise fitted, so that its width is just less than the minimum back-to-back dimension for the gauge for gauge 1. This width is shown as dimension “B” in figure 2. “G” is the track gauge between the rails: 44.5-45mm (1.752"-1.772") for gauge 1. The rails and the rerailer must have the same centerline (dimensions “G” and “B”). These sizes and their alignment are the only areas that require precision in the rerailer assembly. “W” is wheel-width clearance between the A-guide and the fence—6mm (0.236") for gauge 1. However, this dimension is not critical, since dimension “C” also provides clearance. “C” should be 1"-2" for gauge 1. “V” is overlap between the A-guide and the start of the track. This ensures a proper transition from one to the other. However, this overlap is also not crucial,

32

Garden Railways | December 2015

as long as everything else is correct; so the overlap should be 0-6mm (0-0.25") for gauge 1. “R” is the length of a ramp in the baseboard, extending from the start of the rails to the end of the rerailer baseboard. This ramp provides a smooth let-down from the stock resting on its wheel flanges to resting with the wheel treads on the rails. “R” is 2-3" for gauge 1.

Making it This rerailer design is flexible—almost everything can be done in a way that is convenient rather than accurate. As already indicated, the only crucial part is ensuring that the transition onto the rails works well. Even there, the vertical transition does not really need the ramp over dimension “R,” as shown in the conceptual design. The wheel-flange depth for gauge 1 is a maximum of 2mm (0.079") for unsprung wheels, and 1.5mm (0.060") for sprung wheels. This means that, if the rail over the length of dimension “R” is 1-1.25mm (0.040-0.050") above the baseboard, then the drop at the end of the baseboard onto the rails is trivial, at most 1mm (0.040"). Fitting and filing can reduce even that. On the rerailer in the photo, the baseboard is steel, while the fence and the A-guide are made from ½" x ⅛" aluminium strip (okay for gauge 1). These are held together by countersunk stainless-steel screws with washers and nuts on the back. The unit is supported by sturdy 1" x ⅛" steel strip and ½"-square tube. The whole thing was painted with a spray can. Any of these things can be varied; the whole

I used the rerailer in the picture for rolling stock, live-steam locomotives, and medium size, battery powered, diesel-outline locomotives. I see two things to address for wider use. The first is fairly obvious: if there is track power, then care must be taken not to create an electrical short between, for example, a metal baseboard and the track. However, the second potential difficulty is a little more problematic: the wheels on an electrically powered locomotive generally do not roll when the engine is pushed. Furthermore, pushing an engine puts a lot of load on the locomotive’s transmission. In this regard, a wood baseboard, because of higher friction, may be considerably worse than metal. I do not have a good solution to this problem. My battery-powered locomotives are light enough that I could relieve the weight on the wheels when feeding the locomotive down the rerailer. It seems that the conclusion must be that the table should be fairly slippery. The table should also be hard so that wheel flanges do not dig in. That probably means that metal is best. Unpainted stainless steel comes to mind, as does a hard, “greasy” plastic.

Conclusion I hope that this article has been of interest. I have tried to raise issues that should be given thought when building a rerailer. There are many ways to do it and just as many little traps. Above all, it is important to try to avoid the kind of position in which I found myself—that is, building something that was almost really good, but which was flawed simply because I did not think through all the details—I put the rerailer in the wrong place on my railway.

Online extras Subscribers can download a bonus article on building a different rerailer, originally published in the October 2010 issue. Visit www. GardenRailways.com and type “rerailer” in the search box.

Adding a new divisi The Fairmont Division of the Crystal Springs RR by Jack Verducci | San Mateo, California | 34

Garden Railways | December 2015

PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR

1. The mainline in this area is basically a balloon loop. Trains arrive going east or west and depart going west or east, respectively. Center, a clump of dwarf Japanese garden juniper sprawls out in a field of Elfin thyme.

on to an old favorite www.GardenRailways.com

35

To the backyard

T

he Crystal Springs Railroad (CSRR) began life in 1988. It was far enough along to be open for the 5th National Garden Railway Convention (NGRC) in 1989, the first NGRC to be held outside of Colorado. I have had the pleasure of being open for each of the three NGRCs held in Northern California since then and I also plan to be open for the 37th NGRC in 2016. Over the years I have made several changes to my line. One major change was made in 2013, when I raised my lower backyard area 12 inches to reduce the grade encountered when climbing from the lower yard to the middle yard. In doing so I had to remove all of the structures and rebuild the town of Fog Harbor, located in that area. As sometimes happens when you are dealing with grades, what you do in one place often affects another. This was the case for me. By raising the lower yard I also had to raise part of my town of San Mateo, which meant removing all of those buildings as well. However, this worked out for the good. Although I named the town San Mateo after the town where we live, none of the buildings had been based on San Mateo prototypes. I took this opportunity to build all new structures for this area, this time based on structures that would have been around San Mateo in the 1930s.

The Fairmont Division of the Crystal Springs Railroad Crystal Springs RR (common carrier) Trestle Live-steam servicing area 8 Camera angle and photo number

1. Pacific Coast Wood Products 2. Water tower 3. Fairmont station 4. Freight house 5. Barber shop 6. Post office 7. Kelley’s 8. Railroad Café 9. Hotel Sherri 10. Ducci Girls Soda Fountain 11. Effie’s Greek Bakery 12. New Era Grocery 13. Fairmont Mining Company 14. Cabins 15. Section house

1

2

4 5

3

6 7

Fairmont

8 9

12 11 10 13

14 15

The concept

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Garden Railways | December 2015

N MARC HOROVITZ

My goal and theme are to create a miniature railroad and transportation system using real dirt, real plants, and real steam locomotives, and to also operate it like a real railroad. This means transporting and delivering goods, which involves switching and making up trains. In the backyard area, I have a lumber operation and a stamp mill, among other industries. To give the railroad purpose, products are shipped to and from these industries. Logs are sawn into lumber, which, among other destinations, can be shipped to the Pacific Coast Wood Products Company, located in Fairmont. Finished products made here include furniture, crates, barrels, wood trim, and more. These goods can then be shipped out to a number of destinations on the line. Also located in Fairmont is the Fairmont Mining Company, which ships ore to be concentrated at Pacific Mills, located on the hillside

between the lower backyard and the middle yard.

Fairmont operations The Fairmont area has been in place since 1992 but, until recently, there was no town. It had always been in the back of my mind to someday develop this area, and that day came this year. Looking at

the trackplan, you’ll see that Fairmont is located in the front yard so, when a train heads out there, it’s out of sight of backyard operators and gone for a while. I especially enjoy this feature, as it adds to the illusion of the train traveling to a distant destination. The trackplan offers a lot of switching and operation potential. Cars can be spotted at the mine tipple, the

2. An overall view of the railway station and yard, with the town of Fairmont in the background. There are five industrial sidings at Fairmont, as well as a passing siding. Pruned into skinny trees, dwarf Alberta spruces line both sides of the street.

The Fairmont Division at a glance Name: Fairmont Division of the Crystal Springs Railroad Size: 23' x 35' Scale: Trains, 1:20.3; bldgs., 1:24 Gauge: 45mm Era: 1939 Theme: A transportation system that serves logging/lumber, mining, and other industries Age: Fairmont Div. added in 1992 Motive power: Live steam Length of mainline through Fairmont: 103' (does not include the run along side the house) Maximum gradient: Less than 2% Type of track: LGB flex track and Sunset Valley turnouts Minimum radius: 7' Structures: Scratchbuilt Control system: Radio-controlled locomotives, hand-thrown turnouts

Plants on the Fairmont Division San Mateo, California | USDA Hardiness Zone 10a USED FOR MINIATURE TALL TREES Andy’s Atlantic white cedar

Chamaecyparis thyoides ‘Andelyensis’

Little Jamie Atlantic white cedar

Chamaecyparis thyoides ‘Little Jamie’

Meth Dwarf Atlantic white cedar

Chamaecyparis thyoides ‘Meth Dwarf’

Okinawa holly

Ilex dimorphylla USED FOR THICK GROUNDCOVER Dwarf Japanese garden juniper

Juniperus procumbens ‘Nana’ USED FOR LOW-GROWING GROUNDCOVER Baby tears (seasonal)

Top Point Atlantic white cedar

Soleirolia soleirolii

Chamaecyparis thyoides ‘Top Point’

Woolly thyme

Dwarf Alberta spruce

Thymus pseudolanuginosus

Picea glauca ‘Conica’

Elfin thyme

Thymus serpyllum ‘Elfin’ USED AS SMALL TREES Dwarf golden Hinoki cypress

Various small sedums and succulents

Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana Lutea’ Thyme-leaf rockspray

Cotoneaster microphylla ‘Thymifolia’

www.GardenRailways.com

37

warehouse, or Pacific Coast Wood Products Company. When we operate the railroad, we can actually do loads in and empties out. I have made up several flatcar loads that can be delivered to a site and unloaded. For example, a load of lumber can be dropped off at the Pacific Coast Wood Products Company siding Nº 1, while a load of finished products can be picked up from siding Nº 2. The breakdown in realism occurs once the lumber is dropped off, as it just sits there—a factory would not be shipping lumber (its raw material) out. I have someone discreetly pick up the lumber by hand and bring it back to the sawmill. With goods such as machinery, the loads-and-empties issue is not such a problem, since a machine can be shipped in or out and not be out of the ordinary. For example, Pacific Coast Wood Products Company could receive a new head rig or planing machine or it could ship one out for rebuilding, or a stationary power plant could be shipped out to Brown’s Machine shop for repair.

Steam power The railroad now has a couple of firstgeneration diesel switchers, which are battery powered. However, most of my railroad is operated with radio controlled, live-steam locomotives. I enjoy the challenge of running a live-steam railroad in a realistic environment. In earlier articles I have written about building an operator’s pit, where one can be at the same level as the locomotive. Since I could not raise the railroad there, I lowered the operator. At

Resources Realistic train operations, April, June, August, October 2006 GR The Crystal Springs Railroad, June 2005 GR Concrete arch bridges and operator pits, October 2000 GR Building Structures For Your Garden Railway book (#12457) To order, call 800-533-6644 or visit KalmbachHobbyStore.com/gardenrailroading

38

Garden Railways | December 2015

3. Pacific Coast Wood Products is a busy manufacturing concern. Lumber is delivered on track 1, while finished products are shipped out from track 2. A crew is busy crating up a load of furniture to be shipped out to Fog Harbor. Dwarf mondo grass grows in front of the fence.

4. The local barber shop is no ordinary clip joint—the barber also practices painless dentistry. Mainly, though, this is just a place where men hang out.

Detail modules Anyone who has hosted more than one open house will know that a lot of work is entailed, setting up and taking down little vignettes. Something that I have done over the years is to create detail modules. These are prearranged set pieces that can be placed on the railroad in a certain spot or, in some cases, anywhere on the line. These can be removed in one piece or as a group. For example, the icedelivery truck is a detail module. The delivery man and customer are stored with the truck in their own box. The gas pump and produce stand at the general store comprise another detail module. The gas pump has a small brass rod in the base that fits into a hole in the boardwalk. All of my buildings stay outside year round but I bring in the details parts.

5. Hotel Sherri accommodates travelers as well as local miners. A room is $1.00 per night. Not every place in Fairmont has a refrigerator, so the ice man makes deliveries every day to the Railroad Café, conveniently located next to the hotel so that guests can walk next door for good eats. The cafe also serves passengers on the CSRR when the train stops for a mealtime break. www.GardenRailways.com

39

6. A passenger train rounds the loop on the Crystal Springs Railroad as it approaches the town of Fairmont. Elfin thyme blooms on either side of the area in front of the engine.

7. The New Era Grocery specializes in groceries but also sells Red Crown Gasoline, the fuel that powered the Spirit of St. Louis on Charles Lindberg’s flight across the Atlantic.

40

Garden Railways | December 2015

8. Ducci Girls Soda Fountain receives a supply of milk and cream from the San Mateo Dairy, ingredients for their special shakes and sundaes. The main office and bottling plant for the San Mateo Dairy are located in San Mateo, in the backyard.

An update on a building technique Long-time GR readers may recall seeing some of the buildings shown here in my 1994-1995 series on building outdoor structures. These structures were made of resin. I made a master part, then a mold. The walls, roofs, and miscellaneous parts were then cast in resin. These buildings have held up well— some are over 20 years old. The large components, such as walls and roofs, hold up especially well. However, in some cases, resin will warp because the part is too thin or was made of a poor mixture.

The stuff I use is mixed 50/50, part A to part B. If you are off too much one way or the other with the resin mix, you could end up with a soft or brittle part. I also learned to use reinforcing pieces to prevent warping from the weather. Thin items, such as window mullions, do not do as well. It is much better to make window mullions and trim parts out of other plastic, such as styrene, acrylic, or ABS. I have upgraded my windows using laser-cut plastic. This will be the subject of a future article on making things using a laser cutter.

Fairmont, I don’t have a pit but I do have a place that functions as a locomotive-service area. The railroad is raised about 18" on a filled area, which is just high enough to allow one to service an engine in relative comfort by sitting on my neighbor’s retaining wall and reaching over to the locomotive being serviced.

About the town The time period I am depicting in Fairmont is 1939-1940ish. Fairmont is an isolated community that is a little behind the times, so I am using older vehicles but ones that would have still been in use during this time period. Like most little towns of the day, Fairmont grew up around the railway station. The town is geared to serve residents and travelers alike. Fairmont is a rest stop for passengers, who can eat at the Railroad Café or have a drink at Kelley’s or an icecream soda at the Ducci Girls’ soda fountain. Other services include a barber shop, where you can get a haircut and shave or a tooth pulled. Travelers can also spend the night at Hotel Sherri, the best $1-a-night accommodations in Fairmont. Verducci Brothers Hardware specializes in mining equipment, new or used, to rent or buy. The New Era Grocery is the general store. Effie’s Greek Bakery specializes in breads and pastries. Effie bakes for counter service and also does a wholesale business shipping bread and baked goods to market on the CSRR.

9. Verducci Bros. Hardware deals in equipment, new and used. Their storage lot is well stocked with equipment for mining, logging, and other industrial needs. They also sell other hardware items and fixtures, such as wash basins, toilets, and tubs.

Conclusion Fairmont is now fully operational. I have been recruiting engineers for the upcoming NGRC in 2016. Over the years I have compiled enough written material to make a booklet about operations on the Crystal Springs Railroad. This makes training new engineers a little easier.

10. There is a raised area near the Fairmont station that functions well as a locomotive servicing area. Here, the author’s granddaughter Carmella Rose, age 10, fuels her locomotive. www.GardenRailways.com

41

BEGINNER PROJECT

The author’s modified village furniture store adjacent to two closely related buildings.

Kitbashing Piko’s village furniture shop A simple conversion produces a more interesting structure by Don McClure | Lindstrom, Minnesota |

P

iko’s Qwik Kits assemble quickly and easily, may be disassembled just as quickly and easily for storage, and are durable for use outdoors. I ended up with three different kits that shared an almost-identical false front, which I found boring. Moreover, I wanted to add a one story, shed-roof building to the one-and-a-half and twostory buildings on my early 1900s main street. Here’s how I did it.

42

Garden Railways | December 2015

PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR

After some planning and taking a few measurements, I removed the window from the second story of the front of the building (it’s glued in but mine pushed out easily) and made the saw cuts indicated in photo 1. I used a bandsaw for all my cuts, then gently smoothed the cut surfaces with a belt sander. To hide the joint, I cut the bottom section just above the line where there was a joint in the simulated lap siding; I cut the upper section just

1. The front of the original building with saw cuts indicated.

below the first piece of lap siding. Then I sanded the two cut edges to produce a good fit. I glued the bottom front section to the third section up from the bottom to form my new front. The new front is shown in photo 2. The tiny gap in the photo is invisible from 10 feet away.

4. The opposite side, after cutting. A notch (red arrow) has been cut in the upper front corner. The back of the structure was also cut to the 3¾" height. 2. The rebuilt building front.

3. One side of the building before cutting. Painter’s tape marks the cut line.

The sides came next. If you use my dimensions, the front edges are 5⅜" high and the back edges are 3¾" high (photo 3). Note the notch cut in the upper front corner (photo 4) to accommodate the interlocking corners in the now-shortened front section of the structure. I made a new roof from an airline snack tray I picked up for next to nothing at a surplus store. It’s gray, with a textured surface, and I left it unfinished. A sheet of styrene or ABS could also work, with your choice of finish. My roof measures 8¼" x 5¾" x 3⁄32" thick. With the building upside down, resting on the roof, I glued three pieces of scrap plastic to the underside of the roof to keep it from sliding off the walls when right-side up (photo 5). One piece contacts the rear wall, while the other two pieces touch the side walls near the front. The chimney that came in the kit was adapted by cutting off its base at an angle to match the pitch of the new roof. I glued it to the roof at what I thought was an appropriate location (photo 6). To add a little interest to the now-bare rear wall, I added a door frame using

5. Three pieces of scrap plastic were glued to the underside of the roof to prevent it from sliding off. 6. The original chimney was modified and placed appropriately on the roof. A door was simulated on the rear wall using trim strips cut from unused parts of the structure.

7. A view of the finished one-story building.

strips of colored trim cut from the corners of the nowunused front section (photo 6). I made the door opening a scale 30" wide, but cheated on the height at 60". I located the door-frame pieces so that the inside edges just hid the molded-in, simulated vertical board joints in the rear wall section. The door opening is four boards wide. I sized the lintel to slightly overhang the vertical door trim. A round pin head was added

for a door knob. If you do this conversion the way I did, you will end up with two extra windows. Another choice for the rear wall would have been to add one or both windows rather than the door. I plan to add an outhouse in the rear, so the door made more sense. Photo 7 shows a front-quarter view of the finished store. This was an easy conversion and I was delighted with the effect on my main street, which is modeled after Oak Street in Frederic, Wisconsin. www.GardenRailways.com

43

ADVANCED PROJECT

The Southern Railway heavily modified its fleet of F3 locomotives. The author describes how he made the same modifications to his model.

Modifying a USA Trains F3 Prototype research results in a more accurate model by Gavin Smart | Kilmore, Scotland |

F

ollowing my previous article on detailing a GP18 diesel (GR, December 2014 and February 2015), I wanted to share my latest locomotive project. I recently completed an F3A dual-service unit in the Southern Railway’s famous tuxedo paint scheme and I felt that many of the techniques I used could provide some inspiration as well as build upon those I described in the previous two articles. This kitbash follows many of the same principles and

44

Garden Railways | December 2015

PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR EXCEPT WHERE NOTED

techniques mentioned before, so I will skip over many details, such as the truck frames, and, instead, focus on the body work and other pieces that were different on this particular locomotive. Instead of trading in their F3 fleet, the Southern Railway upgraded these engines using EMD parts, bringing them up to the same standard as the later F7 model. These dual-service passenger-and-freight units also featured a lot of extra modifications (photo 1).

The first job was to remove the side skirts from this locomotive. The fuel tank was fattened out using thick styrene sheet, gently warmed with a hair dryer to make it pliable, before it was bent around the existing tank and cut to shape. The fuel filler cap and other details were saved, and were attached to the finished tank, following prototype photos for their correct locations (photo 2). Another large job was removing the original sand hatches, then filling and

2. The enlarged fuel tank with prototypically placed fuel filler cap and other details.

1. Southern Railway’s Nº 6706 arrives in Washington DC with a mail train, probably in the late 1960s. The upgraded F3 has some unusual features described in the article. —Photo: Jim Shaw, Southern Railway Historical Association collection

sanding these areas smooth. New, recessed, round fillers were drilled in the body. These were completed using the filler caps saved from the originals (photo 3). Having removed all the lettering using automotive body wax (as previously described), I began the details on the roof. The first major modification was the installation of a 48" cap top, dynamicbrake fan, again sourced from USA Trains. On the prototype, this piece was added as a complete drop-in section in the roof, so this area was carefully marked and cut out to reflect this. I used a piece of 3mm styrene to mount the fan, cutting a hole in the middle (photo 4) using an Olfa circle cutter. The fan was secured to the styrene using two-part epoxy. This whole piece was then secured in place on the locomotive in the same way (photo 5). The area was finally sanded smooth and any joints were filled with putty. I replaced any detail lost during sanding with Tichy Train 0.03" rivets. The air tanks on the prototype were relocated from the beneath the locomotive to the roof to provide room for the larger fuel and water tanks, in this case to supply the steam boiler for passengerservice duties. I made this detail using air-tank pieces sourced from a USA Trains GP7 model. I cut and separated these into four individual tanks; extra

3. New recessed round sand fillers were drilled in the body, then completed using filler caps saved from the originals.

4. A piece of styrene was prepared for the fan, the hole being cut using an Olfa circle cutter.

5. The new base pieces were faired into the body and the fan glued in place.

6. Air tanks were made out of tanks from a USA Trains GP7.

7. New piping was made from brass tubing and styrene pieces.

details were removed and sanded smooth. I drilled 1.5mm holes in each end for the new piping. Underneath, the tanks were drilled and pinned using brass rod, then mounted to the locomotive with CA cement, carefully following prototype photos for their correct position.

The rest of the piping detail around the roof was completed using 1.5mm brass rod and small pieces of round and hexagonal styrene rod to represent the fittings. The small straps across each tank were made from 0.56 x 3.43mm strip styrene, cut to size and gently bent over each www.GardenRailways.com

45

8. The shapes of the side grill openings were modified and rivet detail added.

tank. They were secured with a small drop of CA and finished off with a 0.03" Tichy Train rivet (photos 6 and 7). Another area that required work was the side grills. Thin pieces of styrene were used to represent areas that were blanked out. The extra detail around the edges was completed with 0.28 x 2.84mm strip styrene and 0.03" Tichy Train rivets, all secured with CA (photo 8). The remaining bodywork was focused around the nose of the locomotive. The original headlight was removed and the hole was gently enlarged using a stepped drill bit. I used a twin-beam headlight reflector casting from Ozark Miniatures, with two warm white, 5mm LEDs. This assembly was first painted, then mounted in the locomotive using hot-melt glue applied from the rear. The front was finished off with a Mini Maglite reflector lens (AAA size), attached with Airfix clear adhesive, which is perfect for glazing, as it dries completely clear and will not damage or taint the plastic. The dried hot-melt glue inside was painted flat black to prevent any light traveling back into the body of the locomotive. Extra grab irons were added to the engineer’s side of the cab, along with a small step plate made from 2mm L-angle styrene. The original USA Trains front glazing was removed and two new windshield pieces were made from 0.4mm

Online extras Subscribers can download a PDF on converting Aristo-Craft Alcos to dummy units, previously published in the August 2011 issue. Visit www.GardenRailways.com and type the author name “Yukio Nakagawa” in the search box.

46

Garden Railways | December 2015

10. A Nathan M5 air horn and a firecracker radio antenna were added to the roof.

9. New windshield “glass” with wiper paths replaced that which was originally supplied.

clear Evergreen styrene, using the old pieces as templates. These were made fractionally larger and were carefully sanded to an exact fit. They were fixed in place as before, with Airfix clear adhesive. The last piece added to the nose was a thin piece of styrene to represent the cover on the MU connector (photo 9). Extra details were added around the pilot beam, with a line of 0.05" Tichy rivets around the top and new brake and MU hoses below. The hoses were made in the same manner as described in my previous article, using single-core cable and brake-hose pieces sourced from USA Trains. New air hoses were also added at the rear. The final details included the addition of a Nathan M5 air horn from Ozark Miniatures, a firecracker radio antenna from USA Trains (photo 10), and a small piece of styrene toward the rear to simulate the fillers for the water tank. With all of the detail work finished, the locomotive was masked and sprayed with Revell silk matte black. Once dry, the striping was masked and hand painted with Revell metallic gold. The engine was given a few coats of Revell gloss varnish, then was carefully lettered using decals from Stan Cedarleaf. Number-board decals were made using clear letters and black background, applied over the clear plastic USA Trains number boards, to simulate the old-time look of the prototype, with the light shin-

11. Rear-view mirrors were made from styrene, brass rod, and aluminum foil to simulate the mirror surface.

ing through the spaces between the letters. This was augmented with a 5mm warm-white LED mounted behind each board, allowing for separate control using DCC. A couple of light coats of Revell matte varnish helped to seal in all the decals before the locomotive was weathered as previously described, using weathering powders from Bragdon Enterprises. One thing I decided to do differently on this locomotive was to apply small semi-circular masks over the windshields during the weathering process so that, once they were removed, they would represent the areas that would have been kept clean by the sweep of the windshield-wiper blades (photo 9). Looking back over the photos one final time, I realized that I had, in fact, missed the back-up mirrors on each side of the cab! These were easily fabricated from styrene, brass rod, and a little piece of kitchen foil to simulate the mirror surface (photo 11) I hope this has provided some inspiration and ideas for your own detailing projects. As before, please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have any questions or ideas at [email protected], or find me on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ somervillerailway

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BEGINNER PROJECT

An N-scale F garden railway Building a downsized railway in a flower pot by Paul Smith | Lincoln, Maine |

PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR

When confronted with lack of space for a traditional garden railway, the author took matters into his own hands. This N-scale line in a large flower pot was the result.

1. A “pot filler” was used to decrease the volume of the pot. Broken concrete was added for ballast.

48

Garden Railways | December 2015

ollowing my retirement in January of 2014, my wife Brenda and I bought a small home in an RV/ manufactured-home park in Fort Myers, Florida, which was set up condominium style. Our lawn is only about 10' wide by 35' long, of which, according to park regulations, we can develop only a 4' wide strip into a garden. Since Brenda is an avid gardener, she got first dibs on the space. I really missed working on my garden railway back in Maine, as well as my small, N scale, coffee-table layout and my HO layout in my basement. After some thought about how I could manage some model railroading at our winter residence (there was also no room inside our 700 square-foot home), I decided to try my hand at a miniature garden railway incorporating an N-scale layout in a large plant pot. I planned to use Kato Unitrack, since I had used that for my N-scale layout at home with great success. A quick e-mail to Nancy Norris confirmed that the nickelsilver track would be suitable outdoors. I made a trip to the local Lowe’s and found a nice, deep plastic pot with a diameter of 21" for $24. I drilled some drainage holes in the bottom, as well as a hole for a power supply wire from an MRC Railpower 1300 power pack. To ensure good drainage, I inserted an UpsA-Daisy (ups-a-daisy.com) pot filler (photo 1), which elevated the interior of the pot about 6". I also placed several pieces of broken concrete paver in the bottom of the pot for ballast. I used the Kato-supplied terminal Unijoiner and fed the extension cord up through the bottom of the pot, to be connected near the track at the surface. I then filled the pot with good-quality potting soil. Since we would be spending the summer months back in Maine, I wanted lowmaintenance miniature plants that would have a good chance of surviving in our absence. Lowe’s had a broad selection of succulents including (from left to right in photo 2) Rubrotunctum ‘Mini’, Cremnosedum ‘Little gem’, Crassula lycopodioides (watch chain), and Portulacaria afra ‘Variegate’. Photo 2 also shows the 8.5"-radius

3. Asparagus ferns are an experiment. Because of their low cost, if they don’t survive, little is lost.

2. A variety of low-maintenance plants from Lowe’s was used to populate the garden.

Kato Unitrack, which I later mounted on a ring of ½"-thick Dow Styrofoam (closed cell), with a dab of silicone caulk under the center of each track segment. The foam keeps the track rigid and, if I decide to disconnect the track from the power supply during the six months we are not here, I can easily store it away without risk of damage. At the garden center where I purchased the Ups-A-Daisy and potting soil, I also found some tiny asparagus ferns about 3" high (photo 3) as well as a Selaginella (spikemoss) and two nice pieces of Tennessee fieldstone for the center of the pot, which provide a view block for the train. I planted the spike moss on the summit of these two rocks. At Nancy Norris’ recommendation, to keep the asparagus ferns as small as possible for as long as possible, I trimmed the small container pots that they came in flush with the top of the potting soil to restrict growth. If they die by next season, at $1.49 each, they would be inexpensive replacements. The coupling from the track connector to the Kato wiring extension was made just under the surface of the rock ballast, next to the track, to make it easy to disconnect the track at a later date for storage (photo 4). I used a dab of dielectric grease on the connection to help keep out moisture. I also used the grease on the track connections. I wrapped the powercord connection with electrical tape for additional protection. After setting the track in place, I inserted the plants (no shovel needed here, just a finger). Using spade connec-

tors for a quick disconnect, I connected the Kato power cord to a low voltage, outdoor-rated wire from the power pack. I later built a laser-kit speeder shed from Monroe Models and placed it between the center rock and the track to provide a point of interest and to maintain a proper scale and perspective. After collecting the materials, the project took just one day to build. The next day I went to a local hobby shop to buy a Bachmann NW-2 locomotive and some rolling stock. Small switch engines and cars no longer than 40' look best on the small-radius track. The total cost for plants was about $40, while the track was the least expensive item, at about $18. The power pack was $47, the locomotive cost $129, and the

4. The track can be easily disconnected from its power source. Wires can be hidden by ballast.

rolling stock was another $40 or so. The large rocks were just $3.23 and the Ups-ADaisy was $14.99. Most of the smaller rocks were lying on the ground and were donated by the nursery but I mixed in some Woodland Scenics Talus for some even smaller variety. The finished railway can be seen in photo 5. The train runs beautifully but, on a windy day, the rolling stock blows off the track much more easily than my largescale stuff!

5. Track is supported by a styrofoam ring. The large stone in the center provides a view block. This railway proves that lack of space is not an excuse for nonparticipation in the hobby. www.GardenRailways.com

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MINISCAPING

A modified bonsai technique for miniaturizing trees

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y railroad needed more deciduous trees—plants that not only looked like trees but behaved like trees. Their bark should thicken and get rougher as they age. Their leaves should show color other than green in the fall. Their branches should be bare in the winter, revealing a tree-like skeletal structure. Their new growth in the spring should bud out vivid green or another fresh color. And, of course, they should be scale-appropriate for my garden railroad. There are naturally occurring miniature deciduous trees (small Japanese maples, Chinese elms, small birch trees, and dwarf mulberry, among others) that I described in the October 2011 GR. Some of these can be pricey, some are very slow growing, and others are hard to find. I wanted something cheap and easy that would still look good. So about 17 years ago I started experimenting with a modified bonsai technique to miniaturize Washington hawthorn trees (Crataegus phaenopyrum, Zones 4-8). This has worked remarkably well, producing decent looking trees in three to five years (photos 1 and 2). They mature nicely while being kept small, their roots confined in pots sunk in the ground. I have several trees up to 15 years old and have lost only one. Why did I choose Washington hawthorns (which, by the way, can grow to 25-30 feet tall at maturity)? To begin with, their leaves are small, they are moderately slow growing, they have nice bark, a pleasing overall structure, and they are tough as nails. Unfortunately, they also have thorns that do not miniaturize. I figured by using gloves and being careful, that was an acceptable price to pay. The technique involves root pruning and top shaping every two years, with a light pruning of branches once or twice in the intervening year. Currently, I am trying to produce other trees in this manner, such

1. A five-to-six-year-old Washington hawthorn tree on the author’s former railroad.

as dawn redwood (photo 3), locust (photo 4), and common juniper (photo 5).

Potting a new tree Trees should be very small when you select them to grow in pots. They survive better when small, and by shaping them early in life, you can better determine their eventual structure. Trees that come bare root, such as from National Arbor

Day or little starts that you move from the wild, should be grown in a garden spot for a year or two before being potted. I use one-gallon plastic containers for most trees, graduating to two-gallon containers for some of the bigger trees. I use a soil mix of one-half good garden soil, onequarter finely ground hardwood mulch, and one-quarter course sand, fine gravel, or Perlite. www.GardenRailways.com

51

MINISCAPING

2. A potted three-to-four-year-old hawthorn growing in the Hoot ’n’ Holler railroad garden. (Note the use of double potting to aid in getting the tree out of the ground for root pruning. Also note the thorns.)

Trees that have been growing in the ground for one to two years should have their roots spade-pruned at least six months before being dug up and potted. The purpose of this is twofold: to reduce the size of the eventual root ball that I would dig and to stimulate the tree to grow new roots within this restricted area. I use a small garden spade and plunge it about 6" deep, straight down, in a circle around the tree no bigger than the diameter of a one-gallon container. I do this root pruning only after leaves have fallen from deciduous plants in the fall or before bud break in the spring. I keep the tree watered well during the summer, and six to 12 months later it will be ready to pot up, with better chances of thriving in its new confined space. Before potting, the tree may be shaped with some judicious pruning of branches. The aim is to reduce the number of main branches to two or three if they are upward reaching (photo 6), and three to five if they are outward reaching from a main trunk. Some of the smaller branches should be removed to open up the tree so that its characteristic structure can be more easily seen. Plastic plant containers have holes in the bottom for drainage (which keeps the

52

Garden Railways | December 2015

3. A dawn redwood tree recently potted. (Note the landscape fabric lining the pot.)

4. A locust tree (unknown variety) that sprouted voluntarily in the author’s vegetable garden.

5. A potted juniper (unknown variety), removed from a gravel path and grown one year in the garden before being potted.

tree from drowning). These must be covered so that roots won’t grow into the surrounding soil and defeat the effort to keep the tree small. I’ve found that two layers of landscape fabric (weed block) will allow adequate drainage and prevent roots from escaping. I place the newly dug root ball in the pot, with enough potting mix to bring the top of the root ball level with the edge of the pot. I pack the soil

firmly and put the whole container in a tub of water, letting it soak for 20-30 minutes to drive out any air pockets remaining in the soil (photo 7).

Potted-tree maintenance The potted tree can now be placed in its assigned spot on the railroad. The pot is buried up to its rim and is disguised with mulch (photo 8) or gravel (photo 5).

8. Drip irrigating a two-to-three-year-old tree during its first summer in a container.

6. A two-to-three-year-old hawthorn with three upward-reaching main branches.

Often, groundcover will grow into the pot and help to blend the tree into its surroundings (photos 1 and 8). It is important to remember that potted trees have limited means of obtaining water and nutrients. Pots should be watered regularly, especially during periods of drought. Drip irrigation is an ideal way to make sure all potted trees are provided adequate water (photo 8). Also, a cup or two of diluted water-based fertilizer (such as Miracle-Gro) should be poured into the pots every month during the early growing season, stopping application after August 1 so that the trees have time to acclimate in the fall for the coming winter.

7. Soaking a newly potted tree to remove air pockets from the soil.

Further reading Trimming and pruning, by Don Parker, October 2013 GR Reuse your garden prunings, by Nancy Norris, February 2011 GR How to prune your dwarf Alberta spruce, by Nancy Norris, December 2009 GR

9. A hawthorn tree removed from its container. Note the early leaf development.

A pruning primer, by Pat Hayward, June 2002 GR Subscribers can access these articles free at www.GardenRailways.com

Root pruning Every other year, in March or early April, I watch the trees for signs of emerging leaves. That’s the best time to pull the pots out of the ground for root pruning. It can be done later but it’s easier on the trees before the leaves are out full and it’s easier to see the branch structure when the leaves are small. I turn the pot upside down and pull the tree out (photo 9). I usually lay the tree and root ball on its side and cut (whack) through the lower third of the soil and roots (photo 10). If the landscape fabric is torn or rootlets have penetrated it, I replace it. The pot is

then filled one third with the potting mix, the tree is put back in the pot, and mix is added around the root ball and packed in. The whole pot is placed in a tub of water and soaked to drive out any air pockets. While the tree is soaking is a good time to trim the top, thinning out enough small branches to emphasize its natural shape. Trees take time to develop and this project tends to be a long-term one. However, unless you are willing to pay top dollar for ready-made scale trees, this method has a lot going for it.

10. A hawthorn tree with the lower third of its root ball removed. www.GardenRailways.com

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In praise of small locomotives

Gertrude, a 7 ⁄8" scale 0-4-0 Hunslet from Accucraft, hauls a prototypical Penryhn slate-quarry train of waste wagons. PHOTO BY THE AUTHOR

O

ften, when someone shows up at a steamup with a small livesteam locomotive (such as an 0-4-0 tank engine), it is looked down upon. Some folks seem to consider small live steamers to be “starter engines” and assume the owner hasn’t progressed yet to bigger and more complex locomotives. I do not think that the size of a locomotive should be related to the amount of enjoyment that can be obtained from the live-steam hobby. Don’t get me wrong, though—I have nothing against large locomotives. The sight of mainline 4-8-4 pulling a 14-car express passenger train is as pleasing to my eyes as the next person’s. However, I can say from personal experience that there is as much pleasure in running a small, 0-4-0 tank locomotive pulling a few industrial freight cars as there is in running a large locomotive with a train of dozens of cars. It’s worthwhile to remember that diminutive work horses like 0-4-0s and 0-6-0s were the yard switchers for most standard-gauge railroads and were as much a part of full-size railroading as large, mainline passenger and freight engines. Also, there were plenty of

narrow-gauge 0-4-0s and 0-6-0s hauling both passengers and freight on railways both here and abroad, on gauges ranging from 15" to 42". Besides the obvious lower cost, a small locomotive is often easier to run and is quicker to raise steam. It is just the thing when you want to run an engine at a moment’s notice. Along with a short train, it takes up less room when being transported to a steamup. I am continually amazed at the haulage capability of most small, commercially-available live steamers today. It often exceeds that of the prototype! Larger locomotives will need more space to run; in particular, wider-radius curves. The radius of curves is usually dictated by the space available for a garden railway. Smaller locomotives are better suited to smaller garden railways and actually look better in those settings. For example, my tiny garden railway has 42"-radius curves and am I quite content running small engines with appropriately short trains. Some live-steam manufacturers have commented that building models of small prototypes is more difficult than building

larger locomotives. Cramming all the bits and pieces that a live steamer requires into a small place can be challenging. Nevertheless, there are a number of small freelance and scale model engines on the market in a variety of scales. Freelance examples include Accucraft’s Dora and Ruby, Regner’s Kondrad and Willi, as well as Sammie and Bertie locomotives from Roundhouse Engineering. With the rise in popularity of ⅞" scale (1:13.7), smaller narrow-gauge locomotives can be had in a larger size, perhaps lessening some of the manufacturers’ concerns over available space for fittings. In some ways, this is a good compromise. The engines are large enough to accommodate all the fittings required (including space for finger access!) and small enough to go around most tight-radius garden railways. Even in ⅞" scale, a small industrial locomotive and prototypical train of a few wagons can negotiate the smallest garden railway and still be easily packed up for transport to steamups. And as for the amount of the fun being had when running a small steamer, you can judge that from the smile on the face of the engineer. www.GardenRailways.com

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gh. December again already ? If you’re up to your knees in snow, you’re probably wondering what to do in your workshop to stay sane and get ready for spring. It will come again, I promise! As usual, Instructables has some helpful winter projects. If you have a bandsaw, you know that there are a lot of adjustments that can be made to it. If you’re like me, you have only a general idea of what they all do and how to optimize them for your work. I found this article quite helpful in getting the most out of my saw. The comments also include many good tips and techniques. Tune it up: instructables. com/id/Steps-for-Using-a-Bandsaw Making a metal railway bridge has always seemed out of my reach—I haven’t had the equipment or the time to drill all those tiny holes and insert all those tiny, expensive bolts and nuts. If only there was a way to weld the parts together! If that describes you, or you’re one of those people who can’t stand to see machines and appliances go into the landfill, you’ll love this one. You can make a spot-welder with a transformer out of an old microwave oven. Brilliant! youtu.be/vrlvqib94xQ When I saw this article about Prohibition (1920s and early ’30s), the thing that struck me in the photos was that every man wore a hat. This is not something we see modeled enough, probably because fedoras are hard to make and most commercial figures don’t have them. But there are lots of other styles that are easier to add to a hatless figure. Note the boaters (flat-brimmed with a cylindrical body) and flat caps (make one with a lump of polymer clay and a minute of fingershaping). Give ‘em hats! tinyurl.com/ ProhibHats If your railway already has all the buildings, figures, and accessories it will ever need, then you’re ready to tackle this: a steam-powered orrery (mechanical solar-system model). Even if you don’t consider building one, it’s lots of fun to just sit indoors on a wintry day and watch it work: youtu.be/nlgyXY3vPd4 Send pictures when yours is finished, OK? Stay warm, stay cheerful and keep visualizing your railroad amid the spring flowers. www.GardenRailways.com

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PRODUCT REVIEWS

Shave and a haircut

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rains running through the garden are great but it’s the buildings that add a sense of place. We buy or build structures to create towns that our railroads can serve, and those towns give our lines character. Just Plain Folk has been providing our towns with people for quite a number of years. Now they’re branching out to give those people places to live and work. The first building in this series is a barber shop, but only because it comes with a barber pole and stickers that say “Barber

VITAL STATISTICS 1:24 scale (approximately) assembled and painted barber shop Just Plain Folk 818 Lincoln Ave. Palmyra NJ 08065 Price: $79 Website: www.justplainfolkfigures.com Large scale, cast-resin structure; fully finished and painted; no interior. Dimensions: Depth, 9" (excluding front sidewalk); height, 9"; width, 7"

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Garden Railways | December 2015

Shop.” Otherwise, it’s a generic storefront with a blank sign that could serve any purpose you want it to on your railroad. The building comes assembled and painted. It’s made from spin-molded resin and is supplied as one piece. Also included is an interior floor panel, to which you can add whatever interior detail you might like, and a front sidewalk that will add about 5" to the total footprint. (You can cut this back if you don’t need that much sidewalk.) There is a large window on the front, so you can see into the building. The paint and finish look good, though the finish on the wood sidewalk is a little glossy. This is nothing a shot of matte finish couldn’t fix. My review sample had some minor warpage on the walls but this is only noticeable on close inspection. Once in the garden, the building blends in and, in

PROS and CONS PROS: Good exterior detail; good paint and finish; open bottom and removable floor allows for building interior to suit CONS: Resin thin in some spots, may allow interior lights to shine through at night (black paint inside would help this)

truth, I’ve seen prototype buildings of that era with more pronounced warping on the wall, so you can make an argument for it being prototypical. While there is no specific scale stated for this building, it’s ostensibly built to around 1:24, which is also roughly the scale of Just Plain Folks’ line of figures. At that scale, the building’s footprint measures around 14' x 18'. On one hand, that’s a pretty small building but, on the other, it’s appropriate for a small c. 1890s shop, as this is intended to represent. When I judge the scale of a building, I tend to use architectural features with which people would interact, especially doors and windows. On this building, the doors measure 3¾" tall, which is 7'6" in 1:24. I model in 1:20.3, so the door is about 6'3" tall in that scale. While this is a little short compared to a modern 6'8" door, it is prototypical for doors I’ve seen on some early buildings. As such, this building is as suitable for 1:20.3 railroads as it is for railroads built to the smaller scales (even 1:29, though the door will be noticeably tall in that scale). No interior is provided with this building but, because the floor of the building is a separate piece, you could easily build an interior on it. The windows on the front are large, so an interior would be clearly visible. I would recommend that, if you do install an interior, or at least interior lights, you paint the underside of the roof black. I noticed the resin on my roof was a bit thin in places and I could see a little light shining through. This is the result of the manufacturing technique, so it may be more pronounced on some buildings than on others. Also, if you live in an area that is prone to hail, these thin spots may pose a risk of breakage. I’d recommend applying some spray foam to the interior to give the roof more support. Overall, I think this building has a good deal of character. Just for fun, I set it across the street from one of the depots on my railroad. Just adding a single building gave the place more of a “town” feel. It’s a small structure so it won’t overpower a scene. Still, it’s large enough that, if it’s sitting by itself with some landscaping around it, it will draw the eye. —K. Strong

Sweep that track

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aking sure your track is clear of debris is a chore we all must do, whether we run track power, battery, or live steam. If there’s debris on the tracks, our trains will not run smoothly, and may even derail. There are many methods of clearing the track; I usually use an old Swiffer floor cleaner mop with a rag attached to it. Walking around your railroad, pushing a stick with a rag on it, isn’t much fun. That’s where the Rail-Kleen Track Sweeper comes in. This is a motorized sweeping head, made from aluminum, with four sheets of 400-grit sanding cloth clamped into the brush. The motor spins the brush and the sanding-cloth “flaps” do the job of sweeping the track ahead. The unit consists of the motor/brush

VITAL STATISTICS Rail-Kleen Track Sweeper Reindeer Pass 3665 NW 98th Ave. Polk City IA 50226 Price: $125.89 Website: www.reindeerpass.com Battery-powered motor and track-sweeper assembly; designed to be attached to a flatcar or other M.O.W. equipment

assembly and a mounting plate that attaches to the deck of a flatcar or other M.O.W. vehicle. The height of this assembly can be adjusted, so you can customize its position relative to the rails once the plate is mounted to the car. The motor will run off of a 14–18V battery. Our review sample just had wires attached to the motor, so I had to attach my own plug to it. Reindeer Pass offers a version with a battery plug and charger for $4 more. The whole assembly is about 4" tall, 4" wide, and 5" long. The sanding-cloth strips are clamped into the brush with 3⁄32" allen screws, and can easily be removed and replaced. (The company’s website suggests you can clamp in Scotch-Brite sanding pads if desired.) When I first got this unit for review, my Dad was visiting. He commented that he could use something like that on his railroad. As luck would have it, I would be traveling east the next month, so I figured that would be a great time to test this unit. Dad’s railroad is mostly in the woods,

PROS and CONS PROS: Easy attachment to flatcar; simple operation; robust construction; good performance CONS: May not sweep insides of tight-radius (less than 4' radius) curves due to overhang

where we’ve always had to contend with leaves, twigs, acorns, and myriad other things that fall from the trees, in addition to splashed-up ballast, slug slime, and other nasty things on the ground. He’s also got 1,000 feet of track so, if there was a railroad that would test this device, his would do it. Upon arriving at the Woodland Railway, I found a suitable gondola car on which to mount the sweeper. This was a simple matter of drilling two holes and bolting the unit onto the flatcar. After fitting a battery plug to the wires, it was time to test things. I first tried it on some sections of old LGB track that had long since tarnished, sitting in the basement. While the sweeper isn’t explicitly advertised as something to help maintain electrical conductivity, because it uses sanding cloth (and sanding cloth is abrasive), it does polish the railheads as part of normal operations. I wanted to see how it would do polishing the tarnish off the top of the rails. It didn’t take much effort at all to see some brightly polished brass, particularly on the inside edges of the railhead, which is where electrical contact is usually made anyway. Foremost, though, this is a sweeper, designed to get all the crud out of the way so you can run trains. It had been about a month since the last operating session on Dad’s railroad and the track hadn’t been cleared since that time. We had also just finished doing some trackwork, which involved reballasting a handful of sections so, in addition to the regular clutter, there was fresh ballast and dust to sweep off. I hooked up the batteries and the motor started turning. (Make sure the brush sweeps things forward.) I coupled on the locomotive and off we went. I kept speeds pretty slow, partly out of caution but partly because I wanted to give the brush time to polish the railhead as well. (Dad’s railroad is battery powered, so his track hasn’t seen a sanding block in 30 years!) Leaves and twigs flew out of the way without issue. Acorns, gumballs (the spiky seed pods, not the chewable ones), and whatever is left over from the tulippoplar-tree seed pods after the squirrels get finished with them likewise got kicked forward and ultimately out of the way. www.GardenRailways.com

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PRODUCT REVIEWS Historically, these have been responsible for many derailments on Dad’s railroad, so it was nice to see something handle them so easily. When the brush hit the newly ballasted sections of track, it kicked up a big cloud of dust and just continued on through. All in all, it was an impressive show. The track was efficiently cleared and the rails nicely polished. On my last day there, we had an earlymorning rain shower, which naturally splashed ballast up on top of the railhead. Things were still wet so I took the opportunity to see how this device did with wet ballast. Again, it performed quite well. The rails were swept clear of the ballast and I could hear no signs of dust and debris under the wheels. The sanding cloth did get wet and, when dried, curled just a bit. After multiple trips around the railroad (probably 5,000' of total running)

the grit on the very edges of the cloth had worn off. This may affect how it might polish the railhead for electrical conductivity but it certainly had no effect on how it got rid of debris. Again, the strips are easily replaced if they lose their efficacy. The brush is turned by a 2" O-ring so, if the brush encounters something that might stall it (like thick moss, an end-oftrack buffer, or large rock), it just slips on the O-ring so no damage will occur to the motor. Fair warning—this thing makes a lot of dust as it goes, so if you have a prized locomotive that you want to keep clean, don’t use it to push this car. On the other hand, this could be considered cheap and easy (and natural!) weathering. There is one thing to think about, especially if you’ve got tight curves. The brush assembly protrudes from the front of the car. As this goes around a curve, depending on how it’s mounted, the brush

may stick out so far that it doesn’t sweep the inside rail. If you’re running tightradius track, try to mount it on a car in such a way that the brush can be close to the wheels to minimize the overhang. Overall, I’m quite impressed with this unit, especially with how it handled larger twigs and other obstacles. If you’ve got a railroad that’s plagued by this kind of debris (especially leaves in the fall), I can see this track sweeper being as instrumental to operations as a snowplow in the winter. —K. Strong

Online extras For subscribers: Watch a video of this sweeper at work. Visit www. GardenRailways.com and click on “Product videos“ under “Product & hobby news.”

R/C signalling

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here’s a “cool” factor to automatic signals on a railroad. Watching a train pass a point and seeing the signal go from green to red adds a sense of realism that static signals just can’t match. Toward that end, South Bend Signals makes signals that do just that—as a train passes the signal, the light changes from green to red; after the entire train passes, the signal goes to yellow, then back to green. (These signals were reviewed in the December 2009 GR.)

VITAL STATISTICS Automatic block signals South Bend Signal Co. 2303 Creek Rd. Niles MI 49120 Price: $80 each Website: www.sbsignal.com 1:26 scale, automatic, radio controlled, operating block signals with infra-red (IR) block sensors; styrene-and-brass construction. Dimensions: Height, 10"; width, 1" (exclusive of track sensor); length, 3½" (including base)

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Garden Railways | December 2015

They worked well but could arguably be considered cosmetic, since they only indicated what was happening right next to that one signal at any given time. South Bend’s new signals up the ante a bit. In the real world, when a train is in one “block” of track, the signal controlling that block turns red, alerting any train in the previous block to stop. When that signal is red, the signal in the block before that one displays yellow, alerting any approaching train that there’s a train ahead and it needs to slow down. (If you’re the Pennsylvania Railroad, you wouldn’t use colors but horizontal,

PROS and CONS PROS: Prototypical appearance; available in different styles to match prototype practice; LEDs visible even in bright daylight CONS: Block signal shows “occupied” (red) only as long as the train is directly over sensor

diagonal, and vertical rows of lights.) South Bend’s new signals use radio transceivers to communicate with each other so that, when one signal changes, it also changes the previous signal. The signals are stated to be 1:26 scale. Not having a drawing of the specific signal South Bend is modeling, I’d say they’re in that ballpark. Our review samples stand almost 10" tall, which is 260" or about 22' in 1:26 scale—reasonable for a trackside signal. The “equipment cabinet” at the base of the signal may be oversize from a prototypical standpoint but it has to be large enough to contain the control electronics and the battery, so it couldn’t practically be any smaller. It’s not unreasonable and blends in with the scenery.

Online extras The signal is available in five different styles; you can choose the style that’s most accurate for your specific prototype (including the aforementioned PRR). Construction is sturdy and the detail is good. The LEDs are quite bright, visible in daylight without difficulty when viewed from straight on. They’re directional, though, so from angles greater than 20° to either side, it may be difficult to tell what color is showing in bright light. If that’s an issue, a little sandpaper to scuff the end of the LED will diffuse the light for better visibility. Each signal has a power switch and room for a battery inside the case. It can be powered either by a standard 9V battery or a rechargeable 3.6V NiMH battery (available from South Bend). The signal itself is weather-resistant but not weatherproof. The manufacturer recommends covering them or removing them when not in use to prevent water damage. Operationally, the signals communicate with each other via a 2.4gHz transceiver. The signals are “paired,” so that one signal talks to the previous one. Multiple signals can be daisy-chained together, so signal B talks to signal A, then signal C talks to signal B, and signal D talks to signal C and so forth. Pairing and placing the signals is covered in the instruction manual. It took me a couple tries to get the signals to pair properly but, once they did, they worked reliably. The sensor that detects the train passing the signal is a small, weatherproof affair that’s designed to be permanently attached to the track. It’s black, low profile, and fits neatly between the ties. It contains an IR emitter and receiver. As the train passes over the sensor, it reflects the IR light down to the receiver, which triggers the signal. The sensor plugs into the signal; the length of the arm puts the signal 3¼" from the center of the track, which should be adequate clearance for most models. However, if you occasionally run 1:20.3 or ⅞" scale, narrow-gauge equipment, they may bump as they pass. (Such signals were a rarity on narrowgauge lines so it’s unlikely to be an issue for anyone modeling a specific prototype and sticking to a given scale.) I placed the signals on my railroad to

see how they worked. While I don’t have specific blocks, I do have three different towns, which plausibly might have had signals controlling trains coming in and out. I set the signals up (one pair) and ran the train by them. As the train passed the first signal, the light turned from green to red. Since there is no signal “behind” the train, that’s all that happened. The signal in front of the train remained green. Once the train passed the first signal, that signal turned back to green. When the train reached the next signal, that signal turned red and sent a radio message to the first signal to change to yellow, which it did. Once the train passed the second signal, that one changed back to green, sending a signal to the first signal to likewise change to green. I will say that the communication between signals is very cool. What I didn’t like was that there was no delay built into the signals once the train cleared the sensor. As soon as the caboose cleared the signal, it turned green. In the prototype world, that signal would stay red until the train entered the next block, at which point it would change to yellow. With these model signals, the first signal is yellow only while the train is physically passing the second signal. Unless your signals are closer together than the length of your train, there will always be times when the signals are green, even though there’s a train in that block or the block ahead of it. The older-style signals from South Bend have a programmable delay so that you can set the time that elapses between changing from red to yellow. I have to wonder if something like that could be built into these signals to give the train time to travel to the next block before the signal changes from red to green. When I think of “block control,” I think in terms of long stretches of track and signals that detect a train at any point along that stretch of track. By that measure, this system is not exactly “block control.” It detects a train at a specific point on the railroad. The operation and feedback from one signal to the next is cool, but I don’t know that, as an operator I could really trust that a signal that’s showing green to mean “all clear ahead.” —K. Strong

Rerailer extra

Subscribers can download an article on building a rerailer from the August 2010 issue. Type “get your trains back on track” in the search box.

Kitbash an Alco Learn how to kitbash Aristo-Craft Alcos to dummy units in an article from the August 2011 issue. Type “convert Aristo-Craft diesels” in the search box.

Related reading Subscribers can read several articles related to the “Miniscaping” and “Greening your railway” columns. All articles will have links on the December issue table of contents page on our website. Click on “Current issue” under “Our magazine.”

www.GardenRailways.com

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PRODUCT REVIEWS

Metal freight-car trucks

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adee continues to expand its large-scale product line, this time with ready-to-run freight-car trucks in 1:29 scale. The trucks are provided in three different styles: A.S.F. Ride-Control 50-ton (#970); A.S.F. Bettendorf 50-ton (#971); and arch bar (#972). The two different A.S.F. (American Steel Foundries) trucks are similar in appearance, differing primarily in details and minor proportions. Both of these styles are provided with smooth-back wheels. The arch-bar truck, a model of a much earlier type, has “curly rib” wheel backs. Kadee’s standard wheels (reviewed in the December 2014 GR) are provided. They are cast in non-ferrous metal and scale out spot-on 33" in 1:29 scale. The wheelsets have nice, tapered axles and they turn in free-rolling plastic bearings. The wheels are insulated at their hubs, as well, and are blackened. The construction of these trucks is unlike anything I have seen before. Each

VITAL STATISTICS 1:29 scale, gauge-1 trucks Kadee Quality Products Co. 673 Avenue C White City OR 97503 Price: $49.99/pair Website: www.kadee.com 1:29 scale, gauge 1, freight-car trucks; available in three different styles (see text); mostly metal construction; unsprung, equalized; insulated axles; mounting adaptors provided for Bachmann, USA Trains, Aristo-Craft, and LGB. Dimensions: Wheel diameter at flange root, 1.140" (33" in 1:29 scale); wheelbase, 2.256" (65½" in 1:29 scale); flange depth, .125"

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Garden Railways | December 2015

side frame is cast integrally with half of the bolster. Each bolster half has a molded-in tongue and groove. These mate with their opposite numbers in the other bolster half, sliding together to form the whole truck frame. The assembly is held in place by the brake-detail molding, which is made of a strong, flexible plastic (presumably Delrin), which forms a clip that holds all of the components securely together. While the pieces won’t come apart, the fit, at first glance, appears “sloppy.” However, this is by design and provides the unsprung trucks with equalization, allowing them to traverse raggedy track with ease. The “springs” on each side frame are non-functional—they’re just cast-in details, depicted in a slightly compressed position, a nice touch. A pair of these trucks weighs in at 13.5 ounces. This added weight will lower the center of gravity of lightweight plastic cars and help their tracking and rolling characteristics. The mounting hole in the bolster center is oversize. Supplied in an envelope with each pair is mounting hardware that will enable the trucks to be mounted to freight cars made by just about any of today’s manufacturers, including Aristo-Craft, Bachmann, LGB, and USA Trains. This hardware consists of bolster pins, plastic plates that presumably fit between the truck and the car body, and mounting screws. A diagram

PROS and CONS PROS: Mostly-metal construction; weight of trucks will lower the car’s center of gravity; high level of detail; brake detail included; nice, blackened finish; equalized for good tracking; smooth rolling; car-mounting adaptors provided CONS: Flanges a little over-deep

on the outside of the envelope tells you which adaptors to use on what rolling stock but no further instructions are supplied. The trucks can be mounted to existing rolling stock without any modification to the car. I decided to see if the trucks could be mounted to an AML car, as that one wasn’t listed on the package. I chose to use the Bachmann mounting plates, just because they seemed “right.” I removed the old trucks, put the plates in position over the car’s bolster pin, set the new trucks in place, dropped Kadee’s over-size bolster pin over the AML pin, and screwed everything together. If you put the screw in too tightly, the trucks will bind up. The screws need to be slacked off enough so that the trucks can swivel and so that the equalization action can occur. Anyway, the trucks mounted to the AML car with no difficulty whatsoever. With the trucks in place, I found the car to be beautifully free rolling, offering almost no resistance at all. You’d have difficulty spotting it anywhere but on perfectly level track. The trucks easily traversed even the worst of my soon-tobe-replaced track without complaint. With this line of trucks, Kadee has come up with a winner. Their unique design, high level of detail, and outstanding performance characteristics make them ideal replacement trucks for virtually any piece of 1:29-scale freight stock. —M. Horovitz

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67

PRODUCT REVIEWS Continued

Making an entrance

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here’s no doubt that tunnels can create a dramatic focal point to any railroad. The tunnel portal is one of the most important elements of that feature. An ugly portal (or no attempt at a prototypical portal at all) can completely ruin the illusion, making your tunnel look like just a hole in the ground. A proper tunnel portal, however, can make your tunnel a memorable aspect of your garden landscape. VES Enterprises’ product definitely falls into the “proper tunnel portal” category. While the company’s literature lists the scale as 1:24, you can’t really pin an exact scale on a tunnel portal. It’s suitable for any of the common scales we run in

VITAL STATISTICS Wood tunnel portals VES Enterprises PO Box 11672 Casa Grande AZ 85130 Prices: Tunnel portal, $19; wing walls, $19/set Website: www.gtrainbuildings.com Natural cedar tunnel portal; wing walls available separately; supplied assembled, ready to finish. Dimensions: Portal: height, 13½"; width, 13½"; depth, 2"; tunnel opening, 7¾" x 11". Wing walls: 11" x 11" as reviewed—can be customized

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Garden Railways | December 2015

the garden, with an opening that has a width of just under 8" and a height of 11". VES Enterprises will also produce custom sizes for you if you need double tracks or larger (or even smaller) clearances, etc. The portal is built from natural cedar and is left unfinished. If left like this, the wood will weather to a nice gray color over time. You could also stain it, paint it, or just seal it with wood preservative to keep the tan look of the unfinished cedar. The portal is sturdily constructed. The main walls are solid cedar, ½" thick. Trim pieces are nailed and glued to that to finish it. The wood is rough cut so it has some saw marks on some pieces that add a rustic look. It looks appropriate for a typical wood tunnel portal, though it is not what I’d consider “detailed.” Most prototypical wood portals would be built of large vertical timbers and smaller horizontal planks. You could easily glue strips of thin cedar between the vertical trim pieces if you wanted that kind of look but, frankly, I don’t know that it’s really needed unless you want a particular prototypical look.

Many such tunnel openings had retaining walls angling out from the portal itself, and VES Enterprises sells those as well. These are built of the same ½"thick cedar planks as the tunnel portal, with cedar trim pieces giving them some detail. The samples sent for review are 11" tall, tapering to 6"; they’re 11" long. VES will also build these walls to custom sizes for you. Overall, this portal and accompanying wing walls have a good look to them that would be right in line with almost any garden railroad. They’re sturdy, made from a wood that has proven to be rot resistant (and, with preservative or paint, can last even longer), and have enough architectural detail to give them a prototypical appearance and a lot of charm. If you wanted to superdetail the the portals with smaller planks and nut-bolt-washer details, that’s also easily done. —K. Strong

COMING IN THE

Next issue

Kitbash a Lionel accessory into a lookout tower Turn any piece of rolling stock into a track cleaner Scratchbuild some tipis for your railway

ON SALE Jan. 12

PROS and CONS PROS: Sturdy construction, suitably sized for trains of all common garden-railroad scales CONS: None

www.GardenRailways.com

Repair those Aristo-Craft switches

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lastics and ultra-violet radiation from the sun don’t get along very well. That’s why most of the plastics we use outdoors have some level of UV inhibitor manufactured into the plastic. “Inhibit,” though, does not mean “prevent,” and occasionally the plastic becomes too damaged by the sun’s rays and breaks. I live in Colorado where, if I don’t bring my newspaper in by noon, the sun’s UV will already have turned it yellow, so I’m no stranger to UV damage to plastics. GLX’s replacement throw bars were created from a concern over UV damage. Members of the local garden-railway society in Ottawa, where GLX is located, were complaining that the throw bars of their Aristo-Craft switches were becoming

VITAL STATISTICS Replacement switch throw bar GLX Scale Models 911-2759 Carousel Crescent Ottawa ON K1T 2N5 Canada Price: $9.99 per card—10 throw bars per card Website: www.glxscalemodels.com UV-resistant acrylic replacement throw bar for Aristo-Craft switches (also compatible with other manufacturers’ switches)

brittle and breaking, so GLX set out to design a replacement that would better withstand normal environmental abuse. What they came up with is simple, elegant, and useful well outside their intended scope. The throw bar is laser-cut from ⅛"-thick black acrylic. It matches the overall size of the original Aristo-Craft throw bar (3" x 0.35"), though there are some subtle variations in where the holes are placed, which gives it a little advantage over the stock throw bar. These bars come 10 on a card; just lightly press the throw bar out of the card to use it. The holes to which the points attach are ever so slightly closer together (about ⅓2") than the original ones. This gives just a little more room between the open point and the stock rail so that wheelsets that may be too narrow back-to-back will not hit the points as the cars move through. At the same time, they are not too close together to exceed the throw of the switch-throw mechanism. The holes to which the switch machine attaches to the throw bar are also different from the original. First of all, the hole on one end of the GLX throw bar is slightly farther away from the points than the other. The manufacturer says this is to provide better alignment of the points

PROS and CONS PROS: Durable; laser-cut accuracy; easy to install; compatible with a variety of manufacturers’ switches or for hand-built switches CONS: Single hole as opposed to a slot at the end may cause the throw mechanism on the switch machine to bind to the side

when using a Bachmann switch-throw mechanism in conjunction with the switch, as opposed to the stock AristoCraft throw. If you’re using other manufacturers’ switch machines, you can use whichever end gives you better or more equal positioning of the points against the stock rails. If you scratchbuild your own switches, these throw bars are great for your purposes, too. You only need to screw the points to the holes in the throw bar and you’re good to go. I easily replaced a rather flimsy plastic throw rod on one of my switches with one of these, which is much heavier and stronger. With the pre-drilled holes, there’s no measuring or any other thought needed. The only difficulty I had was that the throw-bar stems from GLX employing a single hole in the end of the throw bar (to attach the bar to the switch throw), as opposed to the slot used by Aristo-Craft and other manufacturers. GLX says this results in a stronger, more secure joint between the two, and it’s hard to argue that point. However, if there’s any misalignment between the throw bar and switch-throw mechanism, this can lead to binding. If your switch throws are rigid (i.e., the points are held firmly against the stock rails and cannot move if a train comes the “wrong way” through the points), this will not be an issue. The Aristo-Craft switch machine is sprung, meaning the points can be pushed open. However, there was enough of a misalignment to one side, where the switch machine tended to bind. This made the points difficult to move over. The upshot is that you’ll have to pay attention to the alignment and throw mechanism to make sure your switches spring properly. These throw bars are great things to have in your parts drawer, in case of emergencies. If you’re going to break a throw bar on a switch, Murphy’s Law dictates that it will be the day before an open house, and you’re going to want a quick and easy solution. These throw bars allow you to fix it quickly and fix it right. —K. Strong www.GardenRailways.com

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PRODUCT REVIEWS

Do-it-yourself spray paint

F

or as many years as I’ve been modeling, I’ve never mastered the airbrush. I can’t say whether it’s the tool or the craftsman that’s to blame but I’d use it on one project and it would work great; then I’d use it a week later and not get even paint coverage for love or money. The upshot of my love-hate relationship with my airbrush is that my painting projects have pretty much been limited to colors that I could buy in spray cans. That’s fine when you’re painting patio furniture but trying to find specific railroad-related colors can sometimes be problematic, if not impossible. The Preval paint system is designed for people like me—all thumbs with airbrushes. This is a do-it-yourself spraypaint system. It’s not an airbrush—it’s more like a can of spray paint, so it won’t work for really fine, detailed painting. The system consists of a jar (for the paint) and an aerosol can with a standard spray-paint spray nozzle. The aerosol can screws onto the jar. The propellant then pushes the paint up the tube and out the nozzle. If you can mix the color, you can spray it. I came across this system when my two railcars (see October 2015 GR, “Staff Corner”) needed painting. I couldn’t find the proper color in a spray can so I went to my local Ace Hardware store, where I had them mix up a pint sample of the

VITAL STATISTICS Preval Sprayer paint-spraying system Preval (division of Chicago Aerosol) Available from Ace Hardware, Home Depot, and others Price: $9.99 for basic kit (one can of propellant and one jar) Replacement propellant: $6.99 per can; $74.99 per case Website: www.preval.com Aerosol can and glass jar, allowing you to spray any kind of paint

70

Garden Railways | December 2015

color I wanted. (I’ve still got most of that pint left.) I wasn’t sure how I was going apply it—the thought of pushing it through my airbrush made my skin crawl and the paint gun I use with my air compressor is overkill for spraying models. Then, while meandering down the aisle, I saw the Preval paint system hanging on the shelf and decided to give it a shot. With any paint-spraying system, the primary key to success is thinning the paint properly. If it’s too thick, it won’t go through the sprayer; if it does manage to make it through, it may go on in rough globs, resulting in a rough finish. If it’s too thin, the paint just runs off and doesn’t cover well. This system is no different. The company’s website has suggested formulas for thinning various types of paints for best results. Trying to figure out what they meant by their mix ratios is confusing (is it paint to thinner, thinner to paint, or…?). I figured those ratios would be more rough guidelines than exact science, anyway, since each paint would be different . The website does tell you that ordinary latex paint is among the more difficult paints to work with using this system, as they’re usually quite thick and must be thinned considerably. I played with the mixing ratios until I got something that flowed through okay. The only catch was that, by that point, the paint I was using was more water than paint and it didn’t go on quite like “normal” spray paint. It took some experimenting before I got the hang of the best way to spray this particular consistency. I made sure the surface I was painting was mostly horizontal so the paint wouldn’t run, then I sprayed it on a bit thicker than I would normally consider appropriate. Since most of the paint is

PROS and CONS PROS: Easy to use; easy to clean up; sprays just like any regular can of spray paint CONS: You’ll have to experiment with each type of paint you use to determine the best way to thin it

actually water that evaporates, the result ended up being a nice, smooth finish. (I’d definitely recommend experimenting on a junk piece of rolling stock first to get used to how the paint will go on and behave once it’s sprayed.) I also tried the spray system with model paints designed for the airbrush (Badger’s “ModelFlex” paints) and they sprayed well—much more akin to how typical spray paint behaves. The manufacturer states that each can of propellant (they call it a “power unit”) can atomize 16 fluid ounces of paint. By comparison, a can of Krylon or similar spray paint is 12 ounces. A pint of paint is 16 ounces, and remember you’re likely going to thin that at least 50:50 to get it to go through the sprayer. A pint of paint goes a long way when painting models, so each can of propellant should likewise last you a few projects. This system isn’t a replacement for an airbrush—it’s not intended to be. It’s designed to allow the user to custom-mix their own cans of spray paint. I found the coverage (once the correct mix was achieved) to be every bit as smooth as what I could get from spray cans. I like the broader spectrum of colors now available to my modeling. If I can find it on a paint chip at the hardware store, I can now spray it on my models. —K. Strong

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Garden Railways | December 2015

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 888-558-1544 ext. 815. February 2016 closes Nov. 12, April closes Jan. 15, June closes Mar. 18, Aug. closes May 18, Oct. closes July 21, Dec. closes Sept. 16.

KANSAS • Wichita

PENNSYLVANIA • Philadelphia (Feasterville)

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

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1425 N. Broadway

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MARYLAND • Annapolis

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!

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1564 Whitehall Rd.

CALIFORNIA • Concord

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CALIFORNIA • La Mirada

R HOBBIES

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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

6011 Folsom Blvd.

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CALIFORNIA • Santa Clara

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FLORIDA • Orlando

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COLONIAL PHOTO & HOBBY

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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 G-Scale only featuring large selection of LGB, USA, Massoth, Piko, Pola & Preiser. Mon - Fri 9-5. 1-800-789-5738 www.onlytrains.com

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NORTH CAROLINA • Columbus

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 515-984-6946 3665 NW 98th Avenue

ADVERTISER INDEX

JOE’S TRAIN STATION

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TEXAS • Dallas (Addison) Great discounts on thousands of G to Z scale items. NCE & Digitrax dealer. Monday - Saturday 10-6.

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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

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CANADA–ON • Guelph/Puslinch

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

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CANADA–ON • Toronto (Markham) 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

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NEW JERSEY • Somerville

GEORGIA • Alpharetta

4255 Trotters Way, Ste. 5B

MICHIGAN • Bridgeport

MINNESOTA • Buffalo (Twin Cities Area)

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.)

410-349-4290/4291

Lionel, American Flyer, LGB, MTH, Marklin, Bachmann, Williams. HO, N & Z. We buy, sell & repair. Mon-Fri 12-8; Sat 10-5 www.JoesTrainStation.com

Run your Directory ad in the next issue of

Garden Railways! Call 1-888-558-1544, ext. 815 for more information.

The Carolina’s newest G SCALE headquarters. Remote control, battery conversions & sound systems. Exclusive track ballast system. E-mail: [email protected] www.locomotionworks.com

LOCOMOTION WORKS

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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..........7

Garden Railways Books ........................61

Massoth Elektronik GmbH, Germany .......7

Roundhouse Engineering ......................60

Accucraft Company...............................56

Garden Railways magazine-Digit ..........67

ME Taylor Engineering, Inc. ...................71

RR Concepts .........................................72

Art Knapp Plantland, Ltd........................54

Gardenlines.net ....................................71

Micro Fasteners ....................................58

Shady Glen Models ...............................72

Bachmann Industries, Inc. .....................15

Gary Raymond Wheels ..........................71

Mini Forests By Sky ..............................71

Shawmut Car Shops .............................71

Bridgemasters ......................................56

Graham Industries ................................54

Model Decal Depot ...............................71

Bridgewerks ...................................25, 60

Great Midwest Train Show ....................24

MyLocoSound .......................................56

Cab Forwards by RMC ..........................71

Great Train Show ..................................24

Narrow Gauge Paradise- LGB Tours ......23

Caboose Hobbies ..................................57

Greenberg Shows .................................24

Ozark Miniatures ..................................60

Cedarleaf Custom Decals ......................72

Hartland Locomotive Works...................16

Pacific Coast Garden Railway ................71

Charles Ro Supply Co......................20, 21

Hockley Valley Railroad .........................57

Phoenix Sound Systems, Inc. ................57

Split Jaw Products ................................57

Crest Electronics ...................................60

Innovative Train Technology ..................71

Phoenix Unlimited, Ltd. .........................58

Stoneworks ..........................................71

CVP Products ........................................59

Iron Horse Engraving.............................71

PIKO America ........................................76

Sunset Valley Railroad...........................61

Dallee Electronics, Inc. ..........................54

Jamestown Trains .................................71

R & G Railroad Co. ................................25

Train Collectors Assn.............................10

DCC-BitSwitch ......................................72

JS Woodcraft ........................................24

R & S Enterprises ..................................57

Train-li-USA ..........................................50

Eaglewings Iron Craft ................10, 24, 58

Kadee Quality Products Co. ...................10

Railbed Systems ...................................54

TrainWorld ..............................................4

Earl Martin ............................................61

Keithco, Inc. ..........................................54

Rainbow Ridge......................................71

East Gary Car Co...................................26

Larry G Scale ........................................61

Ralph Williams Landscape Design .........72

Fall Creek Railroad Structures ...............60

LGB ......................................................75

Ram Track ............................................58

Flexxbed Roadbed ................................71

LGB Train Shop .....................................25

RCS of New England .............................72

FN3.Inc. ................................................10

Loco-Boose Hobbies ...............................7

Reindeer Pass Railroad ...................26, 27

G Scale Corrugated Metal .....................71

Locomotion Works ................................72

RGSRR Hobbies ....................................26

VES Enterprises ....................................71

G Scale Graphics ..................................54

Lynell Model Supply ..............................71

Rhineland Trains ...................................10

Windy Point Garden Railroads ...............71

G Scale Junction .....................................9

M & M Nursery .......................................7

RLD Hobbies .........................................47

Z-Stuff for Trains ...................................24

Garden Railways Back Issues ...............67

Marklin .................................................75

Charles Ro Supply Co......................20, 21

Zionsville Train Depot, LLC ....................57

Silver State Trains .................................72 SLM ......................................................26 Smith Pond Junction .............................57 Something Different ..............................72

Trainz.com ............................................33 Upland Trains ........................................10 USA Trains ..........................................2, 3 Valley Train Station................................26

www.GardenRailways.com

73

BEGINNER PROJECT

ONE-PAGE PROJECT

Build a railroad telephone booth by Peter Muto | State College, Pennsylvania |

PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR

W

hile browsing the Internet, looking for structures I could add to my railway, I came across a railroad telephone booth and decided I could use one. This is essentially a square structure with no windows, which lends itself to scrapbox modeling due to its lack of complexity. (Scrapbox modeling is using whatever materials you have lying around to create something.) I used some leftover 1½"-square wood for the solid core of my booth, since the structure did not need windows. I cut the length to around 3½", using a figure to gauge its height. To make a form for the roof, I used two, triangular wooden play blocks, which I attached to the core with siliconized acrylic caulk. I used this because it can bond different materials and withstand being outdoors. I began cutting and test-fitting different sizes of scrap cedar for the siding, trim, and door of the booth. I used (scale) 2 x 6s for the siding, 1 x 2s for the battens, and 1 x 4s for the trim. To cut the cedar, I measured the size I needed, using the core as a guide, then cut it with a mini handsaw. I used the same method for the battens and trim. For the side with the door, I only put the siding above the door area. I then built a door frame using the 2 x 6 and 1 x 4 cedar. I decided to model the door as having inside hinges to simplify the construction but you could model hinges with scrap styrene. I also chose to model the door with 2 x 6 cedar, making a Z-brace door. 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@ gardenrailways.com with “Onepage project” in the subject line.

74

Garden Railways | December 2015

Tools and materials used in this simple project.

I used a paper clip, bent to shape, for a door handle. I modeled a ribbed metal roof, though a different roof type could be used—use what you have available! I used scrap .025" styrene for the roof and also to form a ridge cap. I used .010" x .020" strips to simulate the ribs. I assembled these with plastic cement. For color, I decided to use spray paint that I had on hand: flat gray as the base, with the trim and door painted black. I simulated nails by drilling ⅓2" holes into the door, the door frame, and the trim. At this point it was assembly time. I applied a bead of caulk onto the core and spread it with a putty knife. The caulk doesn’t need to be too thick for good adhesion. After I attached the siding to the core, I put on the battens. For this, I just held a batten to the caulk tube and squeezed slowly while pulling the batten through. A thin layer of caulk is enough. After the battens were on, I assembled the door and then the roof. I decided to model the soffit and gutter. For the soffit I used the 2 x 6, painted gray. The gutter is a 1 x 4, painted silver with a silver Sharpie. I gave the booth a final coat of flat, clear finish to hide any shine from excess caulk. The booth is ready for the railroad!

The completed railroad telephone booth.

It is important to remember that this is scrapbox modeling, so use this article as a guide rather than a rigid set of instructions. You can adjust the architecture and materials to suit your own needs.

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Pleasantown Christmas Kits: Easy to disassemble and store away in their original packages. Built-Ups: No assembly Just unpack and enjoy!

62703 Santa’s House

62711 Elf Dorm

62265 North Pole Station 62702 North Pole Water Tank

62712 Toy Workshop

© 2015 PIKO America LLC.

62713 Candy Factory

38105 Christmas Starter Set - Goes great around the tree!

See over 600 items in the 196-page full-color 2015 PIKO G-Scale Catalog! At your retailer or $9 post-paid direct. Or get the 348-page full-color 2015 PIKO HO-Scale Catalog. $9 post-paid direct or $15 for both HO & G.

PIKO America, Dept G • 4610 Alvarado Canyon Rd. #5 • San Diego CA 92120 Phone 877-678-4449 or 619-280-2800 • www.piko-america.com

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