HOW TO plan clearance into your line p. 13 OCTOBER 2016
Adventures in outdoor model railroading
10 ideas for a
RAISED RAILROAD Elevate your line for easy access p. 18
PLUS: A detailed indoor railroad in 270 square feet p. 44 www.GardenRailways.com
Vol. 33 • Issue 5
BUILD a working handcar p. 26 CHOOSE bulbs for spring color p. 56 MODEL a wooden cattle chute p. 40
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OCTOBER 2016 | Volume 33, Number 5
CONTENTS HOW TO plan clearance into your line p. 13
COVER PHOTO: NANCY NORRIS
OCTOBER 2016
Adventures in outdoor model railroading
10 ideas for a
RAISED RAILROAD Elevate your line for easy access p. 18
PLUS: A detailed indoor railroad in 270 square feet p. 44
BUILD a working handcar p. 26 CHOOSE bulbs for spring color p. 56 MODEL a wooden cattle chute p. 40
• How to plan clearance into your line 13 • 10 ideas for a raised railroad 18 • A detailed indoor railroad in 270 square feet 44 • Build a working handcar 26 • Choose bulbs for spring color 56 • Model a wooden cattle chute 40
32
FEATURES 22 Building a ballast-top table The raised portion of this railway offers a simple solution to drainage by John Vorhes
24 Readers’ gallery Garden-railway views from around the world
26 Building a working handcar in 7 ⁄8" scale Part 1: A fine, scratchbuilt model of an unusual piece of equipment by Eric Schade
30 Staff corner: Kevin Strong
24
A caboose for the Tuscarora Railroad by Kevin Strong
32 East meets West The Kettle Valley Railway, Bruce Division by Brian Swanton ADVANCED SCRATCHBUILDING TECHNIQUES: PART 3
40 Make a basic cattle chute Add operational possibilities to your railroad by Jack Verducci
44 A detailed railroad in 270 square feet Lumber, mining, and more on the indoor Ughnott & Butternox Railroad by Larry Anzalone
50 Convert engines to battery power & radio control Part 3: Assembling the components by Tom Gaps
44
IN EVERY ISSUE 6 From the Editor
17 Plant portraits
Notes from Marc
Thimble cactus
8 Notes & news
18 Greening your railway
What’s new for the garden railroader
11 Letters Views from our readers
13 Garden railway basics Clearance on the garden railroad
Build a raised railroad
56 Miniscaping Small flowering buibs
59 Raising steam Four seasons of live steam: Fall
Online extras 60 Events Upcoming shows and exhibits
61 Online station A large-scale guide to the Internet
62 Product reviews Bachmann circus gondola, software, and more
70 One-page project A storage shed from the parts box
•
Full-size cattle chute drawings
•
High-tech modeling for garden railroaders: Part 4
•
Videos of Eric Schade’s completed handcar
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 62320, Tampa FL 33662-2320. Canada Publication Mail Agreement # 40010760
FROM THE EDITOR
What makes a garden railway?
Editor Marc Horovitz Production Editor Rene Schweitzer Art Director LuAnn Williams Belter Graphic Designer Kelly Katlaps 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 | October 2016
PHOTO BY ETZEL WILLHOIT
S
ome forum chats I’ve seen recently seemed to impugn the claims of some who called themselves “garden railroaders.” It was implied that, because a person did not have a scale railway that is wonderfully integrated into a garden consisting of appropriatesize plants, that person was not a “true” garden railroader. Likewise, a railroad built into an established (not-to-scale) garden is not a real garden railway, nor is an elevated running track to be considered a garden railway. In the US, the term “garden railway” appears, in some minds, to have evolved into the definition mentioned above, which seems both clear and pretty black and white. How, then, would a railway on a slope be defined, where one end, at ground level, is beautifully integrated into a scale garden while the other end, for ease of access and to minimize grades, is raised on benchwork? Obviously, the ground-level part is a garden railway, by the above definition, but is the raised part to be grandfathered into this definition just because it’s connected? And what about a railway that is entirely raised on benchwork but that has real scale plantings built into the benchtops, along with artificial material (i.e., concrete) used to represent earth? I have seen extremely realistic work done in this way. However, by the above definition, this would not be a garden railway. Likewise, people who build artificial mountains or representations of stone out of concrete or foam would also be removing their railroads from the classification “garden railway.” In a broader sense, what makes a model railroad? Is a loop of store-bought sectional track tacked to a 4' x 8' piece of plywood a model railroad? And is the person who laid that track a model railroader? Or does a model railroad have to have an extensive trackplan, fully developed and properly scenicked, with trains that represent specific prototypes being run prototypically to timetables? Where’s the dividing line? At what point in its evolution does the loop of track on plywood become a model railroad? And who’s to say? The hobby of garden railroading as we know it originated in Great Britain somewhere around 150 years ago. In Britain, the word “garden” can mean anything from a beautifully planted and tended floral display to a bare patch of weedy dirt behind the house—the backyard, in other words. Given that definition, a “garden railway” becomes any model railroad that is built outdoors, whether it be a sectional-track loop laid on the dirt, a railroad elevated on tables, or a beautiful, scale-landscaped line on the ground. It is this latter definition that we take in the magazine, and which is most inclusive. Of course, everyone can have their own definition of what appeals to them, and they are welcome to take or leave the work of others. What’s the sense, though, in saying that someone doesn’t have a “true” garden railway? That implies that they’re not pursuing their own hobby “correctly,” which doesn’t make any sense at all. Ours is a broad church, with plenty of room for everyone and every approach. It is, as they say, “just a hobby,” which suggests that anyone can do anything they like within it, without fear of stepping on anyone else’s toes. If a person takes exception to another modeler’s work, that’s his problem, not the modeler’s.
Kalmbach Publishing Co. President Charles R. Croft Vice President Content/General Manager Stephen C. George 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
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NOTES & NEWS In memoriam: Jim Strong
PRODUCTS
Engines & rolling stock
LGB (Märklin), PO Box 510559, New Berlin WI 53151, is offering two new American G-scale starter sets lettered for the Lake George & Boulder Railroad— a passenger set (# L72327) and a freight set (#L72426). Each set includes an old-time steam locomotive with working headlight, two cars, 12 sections of curved track, transformer and controller, and all necessary wiring hookups. Price per set: $369.99. Website: www.lgb.com
Bachmann Trains, 400 East Erie Avenue, Philadelphia PA 19124, has a new DCC and sound ready, 1:20.3 scale, gauge1 2-6-0 locomotive. The updated engine has new metal gears and gearbox; an advanced, nonproprietary plug-and-play electronic printed-circuit board that offers several options for control systems
Well-known garden railroader Jim Strong, of Upper Marlboro, Maryland, passed away on June 26, 2016. Jim was a pioneer in our hobby. His groundbreaking Woodland Railway first appeared in GR in the July-August 1984 issue, just four issues into the magazine’s existence. The extensive railway was always immaculately maintained and incorporated many innovative ideas and techniques. I had the pleasure of visiting it many times and became good friends with Jim and his wife Ruth. Their son, Kevin, whom I’ve known since he was a kid, grew up to become (among other things) a regular columnist for GR. Jim influenced many garden railroaders across this country and beyond with his creative thinking and kind, gracious manner. He will be greatly missed. —Marc Horovitz
(including adding a DCC decoder); and a factory-installed speaker and optical sensors for installation of the sound system of your choice. It’s available in four versions: Glenbrook, Eureka & Palisade Reveille (shown), Denver & Rio Grande Raton, and Grizzly Flats Emma Nevada. Price: $1,250. Website: www.bachmann trains.com
Piko, Lutherstr. 30, 96515 Sonneberg, Germany, is offering a steam-outline 2-6-2T loco, BR64 ÖBB III (#37212). For
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Tools
Rulers-of-the-World.com, 210 8th Street, Lewiston NY 14092, offers scale rulers in over 200 different scales, including virtually all model-railroad scales. Rules are available in the following lengths: 7" ($4), 13" ($6), and 25" ($10); all are available in either Imperial or metric. Website: www.rulers-of-the-world.com
World’s most complete code 250 track system In business since 1990. Full range of brass, stainless, aluminum and nickel silver track in mainline, narrow gauge, O gauge and dual gauge. Switch sizes from #3 to #10 in brass, stainless and nickel silver. You don’t have to wait for some vague promise of delivery in the future. We carry over 20,000ft of track and 400 switches in stock for immediate delivery (what a concept!). Nearly everything proudly made in the USA! Email
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LETTERS Railroadin’ kids Frog—the whole unit pivots and is wired to be “hot” for whichever direction it is set J-B Weld holds things together
Points are filed thin for a good fit against the stock rails
Switch controls frog polarity
Stiff wire control arm
Wiring to keep frog “hot” for either direction
Control handle Aluminum-angle rail
I enjoyed the “Railroadin’ Kids” story in the June 2016 issue and was intrigued by the use of the ½" x ½" aluminum angle as rail. However, no switch using the aluminum angle was shown. The larger lead photo with the two adults and the girl in pink shows two switch throws but not the switches they control. Any chance of publishing a photo or drawing/diagram of these switches? —Geoffery Loebel, Vancouver Washington Tom Murray responds: The first module I made used conventional switches. It took years to simplify these and now they are easy to make. I constructed a jig to epoxy the moving-frog assembly, which brings all the parts together. The frog works like an American Flyer switch. The critical part is positioning the pivot point. I first used a paper template to see what worked, then, with the frog unit in place, I drilled a 1⁄16" hole where I thought the pivot should be. Trial-and-error positioning brought the points into contact with the frog and in line with the diverging rails. The whole center piece is electrically switched via wires plus whiskers. Control is via a spring-loaded flip-flop that is far too oversize for a normal layout. For myself, I would use a notch into which the handle could be dropped, but spring action is easier for the kids. I enjoyed reading the “Railroadin’ Kids” article in the June 2016 issue of Garden Railways. This is a great way to kindle the model-railroading spirit in some of the younger crowd. Not all of them may catch
the bug but a few might, and they will help to perpetuate the hobby. I am a bit concerned with the photo in the lower right portion on page 48. All four children have safety glasses or goggles but only one of them has the glasses in front of his eyes. The two girls are working together with a pop-rivet gun. I have used pop-rivet guns and have had a piece or two of the rivet break off when the handles were squeezed. Please, everyone, instill in children a “Safety First” culture and anytime they are using tools—either electric or hand powered—have them wear the appropriate protection (safety glasses, gloves, hearing protection, etc.). Also, if any readers see this lack of safety culture being practiced at a train show or a clinic, please speak up. Use your “stop work” authority and correct the situation. It’s better to be thought a Nervous Nellie than to allow an accident and know that you could have prevented it with only a few words. A splinter in the eye causing permanent damage is not how we want our children to start life. —Pete Chimney, Chief Engineer, Bear Mountain & Pacific RR,
[email protected]
Charging batteries I read with interest Tom Gaps' article on battery powering large scale locomotives in the June 2016 issue of Garden Railways. I think his recharging methods are too long and cumbersome. I have battery-powered four locomotives. I use four Li-Ion 18650 cells and house them in a commercial flat battery
pack. Rather than recharge the batteries in the locomotives, I put a miniature female Tamiya connector on each of several battery packs and a male connector on wire leads to the decoder. I can charge one pack on the bench while running a train. This way, by leaving the coal load, wood load, or whatever on the tender (where both the battery pack and the decoder reside) removable, makes the batteries readily accessible and, having extra fully charged battery packs on hand, I can disconnect and replace a depleted battery pack in matter of seconds. Incidentally, I am using first-generation Aristo-Craft Train Engineer decoders and adapting them to the battery input. With a little searching they can be found for reasonable prices and they work well. The only drawback is their relatively short range of 30 to 40 feet. —Ken Martin, Bay Area Garden Railway Society
Pickle vats
I enjoyed Jim Typrowicz’s article on making pickle vats in the June issue of GR. I always thought a pickle car would be at home on my Hitchcock Railway, so two years ago I built one. It’s freelance, based on photos of various prototypes. My pickle vats were built pretty much the way Jim describes. One difference, though: instead of using PVC pipe as a form, I chose to use a tube that originally contained a nice bottle of single malt. That choice was just a matter of personal taste. The hoops are painted strips of tape. I wanted to be able to look into the vats and wondered what I could use to represent cucumbers on their way to becoming pickles. The solution was sitting on the grocery shelf — cake sprinkles. I glued them to the top of the vat, painted them a briny green, then gave them a coat of gloss “wet.” The finished car is lettered for Peckenpahs Pickles. —Rod Eaton, Champlin, Minnesota www.GardenRailways.com
11
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Garden Railways | October 2016
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KEVIN STRONG
GARDEN RAILWAY BASICS
Clearance on your railroad
W
hen things go “bump” on the railroad, it’s an annoyance. On my line, it’s most often a branch that’s grown too close to the track or maybe a rock that has shifted. Whatever the reason, making sure there are no obstructions in the way of our trains is key to smooth operations. I often hear the question, “How much room do I need between. . . ?” It’s an important question, though the answer may not be as clear cut as one might hope, depending on the trains we intend to run in the garden. In the prototype world, railroad clearances are dictated by what’s called the “loading gauge,” which refers to the overall size of the trains. Since railroads interchange equipment (particularly freight cars), these clearances tend to be somewhat universal, though minor variations in specific dimensions may exist based on a specific railroad or state. And, despite these standards, there are places where today’s modern equipment simply cannot run due to height or other restrictions. For example, Amtrak’s Superliner passenger cars are too tall to fit through the tunnels running under Washington DC to the south, so all passenger trains heading south out of DC must use singlelevel passenger equipment. Clearance standards cover many things: tunnel and bridge clearances, passenger- and freight-platform heights, distances from the track to signposts—the list is exhaustive (photo 1). In model railroading, we need to be concerned about a few big ones: bridge and tunnel clearances, track center-to-center distances, and track-to-platform clearances. Those clearances are the things that prevent our trains from hitting the scenery and each other. The minor standards, like height of passenger and freight platforms and the like, are nice to know when building structures for the railroad but aren’t critical for reliable operation. The National Model Railroad Association (NMRA) posts clearance gauges on their website and offers working dimen-
Tuscarora Railroad Nº 10 pulls into the passing siding at Neelyton. This is the largest locomotive on the roster and some clearances needed adjusting when it arrived so it could pass freight platforms and other close objects. PHOTOS AND DRAWINGS BY THE AUTHOR
Modern Classic
Old Time
1. Prototype standards used by the Baltimore & Ohio Railroad for bridges, tunnels, and lineside poles. AUTHOR’S COLLECTION
sions, including those for many of the scales that comprise “large scale.” However, there are two weaknesses in what they offer. They offer three different sets of clearances covering three different eras of railroading (figure 1) and the values they give for the various components of those
The NMRA offers three clearance guides for model railroaders, for three different eras of trains: “old time,”“classic,” and “modern.” Each is shown here, overlaid to illustrate how trains and their requisite clearances have increased in size over the years. Old Time: Pre-1920 Classic: 1921 - 1969 Classic (expanded): 1970 - 1982 Modern: 1983 - Present
Figure 1—NMRA clearance gauges for various eras www.GardenRailways.com
13
23’
Continued
19'
GARDEN RAILWAY BASICS
2a. Clearances needed for our trains are determined by the physical size of the trains themselves, which vary according to scale. On the left, a 1:20.3 K-27; on the right, a 1:29 GP-30. The physical size of the K-27 is greater than that of the GP-30, so clearances will have to be greater to accommodate it.
14'
18'
Clearances for narrow gauge (left) and standard gauge (right) tunnels. Narrow gauge trains were smaller than their standard gauge counterparts, therefore needed smaller clearances for tunnels and bridges.
Prototype tunnel clearances Above: Trains are consistent scale—narrow-gauge tunnel clearances are smaller than those of standard gauge. Below: Track is constant gauge—larger scaled, narrow-gauge trains need greater clearances than standard-gauge trains running on the same track.
1:20.3
9½"
113⁄16"
1:29 2b. The width of the respective engines is easy to see when viewed from above. Parallel tracks should be far enough apart that two of your widest trains can pass unhindered.
8¼"
7½"
When the prototype clearances are scaled down to the scales we use in the garden, the narrow gauge clearances are larger than those for standard gauge.
Tunnel clearances scaled for the garden
3. When a track crosses another on a bridge, the vertical clearance must be measured from the top of the lower rail to the underside of the bridge. That means the two tracks will actually be separated by a greater distance than your minimum clearance.
clearances are scale specific, so there are different measurements for each of the individual scales common to large scale. I can’t argue with that approach but large-scale modelers tend not to be nearly as scale- or era-specific as small scalers. We have one common track gauge and
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Garden Railways | October 2016
Figure 2—Side-by-side comparison of tunnel clearances for standard- and narrow-gauge trains
many of us run a variety of scales on that track, so our clearances would be best if made a little more universal. I do, however, think it appropriate to have two sets of clearances; one for standard gauge (1:321:29), and one for narrow gauge (1:24– 1:20.3) (photos 2a and 2b).
Here, I’ll be using clearance standards from the Baltimore & Ohio railroad for standard gauge, and the Denver & Rio Grande Western for narrow gauge (figure 2). From this illustration, you can see the differences between taking the trains at the same scale (as they’d be in the 1:1
6. Like the middle of the cars, the ends overhang to the outside of the track. This is especially critical on curves of parallel tracks, where there is the possibility of large overhangs on the inside and outside potentially hitting each other as two trains pass on the curve.
4. While the physical size of the models is key to determining clearances, you must also take into consideration their overhang on curves. Long vehicles, such as this USA Trains passenger car, will have considerable overhang on tighter curves. The car itself is less than 4" wide but, on these tight curves, the side of the car extends a full 4" from the centerline of the track.
world of the prototype) versus taking the track gauge as the constant, as we have in the garden environment. To keep things consistent, I’ll be offering scale measurements for 1:29 and 1:20.3, as those are the largest of the scales for standard- and narrow-gauge trains, respectively (not including 1:13.7 scale).
Vertical clearance Probably the most common clearance question concerns that of vertical clearance. How much room is required between a track on the ground and a bridge or ceiling of the tunnel? In the most practical sense, the answer is, “How tall is your tallest piece of equipment?” But, as with the engineers who built the tunnels leading out of DC’s Union Station, one never knows what the next day will bring in terms of equipment height. Standard-gauge vertical clearance on the B&O was 23' from the top of the rails. That equates to 9.5" in 1:29. Narrow-gauge clearance on the D&RGW was 19'. That works out to 113⁄16" in 1:20.3. One important thing to remember is that vertical clearance is measured from the top of the railhead to the bottom of whatever the track is passing under. If one track crosses
5. Pilots and cabs of steam locomotives can overhang a lot on curves. Make sure you leave extra room for obstructions where curves are involved.
another, you must add the distance from the bottom of the bridge to the top of the railhead of the upper track to determine how high the upper track must be above the lower; count on it being at least an additional inch, likely more (photo 3).
Horizontal clearances Going back to the prototype, tunnel clearance on the B&O was 9' from the center of the track to the side of the tunnel. That’s 3¾" from the center in 1:29. Bridge clearances were narrower—8' from the center (3⅜"). On narrow gauge, tunnel clearances were 7' from center (6' on bridges). That equates to 4⅛" for tunnels and 3½" for bridges. These clearances apply not only to bridges and tunnels, but nearly anything next to the track, including bushes, trees, rocks, fences, and house foundations. Standards are designed to give comfortable clearance between the train and whatever might be next to it. Clearances for platforms and loading docks would be less—5'6" to 6'0" from track center for standard gauge (about 2½"). One significant flaw with those measurements as they apply to model railroads has to do with curves. Full-size railroads don’t have curves nearly as sharp as
7. Clearances do have a little room for compromise in those instances where space is otherwise too tight or the aesthetics simply don’t work. The ceiling in the author’s tunnel is only 10" from the railhead, which is more than an inch lower than what’s called for by the clearance guides. Still, it’s high enough for all of the author’s equipment to pass, so a miss is as good as a mile.
we have in the garden. As a result, we must allow more side-to-side room on our curves, as our equipment will hang over the inside of the curve as it goes around. The longer the equipment, the greater the overhang (photo 4). Granted, this photo is an exaggeration, but this car overhangs the curve a full 4" from the track centerline. There’s no hard-and-fast rule for how much clearance you should add but the tighter your curves and the longer your equipment, the more side clearance you’re going to need. This could add as much as an inch to your clearances. Outside clearances must be extended as well. Overhang is not limited to the middle of the equipment (photo 5).
Parallel tracks The B&O standards call for 13' between centers for parallel tracks (5.4" between www.GardenRailways.com
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Garden Railways | October 2016
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Figure 3—Large scale clearance gauge centers for 1:29). Narrow gauge is 12' (7" for 1:20.3). In both instances, that distance is less than the standard side clearances times two. At the most basic level, your parallel track centers need to be at least as wide as your widest piece of equipment, plus a little extra for safety. That way, two models of that width can pass without hitting each other. Here again, we need to be careful on curves. Overhang affects passing trains as much as it does a train and adjacent scenery (photo 6). I drew up clearance gauges based on standard-gauge and narrow-gauge prototype specifications (figure 3). You’ll have to decide which is most appropriate for your needs. The answer lies in what kinds of trains you’ll be running on your railroad. If you’re a narrow-gauge modeler, then you’ll use narrow-gauge clearances. If you prefer standard-gauge trains, you can certainly use the standard-gauge clearances. However, in doing so, you will
limit your railroad to only being able to accommodate trains that fit those clearances. There’s nothing wrong with that and, from an aesthetic standpoint, it’s more realistic to have clearances that match the overall size of your trains. However, if you’re more of a social operator who has frequent guests running on your railroad, it would be nice to be able to accommodate their trains too. Finally, it’s important to remember that these clearance guidelines are just that—guidelines. There’s a little wiggle room for those situations where you’ve got to squeeze things. For instance, the ceiling of my tunnel is only 10" from the railhead. I wanted to go higher, but aesthetically it just didn’t work in the space (photo 7). Don’t be afraid to compromise a little if you must. At the end of the day, if all of your models pass through the railroad without hitting anything, you’ve done well.
PLANT PORTRAITS
NANCY NORRIS
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Perennial Common name: Thimble cactus Latin name: Mammillaria gracilis fragilis
Cultural needs: Gravelly or sandy well-drained, neutral or slightly acidic soil; full sun
USDA Hardiness Zones: 9-11
Plant size: 1" high, spreading to 6-12"
As might be expected, this miniature mammillaria cactus hails from south of the border in Central or Eastern Mexico, where temperatures do not dip below 25 degrees. If you can mimic the thimble cactus’ home environs, you’ll be rewarded with dozens of charming ½" thimbles. Its defense mechanism consists of white, curved spines that resemble stars or spiders. The pictured six-year-old group started in a 2" pot bought by Nancy Lagomarsino, who’s been waiting to plant them in her first garden railway in northern California. Rather than treating it as an annual in northern Hardiness Zones, pot up your thimble cactus and overwinter it in a bright window indoors. Allow the plant to dry during the winter, then begin watering late winter, when you’ll again be rewarded by satiny, creamy yellow flowers with pinkish stripes in early spring. After the last frost, plant outdoors. In a few seasons you’ll be giving away extra offshoots, which practically roll around on the ground looking for a footing to set down roots. The photo shows thimbles spreading on the 0-scale Verdi Railroad, above a tunnel where the soil depth is low.
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17
NANCY NORRIS
GREENING YOUR RAILWAY
PHOTOS BY AUTHOR EXCEPT WHERE NOTED
Build a raised railroad
1. In Jacques Verdier and Nancy Lagomarsino’s 1950s-era Verdi Railroad, SP’s Daylight snakes around three peninsulas in the front for lots of viewing and access pleasure. They have fitted 250' of 0-gauge Lionel track in their relatively small yard. A friend visited in his wheelchair and vetted pathway widths and roadbed height. Every 6', Ficus pumila ‘Minima’ vines use holdfasts to creep up the wall. On
R
emember the fable of the three little pigs who built different homes? The youngest pig quickly made his from straw, the next from sticks, and the eldest of brick. The way you build retaining walls for your “planter-box” railroad will have similar results. Moral: prevent the big bad weather from blowing it down. Straw will soon sag into compost; wood will decompose a bit later; stone or brick walls will stay put long after us. Ancient fieldstone walls, built by farmers along property lines, still tell that enduring tale. In photo 1, Jacques Verdier and Nancy Lagomarsino’s Verdi Railroad, an 0-scale Lionel line, is raised about two feet on 4"
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Garden Railways | October 2016
the day of this photo, to soften more of the wall, we “planted” two stonecrop varieties on the little steps of the blocks: Sedum anglicum, Zones 7-10 and Sedum spurium ‘Dragon’s Blood, Zones 3-10. Roots will find the cracks. Atop the wall lives Elfin thyme, Zones 4-10. The family camps under the mountain were inspired by San Francisco’s Camp Mather near Yosemite.
easy-stacking keystone blocks, which allow curves of 63-81" diameter. To soften and tie the wall into the garden, Nancy planted four groundcovers, from spreading sedums to trailing thymes and climbing ficus. Few of our miniature plants need a two-foot depth of soil for healthy roots. After installing drains and conduit for electrical and plumbing under it all, Jacques compacted the fill under the 6-12" layer of planting mix. Many a raised railway will sag as fluffy soil flattens out and trains have to porpoise up and down grades around the line. To circumvent this problem, Jacques used a sub-roadbed of boards directly under his track. To prevent his mountain from sinking, he built
up concrete blocks underneath a heavy chunk of old concrete that once held posts in the ground—the postholes now model square mine openings on the backside.
Prioritize Before we get into the nuts and bolts of raised railways, I’d like to report that many a garden railroader became just that by using available materials, throwing together an outdoor platform for track, then running trains for quite some time. See Jim Maley’s straw story in “Regional reports.” Maybe sticks won’t work but logs certainly will, as seen on Jane and Noel Wilson’s railway in photo 2. Timbers (especially pressure treated) will last 20 years
Resources • Study masonry books on building techniques for safe and beautiful walls: www.geoproducts.org/editor uploads/documents/Retaining%20 Walls%200811s.pdf • Get tips on proper masonry building tools: www.masonryforlife.com/How ToBasics.htm • Here’s a video on building with timber: www.thisoldhouse.com/toh/ video /0,,20349553,00.html • Martha shows different styles of planting boxes: www.naturalyards. com (select “Raised garden beds” in the green bar at top) • Build benchwork between the boxes • See “Greening your railway: Blend benchwork into your backyard,” Feb. 2012 GR or free for subscribers on www.GardenRailways.com
or more, giving one time to make plans for something else. I’ve been building railways for 20 years and now it’s time for a permanent raised solution for someone growing older and less nimble—me. I also wanted the garden to be saleable in case we needed to move out. As a landscaper and homeowner, I chose to plan my raised beds for access, beauty, and functionality, more or less in that order of priority.
Paths It usually happens that leaves fall on rails or a bird leaves a business card seconds before the train gets there. Access for maintenance is the key to having fun on the day of your railroad party. Build in paths to reach the entire track. The building code for walkway width outside the raised bed (to allow two people to comfortably pass) is four feet. After all, it may be you pushing that walker some day. Space some stepping stones within the railroad to access the far reaches, or build in stepable groundcovers (stepables.com), a dry creek, and/or gravel car roads. If you build the rear wall against a fence, leave an airflow space at least 18" wide for scooting in between the walls (unless you are more than 18" wide). Please don’t ignore safe
2. Noel and Jane Wilson raised their Santa Fe & Butthead Cove Railroad with wood in several areas. Somehow, the local railroad gave Noel some telephone poles and he managed to tow them home behind his truck.
3. Bob Brown needs to get to the upper track wielding a cane. Irene Brown needs to refill water dishes for birds and butterflies. New steps make those tasks safer on their Tuolumne County Narrow Gauge Railroad.
4. Crimson and Chris Star used to have a perfectly good retaining wall in their backyard but they wanted the natural look of a rock garden around which to run their trains. Zone 2 and 3 perennials, like stonecrop and creeping Jenny, grow in the crevices of their rock-garden railroad in central Alberta, Canada.
steps up and into the raised area. You can hide some steps in the rear or build steps or a gorge into the front. Using the wall material, steps can become part of the scenery, as they did for the Browns in photo 3. Leave plenty of patio room for viewing and working on the railroad.
Retaining walls for elevation Of course the walls are necessary for the raised box planter but, if you’re creative, you can make them look like scenery, as in last issue’s “Miniscaping” on rock gardens. Check GR’s website for rockgarden techniques, where planting among natural stone can simulate cliffs, bluffs, and mountains. Crimson and Chris Star actually deconstructed their old retaining wall to make an irregular rock-garden
railway (photo 4). Peggy and David Riggles constructed one wall to look like the mountain above (photo 5). Compacted, gravel-filled footings prevent your wall from sinking and allow drainage. Lean your wall 5-10 degrees (batter) into the soil to prevent the wall from being pulled over onto a clumsy kid trying to climb up. Walls more than three-feet high, by code, should be built by professionals who understand the mechanics of weight and materials.
Rear concrete blocks You can quickly build a vertical wall of two-hole concrete blocks, reinforced every other hole with rebar that extends into the ground. Fill the holes with dirt for plants or gravel for track. The blocks aren’t pretty, so www.GardenRailways.com
19
GREENING YOUR RAILWAY Continued
5. Using a combination of real rock and man-made slopes, Peggy and David Riggles mirror the upper rocks in their retaining wall, which supports their Poverty Hill & Western Railroad in southern California. Native oak scrub and buckwheat populate the hills.
disguise them. In photo 6, parallel tracks on Mike and Holly Crane’s upper dog-bone loop run on double-wide, double-high, 8 x 8 x 16", two-hole blocks hidden by ballast on top and stone in front.
6. With only a narrow border of garden between the fence (lined with Howard McMinn manzanita) and the lawn, concrete blocks come to the rescue by holding up the upper dogbone parallel tracks. Vertical flagstone takes up almost no space but, laid flat, makes stepable edging. Mike and Holly Crane wanted an upper line so the lower one could go under tunnels and bridges. CARLA BRAND BREITNER
Festive and functional This page has a border, pictures have frames, and a garden needs edging to set it off and prevent weeds. Like an edge, Jerry and Alison Ogden’s lighted wall guides
traffic and also serves as seating and a table for work or snacking (photo 7). The Cranes’ sloped-stone edging (photo 6) retains the ballast and tells kids running on the lawn when to stop.
REGIONAL GARDENING REPORT Zones are USDA Hardiness Zones How have you raised your railroad above your walkways? Dick Friedman Sacramento, California, Zone 9 Stucco-covered blocks Our and several other families helped a Sacramento Valley Garden Railway
Society family, Jim and Sue Garcia, build extensive dual-use walls. Most of the walls are merely concrete blocks filled with gravel and placed on a shallow (2") bed of mortar. Then we filled them with concrete and smoothed the top surface. Jim later did all the stucco work on the face of the blocks to make them more realistic, like rocks. This is much like the “Make-a-Wish” project (search GR’s
website for the article). That entire railway was built in about half a day. We had 14 people working very hard: two crews mixing cement, others laying out the blocks and filling them, some bending and laying the track, and some adding a ballast/mortar mix to keep it in place. Preliminary work and stockpiling of materials let us begin early so we were running trains after lunch!
Dave Stoneham Alberta, Canada, Zone 3 Stacked ties
A half-day raised garden railway? Here’s the proof. Fourteen friends got together and Jim Garcia couldn’t be happier. DICK FRIEDMAN
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Garden Railways | October 2016
Of course, I think raised is the way to go on our Wolf Creek Railroad. It’s easy on the body in general but the extra work and cost of construction is the trade off. I used pressure treated, mini landscape ties. They have two flat sides so are stackable. I stack them five high, drill every joint with a ½" bit, then put a piece of 12mm [about ½"] rebar, 30" long, through them and into the ground. Each corner needs three pieces. To stop a wall from pushing out when being backfilled
7. At the end of the day, after the trains went away, Jerry and Alison Ogden shared some wine and cheese with the author. Their Possom Creek Railroad was raised behind stacking blocks that double as furniture.
The Verdi Railroad (photo 1) would display a large expanse of cold, dry manmade blocks were it not for the plants. Green and red leaves, sometimes blooming, festively decorate and emotionally
warm up the wall while keeping soil temperature cooler when the sun gets hot. Plants extend the garden into the wall and tie it into the railway above. I’ve just finished one end of my elevated dogbone by
Living near the Arctic Circle, Dave finds he’s running trains more often on his raised beds. Which train to run today? The desert freight? The mountain line? The shipping . . . or send the drone up again for a new look. DAVE STONEHAM
it must be tied into something, whether it’s another wall or a post concreted into the ground (the post will get buried anyway). I use 2 x 6" pressure-treated lumber for my roadbed. It’s definitely a lot more work than laying track on the ground but I think it is worth it.
8. The author mixed one part peat, one part perlite, and one part Portland cement (by volume) with coloring to make hypertufa retaining walls, embedded with cantilevered metal trestle bents that model the 100-year old Alhambra trestle. The top steel roadbed (right), not yet finished, is made from 20-gauge Flex-C Trak. Pots sunk into the still-wet walls gave spaces for planting strawberry begonia and sweet alyssum. The gorge allows entry for maintenance.
retaining it with hypertufa; it’s a lot more work than natural stonework but does afford some interesting building techniques (photo 8). It’s like molten stone that solidifies as abutments.
Jim saw an opportunity when he used straw wattles to raise his hot-pepper plants at a community garden. He fired up his 0-scale trains on top of that straw for a summer of fun and spice, and shared railway gardening with the public. JIM MALEY
Jim Maley San Jose, California, Zone 9 Straw wattle Our first attempt at an outdoor 0-gauge railroad was at Prusch Farm Park in San Jose, California, on a straw wattle, believe it or not, as shown on this brief video of our Chile Pepper Express: www.
youtube.com/watch?v=xAQgsNVAPgE This was a “never again” approach that had lots of stability problems that we eventually worked out, but we decided to use a different idea for the next follow-up garden (work in progress) using large, wooden raised beds of stacked timbers [similar to Dave Stoneham’s].
www.GardenRailways.com
21
BEGINNER PROJECT
This raised, ballast-covered table top allows the author to take trackside photos from a sitting position—no knee pads are needed.
Building a BALLAST-TOP TABLE I The raised portion of this railway offers a simple solution to drainage by John Vorhes | Bethesda, Maryland PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
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Garden Railways | October 2016
have a sloping backyard and needed to extend a small section of my railroad about 30" above the ground so that it was at the same level as the rest of my track. The PVC trestle structure used on much of my Kansas Central passes over a fern garden and other garden features built years before, but here I wanted a new area big enough to accommodate a depot, a water tower, and a siding that suggested a
western town. I didn’t want to re-grade my yard or build retaining walls to do this. The answer seemed to be to build a wooden table-top area about 32" x 12', supported by 4" x 4" legs in fence-post footings. My trestle mainline could arrive at this island, then move off on the other side. But how could the table surface drain properly in a rainstorm or stay dry enough to keep from warping or rotting?
Galvanized screen is stapled to the frame for strength. A roll of metal window screening is applied on top to keep the ballast in place.
The underframe is constructed of 2 x 4s and joist straps. Legs made of 4 x 4s are set every three feet, placed in quicksetting concrete footings, 18" deep. The turn-around loop goes around a small stand of volunteer bamboo, then heads back to the table. The full 12-foot length of the area can be seen here. The Miltonvale depot and siding are in place on top of a layer of ballast stones. The trestle structure continues through more bamboo and above a fern garden.
Window screen over hardware cloth ¼" hardware cloth stapled to wooden frame 1x4
2x4
1x4 Posts set in concrete
Joist hanger 4x4
MARC HOROVITZ
I built the table frame out of 2 x 4s, with 1 x 4s in between. For the top, I stapled galvanized ¼" wire screening to it for strength, then covered this with metal window screening to retain the blue-stone ballast applied over it. My track and switches were screwed into the frame, while my depot structure, water tower, and windmill are well supported and stay dry. This simple construction didn’t take long. I named the area “Miltonvale,” after a town in Kansas that was the terminus of the Kansas Central in 1870. The track runs off the table and into a reverse loop on a trestle. Small stones and plastic plants give Miltonvale some landscaping. I take my structures indoors in the late fall and my leaf blower scatters some of the gravel around the ivy garden below but I just sprinkle more on in the spring. The frame and table have lasted 10 years so far.
Figure 1—Construction of ballast-top table (Drawing not to scale)
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23
READERS’ GALLERY
MARTY COZAD
— Garden-railway scenes from around the world —
ABOVE: Wayne Huddleston had Fred Tennyson paint his Dash 9 in Boy Scout colors because Wayne helps a lot with the Boy Scouts of America. Marty Cozad shot this photo on his revised North Table Creek Garden Railroad in Nebraska City, Nebraska, as the train was coming around the south loop.
CHARLIE ZIMMERMAN
LEFT: Charlie Zimmerman modified an Aristo-Craft Mallet to resemble a Reading Railroad 2-8-8-0. He custom built the tender trucks. Charlie used a smoke bomb to generate the smoke in this nostalgic black-and-white photo taken on his railroad in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania.
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Garden Railways | October 2016
LEFT: A new Regner Class A live-steam Climax hauls a log train on Shawn Viggiano’s newly constructed Kittatinny Mountain Railroad. Cold weather makes the steam pouring out of the smokestack more visible.
Send your photos to Readers’ gallery: Garden Railways, PO Box 460222, Denver, CO 80246, USA or email them to:
[email protected]
MICHAEL D. MILLER
SHAWN VIGGIANO
BELOW: Santa Fe passenger trains, now and then. A pair of shiny new EMDbuilt E-8s on the head end of the Super Chief pose next to a Baldwin-built 4-4-0 wood-burning steam locomotive with four wood-side passenger cars, complete with pot belly stoves. You can see their reflection in the side of the E-8s. The photo was taken on Michael Miller’s railway in Kissimmee, Florida.
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25
ADVANCED PROJECT
Building a
Section-man James takes the handcar out on the line to inspect the line for loose rails or fallen branches that may have accumulated overnight, before the morning milk train comes through.
WORKING in 7⁄8" HANDCAR scale
A fine, scratchbuilt model of an unusual piece of equipment: Part 1 by Eric Schade | Phippsburg, Maine |
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Garden Railways | October 2016
PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
T
he Winnegance & Quebec requires a certain amount of maintenance to keep the trains running on time. It took crews a long time to walk out to patrol their sections of track and they had been lobbying for a handcar for years. This past winter, management finally relented. I had been thinking of this project for some time when I saw a tiny gear motor offered by Phil’s Narrow Gauge. I got a bunch of them for stock. The #GM12N20VA motor runs well off a 9V battery— slowly but with quite a bit of torque. It is only about 1½" long and ¾" square, so it can be hidden pretty easily. I built two of these cars, the first being a holiday-swap project for the ⅞"-scale forum (7-8ths.info) and the second to work on the W&Q. I model two-foot-gauge trains on gauge-1 track. The scale is large at seveneighths of an inch equaling one foot, which makes it easy to make detailed models from scratch. I made everything on this car except the motor and gears. I live a few miles from the Wiscasset, Waterville & Farmington Railway Museum, which has two handcars that I could study and photograph (photo 1).
Wheels I had trouble finding suitable looking, commercially made wheels for my handcar. I could have found commercially made spoked wheels that would have looked acceptable, or even just used solid wheels that would have worked fine and looked okay, but I thought I could do better and have fun doing it. I have a computer-controlled (CNC) milling machine that I used to carve the wheels for my handcar from an aluminum bar. I started with a computer drawing (CAD) of my proposed handcar wheel, with nine spokes laid out to represent the pressed-steel wheels on the WW&F’s car. I then exported the drawing file into a program that writes the code for the milling machine. That code is then installed in the mill’s computer. With the proper cutting tool installed and the metal firmly affixed to the bed of the mill, I set the cutting tool to the “home” position, which represents the zero point on the CAD drawing. I then started cutting by turning on the mill motor and pushing “go.” The computer
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drives the tool around according to the code based on my drawing. If I did everything right, a wheel should appear (photo 2). As with your home printer (which really doesn’t save paper), I have sent a bit of aluminum back to be recycled and have also broken some milling tools. However, once I got everything dialed in, I was able to carve some pretty-good-looking wheels. It wasn’t fast and I had to babysit the machine but I got a lot better wheel than I could make with a drill and files! The product of the CNC mill required some finishing on my lathe. I started by
drilling and reaming an accurate hole in the center for the axle. Then I used the lathe to carve away some metal from the back side of the wheel to match what the mill did on the front. Finally I machined the wheel profile—the flange and tread upon which the wheel actually rolls (photo 3). While my handcar will be battery powered, I wanted it to also be compatible with track power, which meant that the wheels had to be insulated from each other so they would not short anyone’s power supplies. I had some leftover black www.GardenRailways.com
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nylon tubing that happened to be ¼" outside diameter with a ⅛" hole. I cut off some ⅜"-long bits and pressed them into the axle holes in the wheels with a drop of Loctite, then pressed that onto a ⅛"-diameter steel axle. Because the frame will be between the wheels, it had to be made before I could fully assemble the wheelsets (photo 4).
Power To get mechanical power to the wheels from the motor and to make the pump handle move, I needed some gears. I am a
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Garden Railways | October 2016
bit of a hoarder and have a stock of all kinds of stuff, including gears. Stock Drive Products (www.sdp-si.com) supplies all types and sizes of gears, including most of my collection. To choose gears, think about the overall size and the gear ratio you want. Gears are specified by the diametrical pitch (in inch sizes) and the number of teeth. Diametrical pitch refers to the size of the teeth. The higher the number, the smaller the teeth will be. The number indicates the number of teeth on a 1"-diameter gear. I used 32-pitch gears, which are really fairly coarse in scale compared to the gears of the prototype. However, they work fine and are a little easier to get the gear spacing correct. I ended up with a ¾"-diameter gear with 24 teeth for the crank and 11-tooth gears for the wheel axle and the motor. What that means is that the motor and wheels will turn at the same speed and the crank will turn more slowly. Looking at the prototype, perhaps 64-pitch gears with about 12 or 16 teeth on the axle and motor and
64 teeth on the crank would have been more accurate. To get the gears to mesh properly, the space between their axles has to be worked out accurately. I cheated and just meshed the gears on the table and measured the distance between the axle holes. It worked fine. . .the second time (photo 5)! The specs on the Stock Drive order form tell you the pitch diameter, which is the effective diameter of the gear as opposed to the overall diameter. Just add the pitch diameters of each gear together, then divide by two to get the axle spacing. Larger, coarser gears mesh more easily than those with finer teeth. One more part was needed before assembly could start. The crankshaft is made up of two pieces of ⅛" rod and two blocks drilled with two holes each to fit the rods. I used steel for the rods and brass for the blocks. I set the blocks in my drill press, clamped together so that I would drill through both at once—two holes spaced about ¼" apart. I slipped one long rod and one short rod through the blocks and spread the blocks about 3⁄16" apart (photo 6). I added some flux, then heated the parts and silver-soldered them. I then cut the ends off the short rod and cut out the section of the long rod between the blocks. The result was a crankshaft with one crank (photo 7). The large gear was mounted on the shaft.
The frame I made the frame of the handcar from 4mm plywood. I started by locating the wheel axles, then added in the crank axle and motor. I drilled the holes as accurately as I could (photo 8). Then I sawed out the frame to match the prototype, including bearing blocks and other spacers (photo 9). I added brass bushings for the axles by sawing short sections of 5⁄32"diameter brass tubing, which has a ⅛" hole. I inserted these into the holes in the plywood frame (photo 10) and flared the ends a bit with a center punch to keep them in place. I assembled the axles in the frame, added the wheels and gears, and gave them a spin. The first time the gears didn’t even mesh. I should have measured more carefully. Oh well . . . I have plenty of plywood scraps. The second time did the trick (I got better at making the
frame, too). The wheel and crank spun freely and the gears meshed properly (photo 11). The other wheelset spun very nicely. I have a little jig for measuring the back-to-back spacing on wheels so that they will fit on the track. I just adjust the wheel spacing by hand until the jig tells me I have it right. Back-to-back spacing is one of the most critical dimensions for successful operation. This car certainly will not run fast, so perfection isn’t needed, but it would be nice if it went along without jumping the track too much. The little gear motor has a flange around the shaft and two screw holes for tiny screws to mount against a carefully drilled plate or frame. I could have used these and had a secure and accurate mounting system but I didn’t. Instead, I made a little box from brass that covered the gearbox and had some ears that I could bend around the wooden frame of the car (photos 12 and 13). This lowertech solution did two things for me: it covered the gears to help keep dirt and debris out and it spaced the motor a little farther into the frame than it would otherwise be. The motor actually moves slightly as it runs, which isn’t ideal but doesn’t seem to do any harm. I touched some wires from a battery to the motor and ran it for a bit before proceeding to make sure everything was as it should be.
The fun part The rest of the project is just looks—the fun part! I sawed some 5⁄32" x 7⁄32" oak stripwood to use for the frame. The plywood frame I had sawn with the bandsaw was 4mm thick, about 5⁄32", so I sawed my oak to match. The first strips I added ran the full length of the car and had handles on the ends so the section men could lift and turn the car. I made four of these long beams, all matching, and filed handles on the ends. Two were glued onto the spacers I had left standing up from the plywood wheel frame, two would be used later
Online extras Find links to videos of the author’s handcar on our website. Visit www.GardenRailways.com and type “handcar” in the search box.
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(photo 14). I next made five cross beams that would run the entire width of the car. I notched these to fit over the four fulllength beams; two for the wheel frames and two at the ends (photo 15). Then I glued them to the long beams and added the two extra long beams along the ends of the cross beams to make a rectangular frame for the entire deck. I ran two more oak beams along the top of the sides, then decked the car with 3⁄32" x 7⁄16" pine boards (photo 16). I left an open space above the crank for a link between the crank and the pump handles. The real handcar uses nuts, bolts, and washers to hold it together. Because I used CA glue, which can be a bit brittle, I decided to add metal hardware to help reinforce it. Where I could, I used brass escutcheon pins pressed into predrilled holes (photo 17). Where the joint was longer than my longest escutcheon pins, I used brass rod or copper wire. I cut short sections of ⅛"-square brass tubing to represent nuts and glued them to the pins
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and rods (photo 18). While not installed on the WW&F’s handcar, old photos show a bent steel strap running from the bottom of the wheel frame to the outer handle beam at both ends of the car. I used some ⅛" x .030" brass strips for these. I carefully drilled holes and bent it to shape, then slipped it over the escutcheon pins (photo 19). Then I added some fake nuts, held in place with CA glue. In the next issue I’ll describe the construction of the A-frame, final assembly, finishing, details, and the crew. www.GardenRailways.com
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STAFF CORNER: KEVIN STRONG
A member of GR’s staff discusses recent projects
PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
A caboose for the Tuscarora Railroad
Tuscarora RR Caboose Nº 1 takes a test spin around the TRR behind Perry Lumber Co. Nº 265. The caboose is an upsized Bachmann four-axle unit that the author converted to 1:20.3. It has yet to visit the paint shop.
T
he story of my Tuscarora Railroad is ever-evolving. One thing I laid out fairly early, though, was that the TRR leased all of its freight equipment from the East Broad Top Railroad, including cabooses. I’m fascinated by the EBT’s “cabin cars,” as they were sometimes called. There were a small handful of these in different sizes— surely enough variety to keep a modeler happy, right? But then there’s that saying that rules are meant to be broken. In this case, the impetus for a departure arrived through the generosity of a friend thinning his collection. He had a Bachmann EBT caboose that he sent my way. This gift coincided with a discussion on one of the online forums centered around the appropriateness of Bachmann’s 1:22.5-scale caboose in 1:20.3.
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Garden Railways | October 2016
I had recently finished building a 1:20.3 model of the prototype for the Bachmann caboose so I had no desire to try to tweak this one to better match the EBT prototype in a larger scale (not that it would have been possible, anyway). There wasn’t another caboose on the EBT that approximated this one, so I decided it was time the Tuscarora Railroad had a caboose to call its own. Going purely freelance on the design didn’t sit quite right with me. I wanted it to have some tie-in to Pennsylvania narrow gauge, even if it wasn’t the EBT. None of the other railroads close to the EBT had cabooses, so I looked to the oil fields of Pennsylvania and the Tionesta Valley Railroad. They had a fleet of cabooses, most of which had characteristic side doors (but only on one side!). One of them, Nº 111, was close to the dimensions
of the Bachmann caboose, so that became the pattern for my new caboose. The next problem was how to bring the smaller-scale caboose up to 1:20.3? The length and width were okay (though
The author soldered new end railings and ladders from brass stock.
ADVANCED PROJECT
A side door appears only on one side of the caboose, adding visual interest—the other side has two windows. The author detailed the interior as well.
Many of the parts from the interior of the original Bachmann caboose were used but were moved around to work better. Cupola seats were moved inward to be better positioned under the cupola. A work desk and area for the stove completed the non-freight side of the caboose.
Original window openings were filled and puttied so new windows could be installed. Strips of styrene along the bottom edge of the body add about 5⁄16" to its height.
The caboose frame received extra styrene to increase its thickness, representative of a wood frame, as opposed to the Bachmann model’s steel frame.
a touch narrow at only 7' wide); the height was problematic. The door on the stock Bachmann caboose was definitely too short for a 5'10" person to fit through without hitting his head. The height of the caboose would have to be raised about 5⁄16", which would give me the vertical clearance to put a 6'-tall door on the end of the caboose. New siding would be a natural part of this process anyway, so the height would be easy to add. With the planning done, it was time for action. The sides of the stock Bachmann caboose were sanded so the new siding could be laminated on. Because I wanted a full interior, I filled in the old window openings from behind, puttied the seams, and sanded them smooth so the interior walls would be even. I then cut new window and door openings. The windows and doors were laser-cut for me by Iron Horse Engraving. The working sliding side door (for easier viewing of the interior) was made from clear acrylic with trim pieces glued on.
End railings and ladders were soldered together from brass, while Accucraft 1:32scale couplers and working cut levers finished the car ends. The EBT used threequarter-size couplers, and the smaller Accucraft coupler scales out almost exactly. It also allows working cut levers, which adds operational realism. I replaced the original trucks with some longer archbar trucks from my parts bin. The interior of the caboose is conjectural, but uses many of the components of the Bachmann caboose, as well as features common to other cabooses. I like to run trains at night, so working interior lights will be added once things are painted.
I would have loved to show a finished, painted, and properly weathered caboose here but a cooler-and-wetter-than-usual spring prevented me from being able to paint it in time. I’ll be writing about different ways to do signs and lettering in a future column, so you’ll see the painted caboose soon enough. Overall, I’m pleased with how this project turned out. I was worried that the caboose would end up looking like an ill-proportioned approximation of the EBT caboose. Finding the Tionesta Valley prototype eliminated that worry and the single side door will add visual interest to my railroad.
Kevin Strong has been involved in large scale since he was five years old, though rumors that he learned to count using the Whyte classification system are largely unsubstantiated. His Tuscarora Railroad is entering its 12th year of operations. Kevin lives in suburban Denver with his wife and two children. In “real life,” Kevin works as a video editor and occasional producer for CBS.
www.GardenRailways.com
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The Kettle Valley Railway, Bruce Division by Brian Swanton | Lion’s Head, Ontario PHOTOS BY TOM HAKALA
1. The five Deer Creek bridges. The road and mainline to West Summerland is in the foreground. The Juliet Junction section house and water tower are at top center.
2. Railway overview, showing the swing bridge connecting the greenhouse track storage to the outdoor railway. Coalmont is at the lower right and West Summerland is upper left.
The railway at a glance
3. Kettle Valley coaling tower and water tower at the Eagle Ridge Quarry.
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T
he story of the Bruce Division of the Kettle Valley Railway (KVR) began in 2002, when my wife Mary asked me to take her to visit the Lavender Gardens of Doug and Betty Patterson. Betty’s gardens were enjoyable but the moment I saw Doug’s garden railway I was blown away by the size and detail of his line. I was intrigued by his depiction of the local Canadian National Railway (CNR) line from Owen Sound to Wiarton, Ontario, and I realized just what could be created in a garden railway. At this point we made two decisions. One was to build a garden railway of our own and the
Garden Railways | October 2016
Name of railroad: Kettle Valley Railway, Bruce Division Size of railroad: 75' x 30' Scale: Trains, 1:20.3 and 1:22.5; buildings, 1:24 Gauge: 45mm Era: 1920s to 40s Theme: Modeled after some of the communities and features of the original KVR in British Columbia during the steam era from 1920 to the ’40s
Age: 12 years Motive power: R/C battery power; live steam Length of mainline: 185' Maximum gradient: 3% Type of track: Brass (LGB sectional and AristoCraft/USA flex track) Structures: All scratchbuilt Control system: Revolution R/C Website: https://sites.google. com/site/kvrbrucedivision
other was that it would be based on a real Canadian railway. My dream was to model a part of Canadian rail history. Then I discovered Barrie Sanford’s book Steel Rails & Iron Men: A Pictorial History of the Kettle Valley Railway, which is the story of a multifaceted line that operated in British Columbia’s ThompsonOkanagan region. I decided this was the railway that I would model.
more common loop-style plan found in many garden railroads. The site is triangular, with the upper ridge anchored by a large white pine at one end and a soft maple tree at the other. The site slopes down a small hill to a lower level with a large white oak, greenhouse, and garage. The height difference is about five feet. I decided to place a small pond at the top and a second, larger pond at the bottom. A stream with three waterfalls connects the two ponds. A flagstone walkway with six wide steps divides the railway into two areas and makes it easy to walk up the hill, at the same time providing interesting views. To keep the track gradient
Construction Construction of the Bruce Division of the Kettle Valley Railway started in 2004. This is an outdoor model railway with working rail yards and sidings, rather than the
Coalmont 2
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18" Deer Creek Lmbr. Co. & KVR rail yards
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Swing bridge
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Summerland
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Kettle Valley Railway, Bruce Division
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under 3%, it became necessary to raise its level in the lower areas on both sides of the steps. This was accomplished by the construction of a cut-limestone wall. This stone is also used for the sides of the staircase used to separate the upper garden from the railway. Earth and stones removed from the ponds and stream, plus 10 yards of pit run (crushed stone) from a local quarry, were used to fill behind the stone wall and provide foundations for the hills and mountains. The mountains and sides of the track bed are also built up using local field limestone. The base layer of the track bed consists of a six-inch stratum of crushed limestone, moistened and tamped
Elevation differences—0-43"
STAN MCCLELLAN
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4. Kettle Valley Nº 4, with a load of ballast for track work. In the foreground is the Whitely Inn, with the Eagle Lake Ice House on the right and the Summerland Fruit Co-Op in the background.
to form a solid footing. A thin layer of washed, crushed limestone makes up the top layer, over which the track is laid. Finally, another layer of washed limestone was spread over the track as ballast. Since the track and switches are free to float in the ballast, I have never had a problem with expansion and contraction of the brass rail.
Features The railway has seven features. The Deer Creek Lumber Co. rail yard and the KVR rail yard, consisting of 225' of track and 16 switches, are located inside the greenhouse. Trains leaving the greenhouse travel over 16' of track www.GardenRailways.com
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5. Trout Creek Trestle with Granby Power House in the background.
the opposite side of the railway is much smaller and consists mostly of retail businesses and the Coalmont Collieries. The middle section includes the control building, the Mt. Logan gravel pit, and the Juliet Junction section house. From there, trains climb the railway up to Chute Lake, with the Copper Mountain mine complex and the Chute Lake lumber camp.
Track 6. Deer Creek rail yard in the greenhouse.
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(including an 8' swing bridge) to reach the outdoor portion. This section has two towns. The largest is Summerland, with a substantial industrial area that includes the Dear Creek Lumber Mill, which utilizes the lower pond for log floats. The town of Coalmont on
Garden Railways | October 2016
There is approximately 760' of track and 35 switches in the outdoor area. Track is a mixture of LGB sectional and Aristo-Craft and USA Trains flex. All mainline switches are 10'-diameter AristoCraft, while the siding switches are LGB 1600s. Wherever a switch control can be reached from the perimeter of the railway, the
switch is operated by an AristoCraft manual switch machine. If a switch is beyond arm’s length, an LGB electric switch motor takes over. These switches are activated by seven LGB control units, mounted in weatherproof boxes located around the perimeter of the railway in places where the switches they control can be seen. In addition, four main switches are located at either end of the Mt. Logan tunnel, at Juliet Junction, and at the switches that lead into the KVR building. Each switch also includes an LGB semaphore signal unit.
Locomotives and trains All electric locomotives are battery powered, radio controlled. The LGB Mogul and sweeper have Aristo-Craft Revolution sound
Plants on the Kettle Valley Railway Lion’s Head, Ontario, Canada | USDA/Canada’s Hardiness Zone 5 DWARF CONIFERS Dwarf balsam fir
Abies balsamea ‘Nana’
Emperor 1 Japanese maple
Acer palmatum ‘Emperor 1’ Dwarf birch
Golden Japanese Hinoki false cypress
Betula nana
Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Golden Fastigiata’
Kingsville Dwarf boxwood
Dwarf Hinoki false cypress
Chamaecyparis obtusa ‘Nana Gracilis’ Boulevard cypress
Chamaecyparis pisifera ‘Boulevard’ Little Gem spruce
Picea abies ‘Little Gem’ Dwarf Alberta spruce
Picea glauca ‘Conica’ Japanese yew
Taxus cuspidata Anderson spreading yew
Taxus x media ‘Andersonii’ Degroot’s Spire arborvitae
Buxus microphylla ‘Kingsville Dwarf’ Asian boxwood
Buxus microphylla v. koreana Columnar boxwood
Buxus sempervirens ‘Graham Blandy’ Variegated boxwood
Buxus sempervirens ‘Variegata’ Green Mountain boxwood
Buxus x ‘Green Mountain’ Thymeleaf rockspray
Cotoneaster microphyllus ‘Thymifolius’ Dwarf elm
Ulmus x hollandica ‘Jacqueline Hillier’
Thuja occidentalis ‘Degroot’s Spire’ Emerald green arborvitae
Thuja occidentalis ‘Emerald’ Miky dwarf white cedar or arborvitae
Thuja occidentalis ‘Miky’ Teddy arborvitae
Thuja occidentalis ‘Teddy’ Green ball arborvitae
Thuja plicata ‘Grune Kugel’
GROUNDCOVERS Black Scallop bugleweed
Ajuga reptans ‘Black Scallop’ Blue Clips bellflower
Campanula carpatica ‘Blue Clips’ Carpathian harebell
Campanula carpatica ‘White Clips’ Creeping Jenny
Lysimachia nummularia ‘Aurea’ TREES AND SHRUBS Trident maple
Acer buergerianum systems; the rest have Phoenix sound systems. I have used four different types of radio control over the past eight years and now use the Aristo-Craft Revolution system on all units. The locomotives on this railway are divided into two different groups: the KVR/CPR and the Deer Creek Lumber Co. They are delineated in the locomotive-roster sidebar (see p. 38). The Deer Creek Lumber. Co. operates two log trains. One train has seven AMS short skeleton cars plus a caboose, while the other has seven custom-built Coon Creek cars built by master modeler Carol Homuth and a caboose. DCL also runs a five car fire-fighting train along with a six-car work train. During operating sessions these trains run back and forth between
Crimson Queen Japanese maple
Acer palmatum ‘Crimson Queen’
Irish moss
Sagina subulata Scottish moss
Sagina subulata ‘Aurea’ Thyme
Thymus sp.
7. Deer Creek Lumber Co. sawmill at West Summerland, with the town in the background.
Locomotive roster
8. Deer Creek Lumber Company’s Chute Lake Logging Camp, loading logs with Porter Nº 2 and live-steam Shay Nº 3. The stockyard and power house are in the background.
KVR/ CPR KVR Nº 2: LGB Mogul KVR Nº 4: Bachmann Anniversary Ed. 4-6-0 CPR Nº 1903: Bachmann Spectrum 1:20.3, 55 ton, three-truck Shay CPR Nº 3401: Bachmann Spectrum 1:20.3 C-19 CPR Nº 3716: Aristo-Craft Consolidation (currently under construction) Deer Creek DC Nº 1: LGB Porter 0-4-0T DC Nº 2: LGB Porter 0-4-0T DC Nº 3: Bachmann Spectrum 1:20.3 two-truck Shay DC Nº 4: Bachmann Spectrum 1:20.3 two-truck Shay DC Nº 6: Bachmann Spectrum 1:20.3 two-truck Climax DC Nº 7: Custom built MOW boxcar/truck c/w LGB motor
the Chute Lake logging camp and the Dear Creek sawmill in Summerland. My version of The Kettle Valley Railway, like the prototype, runs a number of trains to serve its varied clientele. KVR Nº 3 has been used to pull a scratchbuilt seven-car coal train from the Coalmont Collieries, delivering coal to the coaling tower at Mt. Logan and to the Copper Mountain powerhouse. KVR Nº 4 pulls freight trains assembled from a roster of 50 period freight cars to serve the various industries on the railway. CPR Shay Nº 1903 pulls a seven car, scratchbuilt gondola train, with ballast from the Mount Logan pit. CPR Nº 3401 pulls a four-car passenger train consisting of two AMS coaches, a
Resources • For more information about Brian Swanton’s Kettle Valley Railway, Bruce Division, visit https:// sites.google.com/site/kvrbrucedivision/ • You can find a YouTube video of the railway at www.youtube.com/watch?v=3mym5GAiKU0 • For information about the historic Kettle Valley Railway, see www.thekvr.com
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fruit express car, and a baggage/ express and Royal Mail car. The latter two cars are kitbashed AMS coaches, modeled after existing CPR cars. This year I hope to complete the construction of CPR Nº 3716 and a three-car train. It will be modeled after the Kettle Valley Steam Railway excursion train that operates out of Summerland, British Columbia.
Structures There are 75 structures scattered about the railway. All of these were custom built to 1:24 scale and represent buildings found in southern British Columbia. All buildings and streetlights are equipped with 12V lighting, supplied by three garden-light transformers controlled by a timer. Buildings in Coalmont are based on vintage photographs found either on the Internet or in books from my library. The Summerland station and town hall were modeled from plans, along with photos supplied by the visitor center in Summerland, BC. Other railway buildings are based on pictures found in books about the Kettle Valley Railway. The main
OTHER LOCOMOTIVES LGB 0-4-0 rebuilt as a tracksweeping MOW unit Live steam Geoffbuilt OS motor two–truck Shay Live steam Accucraft Mich-Cal Nº 5 two–truck Shay Live steam Accucraft American 4-4-0
roads are made of concrete and serve as access ways to maintain the railway.
Landscape Landscaping includes about 90 trees that are seriously pruned at least once each year to maintain their appearance of scale trees. Groundcover includes extensive use of ground moss, relocated from other gardens on our property. The biggest problem that I have each year is the gifts presented by the three large trees. If it isn’t the flowerets, seeds, and pollen in the spring or the acorns and pinecones during the summer, it is the pine needles and especially the leaves each October that create make-work projects for me.
All good things must come to an end. The arrival of the first cold weather signals the time to shut things down for the winter. Buildings are removed and placed in storage; switch motors are covered with old flowerpots with bricks on top to keep them in place; ponds and stream are drained and cleaned. After this is done, the railway is given a complete cleaning with a shop-vac to pick up all the remaining mess delivered by Mother Nature. Finally, I place covers over the bridges, secure the tunnel-portal doors, and carry all the locomotives into the house for the winter. Now it’s time to work on that excursion train and repair some of the buildings that deteriorated over the last season. For instance, the cedar-shake roof on the West Summerland station needs to be replaced. I will occasionally take a peek out my window at all that snow and dream of the coming spring when I can run my trains once more.
9. The Town of Coalmont, with the station in the foreground and the Coalmont Collieries tipple in the background. All the buildings in this town are scratchbuilt, based on photographs in Diane Sterne’s book, White Gold and Black Diamonds. 10. Two empty coal cars are ready to return to the Coalmont Collieries from Granby Power House.
About the author Brian Swanton has been retired from teaching since 1996. He taught design and technology at a small secondary school (high school). He and his wife Mary have been married for 52 years and have three children, five grandchildren, and one great-granddaughter. Besides working on the KVR garden railway, he is Conductor of Ontario’s West Coast Garden Rail Society and a member of the Bluewater Modellers, a group that builds historical dioramas. He has a strong interest in gardening, woodworking, badminton, and fishing. Brian and Mary both enjoy visiting other places, provided they have trains for him, quilt stores for her, and, of course nurseries for both of them.
www.GardenRailways.com
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ADVANCED SCRATCHBUILDING TECHNIQUES l PART 3
Make a BASIC
CATTLE CHUTE Add more operational possibilities to your railroad by Jack Verducci | San Mateo, California |
A SMALL DAIRY FARM NOW RESIDES on my Crystal Springs Railroad. It’s located in the front yard part of the line, along with a farm house, a barn, and some pasture land. Nearby is a milk shed, where milk is shipped by rail. After looking at the overall railroad design, I realized I could create interest and additional operational possibilities by adding two simple cattle chutes. I built two chutes: one in the backyard near the town of Crystal Lake and the other near the milk shed in the front yard. Now the railroad has a customer for its cattle cars. Milk cows can also be
PHOTOS AND ILLUSTRATIONS BY THE AUTHOR
transferred by train from one grazing area to the other. You don’t necessarily need an operation like mine to create a scene with a cattle chute. You don’t even need to have the chute near the track, as similar constructions were used to load cattle trailers and pickup trucks. You could even place one as an abandoned “structure.” At the other end of the spectrum, though, you could create an entire operation around a cattle chute, adding stock pens and cattle runs leading to the chute. I started my project by making a drawing, which I based on a number of photos
of cattle chutes. I work in 1:24 scale (½" = 1'). I judged that the posts would be 6" x 6", making them ¼" square. If I were to build it of wood, I would use the drawings as a basic guide. For more durability, I would beef up the parts (no pun intended). I suggest using a brad gun or pin nailer and Titebond II glue to secure the joints. I decided to make my chutes out of acrylic plastic instead, using my laser cutter to cut out the parts. I bonded them with acrylic cement. In researching cattle chutes, I learned that there are many variations. Ramps were usually set at a 20° grade or less. Some used square-cut post while others used logs.
ABOVE: Cans of fresh milk await pickup on the dock of the milk shed. Note the refrigerator car at left on the siding. Once the cattle car is loaded, the refrigerator car will pick up the milk for delivery to the dairy. LEFT: Located near the town of Fairmont is a small dairy farm. The green structure is the milk shed, where milk is shipped by rail to the San Mateo Dairy. To add interest to the railroad, a cattle chute was built next to the milk shed. Here, cows can be moved to other grazing areas.
Scale
This is a basic cattle chute. You may want beef up the posts and other parts if you are building this out of wood. There were so many full-size variations on this design that it would hard to go wrong. I found this particular one interesting because it incorporates a catwalk alongside the cattle ramp on which a cowboy could walk, prodding the cow along.
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A small ramp goes between the cattle chute and the stock car. You may have to make this longer or shorter than indicated in the drawing, depending on how it is installed.
Ramp support beam
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20° angle
Side view
Cattle ramp
Adjustable ramp to connect to cattle car
Top view Cowboy ramp
Drawing 1—Cattle chute www.GardenRailways.com
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A cattle chute is located near Crystal Lake, next to an open field where cows can graze and do whatever cows do. The author’s Whitcomb switcher was the perfect engine for the job, as it fits on the turntable with the refrigerator car. From here it will deliver the car, loaded with fresh milk, to the San Mateo Dairy.
Cattle deck
Cleats A full-size PDF of this drawing can be found on Garden Railway’s website
A switcher is used to move cars from one siding to another. Once the cattle are loaded, the switcher will leave that car in the yard for pickup by the next westbound train.
Delivering the milk Another operational feature came to light as I was thinking about the cattle chutes. Several years ago I installed a number of building façades along a fence, forming a commercial row based on a part of old San Mateo. One of these building is the San Mateo Dairy. At the time I had not thought about connecting it to the railroad but rather planned to use delivery trucks. Once I built the dairy farm I decided to figure out a way to service the San Mateo Dairy by rail. I realized that I could reach it by going though the turntable located at the engine facility. Years ago I bought a Whitcomb switch engine. I didn’t really have much use for it at the time—I just like its looks. This turned out to be the solution to the problem of how to
Online extras Download a full-size drawing of a cattle chute on our website. Visit www.GardenRailways.com and type “cattle chute” in the search box.
42
Garden Railways | October 2016
2 required Cleats Ramp support beam Cowboy deck
Side boards—same for left and right sides
Drawing 2
Basic cutting patterns for making the author’s version of a cattle chute
move a refrigerator car through the turntable and to the dairy, as the Whitcomb is small enough to fit on the turntable with one reefer. This has become my milk-run engine. It brings one refrigerator car at a time to the dairy via the turntable, which places the milk train on a line that goes to dairy. To build the line, I installed tracks in the street in front of the dairy. As a child, I remember seeing trains running in the streets of San Francisco, the State Belt
Railroad of California. This little section of my railroad reminds me of the time that a car could drive alongside a freight train on the same roadway. The Whitcomb engine was converted to battery power and radio control, which eliminated having to walk into a tight area of the railroad to turn the engine on or off or to reverse it. The addition of the two cattle chutes and the installation of the dairy siding has added much to my enjoyment of the railroad.
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1. The many levels of the U&B railroad can be seen here, starting with the overhead ceiling track. Five locomotives in this picture are going about their day.
A vertical railroad square in 44
270 feet
Garden Railways | October 2016
2. In the small, industrial part of Butnot, engine Nº 11, an oil-converted 0-4-0T (left of center), does the daily switching of cars near the cattle pens.
3. Spinning the Heisler on the A-frame turntable at the Butnot engine house. The deep turntable pit helps with the winter snowfall, while its unusual truncated design provides more real-world clearance.
Lumber, mining, and more on the indoor Ughnott & Butternox Railroad by Larry Anzalone | Gretna, Nebraska |
T
he Ughnott Lumber Company and the Butternox Mining Company merged in the late 1800s to establish the U&B Shortline Railroad. This indoor, freelance line is set from the turn-of-the-century to around
PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
the mid-1920s. It could be anywhere from the Virginias to the Rockies to the great northwestern states of the Union. My youngest son bestowed the names on the two mountain camps back in 1985, when we first started the U&B in HO
scale. We moved up to large scale about 15 years ago. The U&B was set up to basically take rough products from the mountain camps to market in the small town of Butnot. The railroad is located in a rough, rugged, and steep mountainous region in the heart of the Goom Wa Chee forest, a Native American name meaning Land of Big Trees—and there are hundreds of trees on the layout so far, as well as several tunnels and timber trestles, sharp curves, and 6% grades. The railroad passes close www.GardenRailways.com
45
Dam
Lower coal mine
Lower track
Town of Butnot
7
Creek
Room size: 27' x 10'
Main coal mine
2
8
6 5 Wapie Cashie tall timber trestle 200 scale feet long— 40" from floor to top deck
3' aisle
Pond
Log flume
4 Ughnott Lumber
Butternox coal 9
36" waterfall
Sawmill
24" turntable 4'
The Ughnott & Butternox Railroad
Bear Claw Gorge 3 1 Track Door Bridge Hidden track Real water
MARC HOROVITZ
Upper track
Up
Features of the U&B Railroad • Begun in November 2010 and is still under construction (and will be for some years to come). • The layout is in a small room, 13' x 27'. The layout covers 10' x 27'— only 270 sq. feet. In a couple of places, the scenery goes from floor to ceiling, thus maximizing the small space and providing a lot of depth. • All track and switches are Bachmann, which work well for my needs. There is only about 200' of mainline but, with all of the tunnels, reverse track coils, and multiple elevations, it seems larger. • There is a full loop of track around the room’s ceiling, suspended from real railroad spikes. This is a separate track, not connected to the U&B RR. • 36" real waterfall • 65" real-water rushing trout stream, with a hand constructed, working water gate to control the flow of the stream. There is also a log pond, where the stream is dammed under a bridge. • 34" log flume, with real water rushing down to the trout stream
46
Garden Railways | October 2016
or the log pond, where the logs are removed from the pond by the elevated crane, loaded onto log cars, and taken to the sawmill. • 17 turnouts • 17 tunnels • 9 timber trestles, the largest being a curved bridge 98" long x 42" high, with 15 bents and a car tunnel in the middle of the curve. • 18 completed scratchbuilt structures (so far) • Lights throughout the mining area • Mountains were made from 26 molds, colored and textured with my secret paint (dirt). • Currently there are over 650 trees, ranging from just a few inches to the massive hand-constructed Ponderosa pines, the tallest being 75" tall from its base. Most trees are real but there are approximately 24 handmade Ponderosa and other pine trees throughout the mountains in the three-to-sevenfoot height range. • Buckets of homemade groundcover, natural rocks, and plenty of local weeds and grasses were used in the scenery.
4. Arlo, Clyde, and Horace work the logs as they drop from the real-water log flume into the Ughnott log pond. The crane will then pick them up and load them for the sawmill.
to the real water that comes from the Anal Falls, which creates a rushing trout stream. I am not a rivet counter but I do like my scenery and buildings to look as realistic as I can make them. I enjoy building them more than highly detailing steam engines and rolling stock. Tall trees, scratchbuilt buildings, and rugged mountains are a must for me. Part of the reason I enjoy modeling this particular time period so much is that I can make a lot of mistakes that are not
5. The 13' x 27' room housing the Ughnott & Butternox Railroad would be ideal for an HO layout but provides a cramped space for a large-scale line. The verticality of the U&B makes up for its lack of horizontality. Here we are looking south from the Ughnott Lumber Company, in the foreground, to the Butternox Coal Mining Company.
noticeable—and there are a ton of mistakes here, there, and everywhere. I am one of those people who can’t cut a straight line with a fixed guide to save my soul, so this works out just fine for my amateur-status skill level. I do try to use as much real plant material—twigs, grasses, and shrubs—as possible. All of the mountains were colored with my secret paint—dirt and water, mixed as a light-brown wash that works well on plaster and looks as real as you can imagine. As you can see from the photos, this is quite a small layout but it includes a lot of large features and depth that many larger railways, both indoors and out, lack. So, 6. A busy day at the Butternox Mining Company. A Model T coal truck gets weighed while a string of empties sits on the track to the left of the mine structure. All buildings on the U&B are scratchbuilt. www.GardenRailways.com
47
Uncompleted projects
7. Climax Nº 4 crosses the Wapie Cashie bridge, the tallest and longest on the U&B. Truck traffic crawls under the tall timber trestle through the two-lane underpass.
• Brick enginehouse • Turntable • Whiskey distillery with water wheel • Hotel • Depot • Third water tower • Warehouse • Jail • Bank • General store • Lots of outhouses • Lighted telephone poles • Meat-packing house • Stockyards • Hide house • Period motorcycle shop • And whatever else I can squeeze in to make the layout look very tight and congested
48
Garden Railways | October 2016
8. Outside the sawmill, sawdust is sent up an underground conveyor to the red slash burner. In the background, Jake sweeps the mill’s floor.
in this case, size doesn’t matter. The only thing I gave up is a large 12-to-15 track yard, which I always wanted. However, all of the spurs act as my yard, only with
fewer cars per train. That should give you a brief overview of the U&B RR. I hope that you enjoy the pictures.
How to automate your signals p. 44
Accucraft’s
28-ton Shay p. 62
AUGUST 2015
HOW TO build a lift-out bridge p. 12
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INTERMEDIATE PROJECT
Convert engines to
BATTERY POWER & RADIO CONTROL 50
Garden Railways | October 2016
With battery power and radio control, dirty track becomes a non-issue, lights remain at constant intensity regardless of engine speed, and slow-speed operation improves.
PART 3:
Assembling the components by Tom Gaps | Milwaukie, Oregon |
B
PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
y now, we have selected the various items we plan to install during this conversion. We have identified where they will go and what items are already present in the locomotive that will need to be removed or replaced. All that remains is to install the new items and connect them.
Ready for disassembly A locomotive will require some disassembly to gain access to the internal components. This is where an article on generic battery conversion must stop, as each locomotive will be different. Consult the manufacturer’s assembly diagrams to determine how much disassembly must
be done. Many manufacturers include an “exploded diagram” that shows how all of the pieces go together. If this was not included with your locomotive, you may be able to find a copy on the manufacturer’s website. It’s not absolutely necessary that you have this diagram but it can make disassembly and later assembly a lot easier. As you disassemble the locomotive, document each item as you remove it. Sometimes before-and-after photos will help. It is frustrating, when re-assembling www.GardenRailways.com
51
LED characteristics
Taking the top off the Bachmann No 5 Deadwood Central tender provides access to the 88 watt-hour (6,000-mah, 14.8v) Li-Ion battery pack, G-2 Air Wire decoder and P8 Phoenix sound card. The speakers are in the locomotive smokebox, leaving extra room in the tender for a larger battery. The on/off switch, volume switch, and charger jack are located in front of the coal load at the left.
The tender on the James locomotive from the Thomas series has enough room to house a Crest Revolution control system and speaker along with a set of twelve NiMH cells that provide 4.2 amp hours at 14.4V (60.48 watt-hours).
A speaker is mounted on the floor of a steam-locomotive tender. To allow the sound to escape, a series of holes were drilled in the floor of the tender.
52
Garden Railways | October 2016
A light-emitting diode (LED) is a Green anode special-case diode. It shares the Red anode same primary characteristic of all diodes in that it conducts electricity in only one direction, so polarity is important when connecting Blue anode them. As the name implies, an LED Cathode is a diode that emits light when conducting a current. By mixing in A three-color LED with a common cathode connection different elements when creating and one anode connection for each color. Each anode the LED, the frequency (color) of lead will require a resistor to limit the current. the emitted light can be controlled, which means that you can get different colored LEDs. In addition to single-color LEDs, you can get multi-colored LEDs in the same housing, with one common cathode connection and a separate anode connection for each color. As with all diodes, LEDs, when conducting, present a very small resistance. If they were connected directly to a power source, this small resistance would result in a very high current that would damage the LED. Since only a small current is required, and since the goal in using LEDs is to reduce the current demand on the battery, some current-limiting device must be put in series with the LED—usually a resistor. There are a number of calculators on the Internet that can be used to determine the size of this resistor. To make it easy for the novice, many of the LEDs sold at hobby stores include an assortment of resistors of varying sizes. The documentation that comes with the LEDs generally indicates which resistor to use to get the level of light output required (i.e., low-output marker light vs. high-output headlight). Additionally, some LEDs come with a resistor already embedded in the LED housing, making them even easier to work with.
the locomotive, to end up with two screws of different lengths, when you need two of the same length. At this point you realize that somewhere in the re-assembly you must have used the wrong screw. During the disassembly, also document all of the wiring before you remove or cut any of it. Even if your locomotive included an electrical diagram, it’s not unheard of for the manufacturer to make slight wiring changes during assembly that are not reflected in the diagram. You need to know exactly how your locomotive is wired before you start cutting and/ or removing wires. Many manufacturers include generic circuit boards that support the connection of different control boards. The intent is to make a battery conversion easier to perform. These generic circuit boards tend to be large because they need to deal with a wide variety of controlboard options. This means wasted space for connections to things that you will not be using—space that could be used to
install a larger battery or a larger speaker. In most cases it is best to simply remove all of the generic wiring and circuits, keeping only the basics in place—these being the motor and the lights. If the lights are being replaced by LEDs, then even they will need to be removed. This will give you the maximum amount of space to work with. At the core of the electric locomotive is the motor, which is connected to the internal bus lines (refer to figure 1 in part 1 of this series, June 2016). Converting to battery power requires cutting/removing the bus-line connections to the rails and reconnecting these lines to the motorcontrol ports on the motor-control circuit. Cutting the connections to the track ensures that you can run your batterypowered locomotive on a track-powered system while track-powered locomotives are also in use, without the two systems interfering with each other. If you want the option of running from track power as well, a DPDT switch can be installed
The tender on the Emily locomotive from the Thomas the Tank Engine series is too shallow to accommodate a speaker, electronics, and a reasonable amount of battery capacity in the tender alone. Instead, the batteries are housed in the first passenger car behind the tender, with a power cord and connector delivering the power to the electronics in the tender.
that connects the internal bus to either the track or to the battery-powered control circuit board. When connecting the wires from the motor to the motor-control ports, it’s not always easy to determine which wire goes to which port. After connecting the wires, if you find that the direction of motion has been reversed, simply swap the wires on the motor-control ports. If you plan to include separate, independent control of the lighting, the lighting must be disconnected from the motor-control bus lines and reconnected to the lighting-control ports on the lighting-control circuit. This may also require a DPDT switch, if you want to maintain lighting while running on track power.
What wire size to use Note: Assuming that you decided to remove the smoke generator, the motor will be the heaviest draw on the battery. A typical large-scale motor draws between .5 and 1.0 amp. The current draw will be much higher when pulling excessively long trains and/or on steep grades. Also, running trains faster will increase the rate at which you draw power from the battery. For a given train, it will take approximately the same amount of power for each trip around your railroad. If you run the train faster, it will make more trips per hour, which means more power required from the battery per hour. The power (watts) required to move the train is the product of the voltage and the current (V x I). Since the voltage of
A power-control circuit card connects the battery in the passenger car to the power cord leading to the tender and its electronics. This power-control circuit provides screw terminals for both cable connections, an ON/OFF switch, a power-line fuse, and a charging jack with an automatic battery disconnect.
the boiler and the tender. For smaller diethe battery is somewhat fixed, drawing sel units, that might be between an A and more power means drawing more curB unit or possibly between the locomotive rent. Batteries are rated by amp-hours (ah), the product of the amps being drawn and a battery car. A battery car that holds some or all of and the number of hours you draw those the electronics must always be connected amps. Running the train faster means to the locomotive. For a display railroad, more amps per hour, which means fewer this is generally not a problem. For an hours before you reach the amp-hour operational railroad, in which you want to limit of the battery. So, if you want your do a lot of switching, having to constantly batteries to last, slow down. drag around that car all the time can Typically, motor connections should place a significant restriction use #20 or larger wire. A #20 on the use of the locomotive. copper wire has a maximum On the other hand, the use of current rating of 1.5 amps. Current draw a battery car introduces the A large wire, say #18, (rated will be much possibility of using the same at 2.5 amps), could better battery car with several difdeal with the occasional higher when ferent locomotives (obviously heavy current load but many pulling long not at the same time), which circuit boards will not hantrains or on reduces the total cost of a batdle the connection of a wire steep grades. tery conversion. For example, of that size. Check the conthree battery cars could be nection on the controller shared between five locomoboard before starting, to tives, allowing any combination of three make sure it will handle the planned size of the locomotives to be used at the same of wire, then use the largest wire size that time. This would reduce the total battery the board will accommodate for the conversion costs by a factor of 40%. motor connection. For all other connecUsing multiple battery cars with tions (not including the smoke generator), multiple locomotives will require that you #22 or #24 wire should be sufficient. For standardize the connection between the long wire runs it is best to use the larger battery car(s) and the locomotive(s) so #22 wire. For large diesel engines, all of the com- that they are all interchangeable, which brings up the topic of interconnects. ponents should easily fit in the locomoThere is no single, perfect interconnect tive. For steam locomotives and for some but there are characteristics that make smaller diesels, you may find that not everything will fit in a single unit and will some more reliable and safer. A single, multi-pin plug works best, as it simplifies have to be split between two units. For steam locomotives, that would be between the connection. The best choice here is a www.GardenRailways.com
53
“keyed” connection—one that will plug together only one way. If a keyed connection is not possible, be sure that both plugs have an indicator showing which way to make the connection, such as red on one side and green on the other for both plugs, connecting them red-to-red and green-to-green. A careful choice of which pins to use on the connector for each set of wires will help to avoid problems if the connectors are plugged in backward. For example, making the two outside pins be the motor connection means that the worst that can happen is that the polarity to the motor will be reversed. This is not likely to cause any damage to the locomotive and can quickly be corrected by reversing the plug. The same would be the case for lights. Generally, lights share a common return wire. By using a connector with an odd number of pins, the center pin can be the common line. If the plugs are connected backward, the center pin will still be the common. If the headlight connection is to the right of the center pin and the backup light is to the left of the center pin, when the plugs get put together backward, the lines for the headlight and backup light will be reversed. However, since the motor lines are also reversed, the lights will still match the direction of travel but the direction of travel will be the reverse of what the throttle calls for. So, have a plan for using the pins on the connector— don’t just pick the next available pin when assigning connector pins. As the train moves along, the connectors will be pulled and twisted between the battery car or tender and the locomotive. This can lead to the connectors being pulled apart if there is no locking mechanism. If only one of the connectors is floating (at the end of a wire) while the other connector is anchored to its car (locomotive), this pulling and twisting effect is amplified, leading to disconnects. Either allow both connectors to be free floating or use locking connectors if one of the connectors will be anchored to its car.
Connecting locomotive lights Out-of-the-box, track-powered locomotives have lighting that’s connected to the same power bus as the motor. As the track voltage increases, the locomotive moves faster and the lights burn brighter. When
54
Garden Railways | October 2016
A C-19 tender on the left houses a 7.8 ah Li-Ion battery pack providing 14.8V (115.4 watthour), along with an AirWire G-2 decoder and Phoenix P8 sound card. The speakers are located in the smokebox of the locomotive. A K-27 tender on the right houses a pair of 2.2 ah gel cells connected in parallel, giving a total of 4.4 ah at 12V (52.8 watt-hours), along with an AirWire G-2 decoder, Phoenix P8 sound card and speaker.
the voltage drops to zero (train stopped), the lights go out. With batteries, a constant voltage is available by connecting them to the lighting-control circuit so the lights can stay on all the time and at the same level of brightness. With track power, direction-sensitive lighting is controlled through the use of diodes, which will allow current to flow only in one direction, from positive to negative. When an incandescent light gets its power from the same source as the motor, putting a diode in series with the bulb causes the light to come on only for one direction of travel and go out when the motor is stopped. With battery power, the basic power source never changes polarity. The lighting circuit will have connection points for forward and reverse directional lighting. In addition, some lighting circuits will provide shifts in intensity depending on stopped vs. moving or forward vs. reverse, as well as other options (check the manual for options). With the lighting circuit deciding when to turn on lights, the direction-sensitive diodes are no longer needed and can be removed. If you’re replacing incandescent lights with LEDs, the LEDs must be connected with the correct polarity or they will never come on. Also, you must remember to include a resistor in series with the LED to limit current (see the sidebar on LED use).
Charger selection When selecting a battery charger, there are two schools of thought. The first is to purchase a charger that can automatically
handle multiple configurations of battery chemistry, battery size, battery voltage, etc., so that it can be used on all of your batteries. These chargers generally cost considerably more and they restrict you to charging only one battery pack at a time. Also, having only a single charger results in a single point of potential failure. If this charger fails, you cannot recharge any of your batteries. The alternate approach is to purchase multiple small, less complicated, and less flexible chargers so that multiple batteries can be charged at the same time. These generally cost considerably less and, should one of them fail, the others will continue to work. If you standardize on one family of battery packs, you will be able to use the same small, simple charger on multiple locomotives, which will mean that you only need a few smaller chargers to handle all of your engines. Anything more on battery conversion would be getting into the specifics of particular brands or models of locomotives, which is beyond the scope of this article. Good luck and have fun converting your locomotives to battery power, radio control. Remember, there is no single, right way to do it; just because someone else did it a certain way does not mean that you have to do it exactly the same way.
About this series Part 1: Components and wiring Part 2: Battery selection
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DON PARKER
MINISCAPING
PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR EXCEPT AS NOTED
Small flowering bulbs
1. These short little irises are one of the first spring bulbs to appear. (Photo taken on the author’s former garden railroad.)
W
hen spring arrives, there’s lots of color in many gardens but not necessarily in railroad gardens—unless you’ve put in some early flowering plants. If you’ve thought about including springflowering bulbs, this is the time of year to get them into the ground. There is a limited number to choose from that are small enough to fit in with our trains. Those that are appropriate should be placed where they offer the most visible appeal but not where they will obscure structures or trains. Flowering bulbs and trains may not be a mix for everyone’s taste but, for those of you who would like a welcome shot of springtime color, here are some suggestions. Iris. The smallest members of the iris
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Garden Railways | October 2016
family pop open in early spring before other flowering bulbs even have buds. Two of these are reticulated iris (Iris reticulata, Zones 4-9; photo 1) and Danford’s iris (I. danfordiae, Zones 5-9). They both grow 3-4" tall (in flower), with narrow, grass-like leaves that lengthen to 10-12" before going dormant and disappearing in the summer. Reticulated iris is purplyblue, with yellow stripes in the lower petals, while Danford’s is bright yellow. Both grow well in areas of sun-to-part-shade and prefer well-drained soil. Best of all, they are deer resistant. Glory-of-the-snow. Another very early bloomer is glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa forbesii, Zones 3-8; photo 2). Its flowers are lilac blue with white centers and are smaller and more delicate than
those of reticulated iris. It grows 3-6" tall and will naturalize in an area, slowly spreading by forming small bulb offshoots. It also goes dormant in summer, making a good underplanting for small shrubs or annual flowering plants. Gloryof-the-snow is similar to Siberian squill (Scilla siberica), although the latter might be somewhat invasive. Spring starflower. This showy little plant (Ipheion uniflorum, Zones 5-9; photo 3) grows 3-5" high, with grass-like but rounded instead of flat, foliage. The early spring flowers are small, star-like, and come in colors from near-white through blue to violet. It naturalizes and would make a seasonal groundcover in sun to part shade, planted under shrubs or among other plants that would take
Small bulbs for the railway NAME
ZONE SIZE
Windflower (Anemone blanda) 5-10 Glory-of-the-snow (Chionodoxa forbesii) 3-8 Cyclamen (Cyclamen coum) 4b-8b Snow drop (Galanthus nivalis) 3-9 Spring starflower (Ipheion uniflorum) 5-9 Iris (Iris danfordiae) 5-9 Iris (Iris reticulata) 4-9 Grape hyacinth (Muscari armeniacum) 3-9 Dwarf daffodil (Narcissus ‘Tete-a-Tete’) 4-8 Golden garlic (Nothoscordum montevidense) 7b-10b Siberian squill (Scilla siberica) 2-8 Species tulip (Tulipa batalinii) 3-8
COLOR SEASON CONDITIONS
4"/8" Bl-Wh-Pk-Rd 5"/3" Bl 3"/6" Pk-Rd-Wh 8"/5" Wh 3"/5" Bl 3"/4" Ye 3"/6" Bl-Pu 9"/6" Bl 8"/6" Ye 4"/3" Ye 6"/3" Bl 6"/8" Ye
Sp Sp W W-Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp Sp-F Sp Sp
FS-PtSh FS-PtSh PtS-FSh FS-PtSh FS-PtSh FS-PtSh FS-PtSh FS-PtSh FS-PtSh FS-PtSh FS-PtSh FS
ZONE: USDA Plant Hardiness Zones SIZE: The first number in inches in the table is the length of the leaves; the second number is the height of the flowers. The actual height of some of these plants is much less than the first number, as their foliage is arching or droopy. COLOR: Bl=blue, Pk=pink, Pu=purple, Rd=red, Wh=white, Ye=yellow SEASON: F=fall, Sp=spring, W=winter CONDITIONS: FS=full sun, PtS=part sun, PtSh=part shade, FSh=full shade
CIAR
BENJAMIN MASON
over in summer. It goes dormant in hot weather but reappears in the fall. Golden garlic. This little bulb is also known as thread-leafed false allium (Nothoscordum montevidense, Zones 7b-11; photo 4) and has a longer bloom period than most others. It sports golden yellow, multiple blooms on a clump of grass-like foliage growing up to 4" high, starting to bloom in spring and off and on through fall. In northern climates, the plant can overwintered inside and replanted in the spring. However, the clump on my railroad has been outside through two winters (in Zone 6a) and still struggles back, which seems hardier than the literature states. In Zones 8a and south, golden garlic will slowly spread to make a colorful patch in partial sun to light shade. It prefers loose, loamy soil and average moisture. Daffodils. Daffodils, or jonquils, are one of the easiest bulbs to grow: tough, long-lasting, slowly spreading in clumps, and quite deer and rabbit resistant. Most daffodils are too large for the railroad garden, where plants must complement trains. However, there are a few species that are naturally small and could find a useful niche in the railroad garden. One of these is a dwarf daffodil (Narcissus ‘Tete-a-Tete’, Zones 4-8; photo 5). It is one of the earliest daffodils to bloom and the flowers are held for a longer time than many others. Often there are one to three blossoms per stalk, as opposed to most standard daffodils that have only one. They will bounce back after late spring snows, will grow in partial shade, and are not picky about soil type. The flowers will lean toward the sun so they should be planted where shady areas are behind the intended view. Hyacinths. Grape hyacinths (Muscari armeniacum, Zones 3-9; photo 6) are the smallest of the hyacinths, growing only 6" tall. Their foliage is droopy, interlocking as the plants spread to make a good 4-6"tall groundcover. The foliage disappears in summer but will reappear in the fall to remain green throughout the winter and sport flowers again the next early spring. They are tolerant of most soils and are of easy care. Hardy cyclamen. One of these bulbs
2. Glory-of-the-snow flowering in early spring.
3. Spring starflower comes in a variety of colors, here a near-white.
(Cyclamen coum, Zones 4b-8b; photo 7) blooms so early it could be called a latewinter-early-spring bloomer, starting in early February (in warmer parts of the country) to late February (in colder climes) and continuing through March. The blossoms come in pink or purply-red and all shades in between. The leaves are
distinctive, rounded, and often have silvery spots or veining, growing 3" tall. The flowers arch 2-3" above the foliage; even when not in bloom, the plant makes a nice groundcover. Cyclamen is easy to grow, with certain considerations; it does best in full shade to dappled sun and requires well-drained, even dry, soil. Very few www.GardenRailways.com
57
MINISCAPING
Continued
RÉGINALD HULHOVEN
4. Golden garlic blooms throughout spring, then off and on into fall. (Photo shot on the author’s Hoot ’n’ Holler RR)
5. This 1:20.3-scale figure gives you an idea of how small these dwarf daffodils are.
6. Grape hyacinths offer blooms with bold color and an interesting structure.
flowering plants are so suited to dry shade. It will do well planted around the base of a tree, where the tree helps to keep the soil dry and provide shade. Snowdrops. Growing a bit taller (6-9"), snowdrops (Galanthus nivalis, Zones 3-9) are another late-winter-early-springblooming plant. The white flowers have three drooping outer petals that resemble
drops of snow. This one might make a nice backdrop in an area where the bulbs can spread to form drifts. Fall (September or October) is the best time to plant spring-flowering bulbs when the soil temperature has cooled. The success rate drops with later plantings, as the time for the bulbs to establish gets shorter before the ground freezes.
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Garden Railways | October 2016
7. Cyclamen are evergreen all winter and bloom in February.
Online extras For more on early blooming perennials, see “Miniscaping” in the June 2007 issue of GR. Subscribers can find the article at www.GardenRailways.com. Type “perennials” in the search box.
JEFF YOUNG
RAISING STEAM
Four seasons of live steam: Fall
PHOTO BY THE AUTHOR
L
et’s look at live steaming in the fall in the final installment of this seasonal series. The weather becomes more variable and the daylight hours are noticeably shorter. Things start to wind down in terms of steam events and steamups but by no means is it time to fully retreat indoors yet, as there are still plenty of pleasant days to run steam engines outside. Since dry and warm days are becoming less frequent, it seems to make you appreciate them even more. Such days are just made to go outside and fire up a locomotive. Of course, gathering your fellow live steamers to get in one last steamup before winter makes it even more enjoyable. The cool, damp air on days with no appreciable wind makes for spectacular exhaust plumes that hang in the air for a long time—just the sort of day to get those atmospheric photographs of your locomotives in action. It’s worthwhile to keep your camera or smartphone handy for just such occasions. Given the cooler temperatures, there is a point at which pure butane will not give you the performance desired for a gasfired locomotive. It’s time to switch to isobutane or a butane/isobutane mix. This is not true for alcohol-fired engines but you will notice that it takes a little longer to raise steam on cooler days. Being the fall, trees shed their leaves, often covering the garden railway. Aside from removing the leaves so that trains can run, be mindful that dry leaves and other fall debris can easily catch fire from spilled alcohol or cinders from a coalfired locomotive. It’s always a good idea to ensure that the steamup bay and mainline are free of leaves as much as possible to keep the fire risk to a minimum. As you undertake these more infrequent fall runs, keep a notebook handy. In it you can record all those things that need looking at during the winter workshop time—that leaky safety valve or the slightly out-of-time engine that you have tolerated all summer could benefit from some attention. It’s best to write them
The autumn brings falling leaves and spectacular exhaust plumes.
down before they are forgotten. When the fall steamups have dwindled, it’s time to prepare the locomotives for winter hibernation. It’s a good idea to drain the boilers and to ensure no fuel is left in the gas or alcohol tanks. I like to give my locomotives a good cleaning at the end of the season. This includes removing the build-up of gunk on the wheels and bearings. Turn the locomotive over and remove any twigs or accumulated debris from the underside. Tweezers are handy for getting into tight areas. Wipe around the wheel bearings and the running-gear linkages with a cotton swab
to remove any grit, which could cause wear. Once cleaned, give the chassis a light oiling to prevent rusting. Finally, a good wipe down of the body with a clean cloth will remove the accumulated oily residue that attracts dust so readily. It also makes the engines nicer to look at as they sit on the shelf or mantle over the winter! As a final thought, fall is the time to start planning and gathering the materials for those major winter workshop projects, from adding details or repainting an engine to assembling a brand-new locomotive from a kit. www.GardenRailways.com
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Garden Railways | October 2016
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11 September 2016: Columbus Garden Railway Society Annual Open House • Columbus, Ohio • 1 to 5 p.m., rain or shine • Free • Info at www.thecgrs. org 8-15 January, 2017: Diamondhead International Small Scale Steamup, Diamondhead, MS • Pat Darby, K5pat@ bellsouth.net, 985-867-8695 • Terry Smelser,
[email protected], 985-373-7593 • www.Diamondhead.org 4-6 February 2017: New Zealand Garden Railway Convention, Auckland, New Zealand • e-mail gardenrailauckland@ gmail.com for further information 18-19 March, 2017: Midlands Garden Railway Show, Warwickshire Exhibition Centre, Nr Leamington Spa (UK) • Info: www.meridienneexhibitions.co.uk 24-25 March, 2017: East Coast Large Scale Train Show, York Expo Center, 334 Carlisle Ave., York, Pennsylvania • Info: www.eclsts.com Future Garden Railway Conventions 2017: Tulsa, OK—www.thinktulsa17.com 2018: Atlanta, GA—www.ngrc2018.com 2019: Portland, OR
(=/2$'(56
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Event notices are published at no charge. We will accept, at our discretion, listings that pertain to predominantly garden-railway or small-scale-live-steam events. Listings that reach us before our deadline and fit the space available will be published. Send your listings to Garden Railways, PO Box 460222, Denver CO 80246, or e-mail them to mhorovitz@ gardenrailways.com
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I
f you’re building a model railroad, you have three choices: absolute prototype fidelity, freelance creativity, or some combination of the two—let’s call it “prototypical freelancing.” Even smallerscale railroads are rarely totally true to prototype; it’s not often realistic to build large things to scale. Convincing freelancing, though, requires knowledge of railway practices as well as engineering or architectural skills that we may lack. So, freelance prototypes are what we often end up with. These include structures, rolling stock, trackwork, etc. that are based on prototypes but have been modified to suit the environment for which they’re created. They may be selectively compressed or have repeated parts removed, or they may combine features of multiple prototypes to create a hybrid. We may not have room to model a complete mainline railway but we can use the above techniques to design realistic structures based on actual prototypes. If you want to build an enginehouse, turntable, or wheel shop, one good source of plans for these structures is Railway Shop Up To Date. (Free to download at archive. org/stream/railwayshopuptod00haigrich) It contains descriptions of how the various parts of railroad shops are laid out, along with numerous detailed plans from various railroads, circa 1907 (the height of American railways). There’s an amazing trove of prototype references available for download, such as the 1903 Car Builders’ Cyclopedia of American Practice. Anything you could want to know about wood-era cars is here: archive.org/details/carbuilderscycl00divi goog. It was updated regularly from 1879 until 1961 and many editions are online. There’s a similar book about locomotives: Locomotive Cyclopedia of American Practice. Free downloads are available of many editions, starting in 1895. Here’s the 1909 version: books.google.com/ books?id=quZSAAAAMAAJ The two were merged into a single volume in 1966 and last updated in 1997. Here’s a download of the 1952 edition: babel.hathitrust.org/ cgi/pt?id=wu.89089676290 Grab some of these industry reference books and enhance your winter projects with them!
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PRODUCT REVIEWS
The greatest show on earth
Online extras
B
achmann has released a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus gondola. This is a new addition to the company’s extensive line of Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus stock (including a complete Big Hauler set decorated for the circus—check out the company’s website). The car body is molded in bright yellow plastic, with the words “The Greatest Show on Earth™” emblazoned on each side in red, along with the circus’ logo in black. Gray plastic archbar trucks with metal wheels support the car. Bachman’s working knuckle couplers are mounted to the trucks, talgo style. LGB-type hook-and-loop couplers are also supplied and can be easily swapped with the knuckles. The detail level, while not high, is
VITAL STATISTICS 1:22.5 scale, gauge-1 circus gondola car Bachmann Trains 400 East Erie Avenue Philadelphia PA 19124 Price: $99 Website: www.bachmanntrains.com All-plastic gondola car (#92718); working, truck-mounted knuckle couplers; hook-andloop couplers also supplied; metal wheels; soft-plastic grab irons and other detail parts. Dimensions: width, 4"; length, 151 ⁄8"; height, 4". In 1:22.5 scale, this works out to 7'6" x 28'4" x 7'6", respectively
62
Garden Railways | October 2016
acceptable. Details, including grab irons, cut levers, brake wheel and staff, stirrups, and truss rods, are molded in a soft black plastic. Remaining underbody details appear to be molded in a harder black plastic. The soft-plastic parts can be easily bent. The brake-wheel staff on our review sample had been severely bent in packing and it would not stand up straight again. The press-in mounting lugs on the soft detail parts are visible on the inside of the car body. The cut levers, while moveable, are not functional—the couplers would have to be body mounted for them to work properly. On the track, the car rolls along smoothly and easily. The knuckle couplers also work well. They spring open when the pin is pressed upward and close and lock when coming into contact with a mating coupler. Those of you who are modeling a Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus train using Bachmann equipment will welcome this colorful new addition to the line. —M. Horovitz
Cattle chute drawings
Registered users can download full-size drawings of Jack Verducci’s cattle chute. Type “cattle chute” in the search box.
High-tech series Registered users can read part 4 of our series of high-tech modeling for garden railroaders. Part 4 discusses tips and tricks when using a 3D printer. Visit www.Garden Railways.com/hightech
Handcar videos
PROS and CONS PROS: Good representation of a high-side gondola based on a stake-side flatcar; good graphics: free rolling trucks; working knuckle couplers CONS: Plastic grab-irons and other details very soft and easily bent (see text); plastic detail lugs visible in car interior
Everyone can watch videos of Eric Schade’s handcar. Type the author’s name into the search box.
York commemorative reefers
S
tar Hobby is again offering USA Trains rolling stock in special graphics to commemorate the 2016 East Coast Large Scale Train Show in York, Pennsylvania. Two cars are being offered, both refrigerator cars. The cars themselves are standard USA Trains products, supplied with grab irons and stirrup steps in a separate bag. These must be pressed into place by the purchaser, a relatively simple job. The cars travel on free-rolling plastic archbar trucks with plastic wheelsets. LGB-style hook-and-loop couplers are mounted to the trucks. USA Trains knuckle couplers are also supplied. The cars are decorated for the Georgia Winery, with peach-colored sides and an
orange roof; and for Pennsylvania Root Beer, with a brown body and roof. On the ends of each car are the words “ECLSTS,
VITAL STATISTICS East Coast Large Scale Train Show commemorative cars Star Hobby 1564 Whitehall Rd. Annapolis MD 21409 Price: $65 ea; $120/pair + s&h Website: www.starhobby1.com 1:22.5 scale, gauge-1 refrigerator cars made by USA trains; special graphics for the show; handrails etc. supplied separately; hook-andloop couplers; knuckle couplers also supplied
Spring 2016.” As an aside, the Georgia Winery is a real entity, started in 1983 in Ringgold, Georgia. I was unable to find any evidence of Pennsylvania Root Beer. As we have come to expect, the paint and graphics on both of the cars are excellent. If you are a collector of commemorative rolling stock or would just like to add a little color to your line, check out these offerings. —M. Horovitz
PROS and CONS PROS: Excellent paint and graphics; freerolling archbar trucks; usual high USA Trains quality CONS: None
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63
PRODUCT REVIEWS Continued
COMING IN THE
Next issue
Plan your railroad
R
ailmodeller Pro, from Isle of Kakapo, is a downloadable layoutdesign program for Macintosh computers (OSX 10.8 or higher), intended to aid in designing track layouts using commercial sectional track. The program offers over 200 track libraries, from 1:450 scale up through 1:22.5. For gauge-1 railroaders, track libraries include LGB, Aristo-Craft, Piko, Peco, Train Line 45, and several more. For the purpose of this review, I chose LGB. The resulting track menu appears to include virtually every track component produced by LGB, including things like the turntable, double-slip switch, uncoupler, and various bumpers. Components are listed by product number, description (in German and English), and a little diagram. I found this program to be relatively intuitive and easy to use. The user is presented with a blank slate, the chosen track library on the left side, and an information sidebar on the right. Track sections can be dragged into the work area or
VITAL STATISTICS RailModeller Pro, v. 5.1.2 Layout-design software Isle of the Kakapo Price: $39.99 Website: www.railmodeller.com Size: 9.2MB
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Garden Railways | October 2016
quickly duplicated from sections already there. Sections can be rotated to any angle or will rotate automatically to the correct mating angle when “snapped” to an adjacent track section. Switches, crossings, and any available straight or curved sections are instantly available. Despite the ease of getting started, the program offers a multitude of options that will take some digging into to achieve optimum results. For instance, a layout can be designed in 3D—that is, grades can be specified and one track can pass over another. A grade indicator at the bottom of the screen graphically shows the grade. The canvas size is infinitely and automatically adjustable, as is the grid upon which you work (or the grid can be deleted altogether). An “inventory list” can be called up at will, showing how many of which sections of track your layout is currently comprised. The list is automatically updated every time you make a change. There is literally no limit to the complexity of the layout that can be designed with the program. A tutorial is included under the “Help” menu. However, I found that the easiest way to learn the basics and also to see what the program can do is to watch the supplied links to YouTube videos prepared by the company. This series of videos quickly runs through the various capabilities of this extensive and powerful program. An obvious negative that I ran across while using it is that it cannot
A Swiss garden railway turns 30 Learn about a beautifully detailed sawmill Visit an indoor Christmas railroad designed for family fun
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www.GardenRailways.com be used with flex track—only sectional. Another possible drawback, especially for garden railroaders, is that I was unable to find a way of overlaying the available space for the railway onto the grid. Thus, if you have an oddly shaped yard or space, you'll have to know the dimensions quite accurately to ensure that your trackplan will fit your space. This is a well thought out, extremely powerful program. It’s beyond the scope of this review to explore all of its possibilities. If this is something that might be of value to you, or that you’d just like to play around with, a free, downloadable version, RailModeller Express, is available at www.railmodeller.com/express-edition-en. html This has all of the features of RailModeller Pro with certain limitations. Give it a try. If nothing else, it’s fun. —M. Horovitz
A garden line down under
R
alph Holden, as long-time readers may recall, had a column in Garden Railways entitled “A letter from Australia,” which ran from December 1993 through December 1998. In these articles, Ralph would invariably link his garden railway, the South Australian Railways, Eyre Peninsula Division (SAR-EPD), to the full-size railroading world. His model railway in the garden is one of the very few that I’ve ever come across that is closely based on a working prototype. A Stupid Undertaking is not only the story of Ralph’s garden railway, it is his personal story as well. The title of the book refers not to his own efforts in the garden but to a parliamentarian’s reaction
BOOK REVIEW A Stupid Undertaking: Seventy Years Playing with a Train Set by Ralph Holden 53 Stroud St. Nth Cheltenham SA 5014 Australia 88 pages, 6¾" x 9½", softbound, color and b&w photos Price: See text
to the proposed building of the prototype that Ralph models. The book begins with a description of his first experiences with a Hornby 0-gauge train set as a boy in the 1940s, and traces all of his railways leading up to its present incarnation. The author, an Anglican priest, received his first assignment in 1963, to a place that was surprisingly remote, primitive, and difficult to get to, even in what we would consider to be relatively modern times. An automobile journey from Adelaide, the nearest large city, was long, circuitous, and arduous. A boat journey was more direct. The railway, when it was built, became an important link to civilization. It was a portion of this railway the author chose to model. This charming book tells the whole story. The 1:32-scale SAR-EPD evolved over the years into a raised railway that occupied much of the author’s back garden. He describes its construction (including drawings), its locomotives and rolling stock (all scratchbuilt models of specific prototypes), and its operation (much like the prototype’s). Live plants include trees in standard-size removable pots, let into the baseboard of the railway. If one should die, it’s just popped out and replaced by another. All trees are scrupulously pruned
to remain in scale. The book is printed on high quality, glossy paper. Photo and illustration reproduction is excellent. This is a wonderful little volume that accurately chronicles one man’s passion in great detail. We seldom run across someone who has retained relics from all past model-railway endeavors, then compiles them into a book that is not only an easy read, but an entertaining one as well. The price of the book is $15 US, which covers air-mail shipping to the US. The author asks that you just send a ten and a five (cash) to the above address—that’s the easiest and most direct way to get one. —M. Horovitz
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Marketplace
Make your backyard
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. April closes Jan. 15, June closes Mar. 18, Aug. closes May 18, Oct. closes July 21, Dec. closes Sept. 16.
IOWA • Ankeny (Des Moines)
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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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CALIFORNIA • Concord
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JUST TRAINS
5650-H Imhoff Dr.
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CALIFORNIA • Roseville (Sacramento)
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RAILROAD HOBBIES
119 Vernon St.
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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
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CALIFORNIA • San Diego (La Mesa) Exclusively trains. Craft kits, detail parts, scratch supplies, books. Ride the trolley to Reed's. Open Mon through Sat 10-6; Sun 12-4 www.reeds-hobbies.com
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FLORIDA • Orlando
One of Florida's largest model train & hobby shops. All scales. Authorized Lionel & MTH service station. Mon-Thu 9-7:30, Fri 9-9, Sat 9-6. 20 min. from Disney.
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ADVERTISER INDEX
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63 W. Main St.
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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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VIRGINIA • Ashland (Richmond)
OPEN 7 DAYS MON-SAT: 10-7; SUN: 11-4 Authorized Dealer Most Brands G, O, HO, N New & Vintage, Repairs, Spec. Order, Layaway RAILFANS!!! 60 trains pass our store daily. I-95 Exit 92B West 1.2 mi to Tracks
TINY TIM’S TOYS & TRAINS
104 S. Railroad Ave.
804-368-0063
CANADA–ON • Guelph/Puslinch
Large scale trains only. Accucraft, Bachmann, Crest, USA Trains, Phoenix Sound, and much more. R/C & battery conversions. Mail order or walk-ins. Open 6 days, closed Sun. www.wgrr.ca
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Say you saw their directory ad in Garden Railways.
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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.
Accucraft Company...............................43
Grandt Line Products ............................61
Model Decal Depot ...............................66
Shawmut Car Shops .............................66
Art Knapp Plantland, Ltd........................60
Hartland Locomotive Works...................49
Model Railroader Special Issue .............67
Silver State Trains .................................67
Bridgemasters ......................................43
Iron Horse Engraving.............................66
MyLocoSound .......................................43
SLM ......................................................55
Bridgewerks .........................................49
Jamestown Trains .................................66
Phoenix Unlimited, Ltd. .........................61
Smith Pond Junction .............................55
Cedarleaf Custom Decals ......................66
JS Woodcraft ........................................61
PIKO America ........................................72
Something Different ..............................67
Charles Ro Supply Co..............................9
Kadee Quality Products Co. ...................16
R & G Railroad Co. ................................66
Split Jaw Products ................................60
CVP Products ..........................................3
Keithco, Inc. ..........................................10
R & S Enterprises ..................................63
Stoneworks ..........................................66
Dallee Electronics, Inc. ..........................61
Larry G Scale ........................................55
Railbed Systems ...................................60
Sunset Valley Railroad.............................8
Eaglewings Iron Craft ................17, 55, 61
LGB ........................................................7
Rainbow Ridge......................................67
Train Collector’s Association ..................10
East Gary Car Co...................................61
LGB Train Shop .......................................3
RCS of New England .............................66
Train-li-USA ............................................4
Fall Creek Railroad Structures ...............55
Llagas Creek Railways ..........................17
Reindeer Pass Railroad .........................71
TrainWorld ............................................10
G Scale Graphics ..................................55
Loco-Boose Hobbies .............................55
RGSRR Hobbies ....................................16
Trainz.com ............................................12
Garden Railways magazine ...................69
Lynell Model Supply ..............................67
RLD Hobbies .........................................12
Upland Trains ..........................................3
Gardenlines.net ....................................66
M & M Nursery .....................................55
Charles Ro Supply Co..............................7
USA Trains ..............................................2
Gary Raymond Wheels ..........................66
Massoth Elektronik GmbH, Germany .....17
Roundhouse Engineering ......................60
Valley Train Station................................61
Gould Studios .......................................66
ME Taylor Engineering, Inc. ...................67
RR Concepts .........................................67
VES Enterprises ....................................66
Graham Industries ..................................3
Mini Forests by Sky...............................66
Sandy Mush Herb Nursery ....................66
Zionsville Train Depot, LLC ....................16
68
Garden Railways | October 2016
Make Your Railroad a
Garden Retreat
HOW TO repair a damaged locomotive p. 12
REVIEWED:
MTH Dash 8 diesel p. 62
JUNE 2016
Adventures in outdoor model railroading
Convert your engines to battery power and R/C
6
PRODUC TS RE VIEWED p. 62
p. 30
A battery powered, radio controlled C-19 drifts slowly past the little station on the Lone Pine & Western.
Build a functional grade crossing p. 73 Teaching kids life skills SMALL RAILWAY CONTEST WINNER: through railroading p. 48 OLD WEST FUN IN A NARROW SPACE p. 36
Garden Railways magazine has been the resource for outdoor, largescale model railroaders for over 30 years. Filled with design tips and practical how-to articles, Garden Railways will inspire you whether you’re a gardening enthusiast or someone who enjoys spending time in their backyard. Your subscription includes 6 issues (1 year) filled with railroads and trackplans, inspiring photographs, backyard photo tours, PLUS: • How-to projects written by experts. • Railroad and gardening tips and techniques. • Step-by-step instructions with photos.
• Plant, tree, and landscaping suggestions. • Product news and reviews. • BONUS online videos, drawings, buying information, and more!
Turn your outdoor railroad into a beautiful backyard retreat with a subscription to Garden Railways magazine!
P28709
Subscribe Now!
2 EASY WAYS TO ORDER: ONLINE: GardenRailways.com • CALL: 800-533-6644 Outside the United States and Canada, call 813-910-3616.
INTERMEDIATE PROJECT
ONE-PAGE PROJECT
A storage shed from the parts box by Roger Baker | Chesapeake, Virginia |
PHOTOS BY THE AUTHOR
M
ost modelers, particularly kitbashers, have a parts box, where all those leftovers from modeling projects are saved for use on future ones. The storage shed on my Tidewater & Western railroad is a perfect example of a project that originated in my parts box. Many years ago I cut a Bachmann boxcar in half to make a tool-and-water car for my work train [see April 1995 GR]. The unused half went into my parts box until I decided I needed a small storage shed near the station to hold tools, supplies, and equipment for my MOW crews. The half boxcar seemed like a good starting point but, while it had both sides, the back and the roof, it lacked a front wall. Here is where the fun started. All strips, sheets, rods, and tubes mentioned here are Evergreen styrene. I made a front wall and the sliding door from .040" thick V-groove sheet that matched the boards on the sides. For trim over the door, across the back and down each side, and under the eaves, I cut .040" plain sheet to fit. The top door slide is a .060" x .250" strip, attached with three round-head brass brads. Going back to my parts box, I found a suitable window. I cut a hole in the right side of the boxcar to fit the window and framed it with .040" x .156" strips. On the left side, since I didn’t have another window, I made a window frame similar to the one on the right side and added eight, .060" x .156" strips to represent a boardedup window. Finally, I glued two .040" x 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 “One-page project” in the subject line.
70
Garden Railways | October 2016
The Cape Sarah station agent, with his cat, Sylvester, checks his inventory sheet after issuing tools and supplies to the crew of a just-departing work train.
.188" strips down the centerline of the roof, which finished the basic building. The platform is V-groove sheet with the board ends grooved to represent separate boards. It’s supported by seven .060" x .188" beams underneath. The foundation is 1"-thick Styrofoam, covered with Sculptamold carved into stones. The steps are also styrene. Then it was time for the details that add interest and realism to the building. From the parts box came a handle for the door. I added a .040" x .156" strip across the door, with 12 pins—one for each vertical board. The lamp post is a 5⁄16" tube, with a small piece of ⅜" tube at the base and another as a collar for the lamp. The lamp is a piece of bent wire with a paper shade and a bead as a bulb. The electrical conduit and switch were made from small pieces of styrene strip and a 1⁄16" rod. The cord to the lamp is thread. The padlock is made from a styrene scrap and fine wire; the hasp is cut from paper. Barrels, shipping crate, and agent are from Bachmann, while the cat and seagulls are from unknown sources. The
tarp on the crate is facial tissue soaked in glue and shaped to look like it had blown been or pulled loose. Take a look in your parts box and you may just find the inspiration for your next project. I hope it will be as much fun for you as this one was for me. This little shed was made almost entirely from scraps from the author’s parts box. The main structure is half of a boxcar.
A Checklist for Garden Railway Fun
In just a weekend, you can build a basic garden railroad, one that you can expand and enjoy with family and friends for years to come. PIKO offers plenty of G-Scale trains, track, buildings and more — all made for year-round outdoor use. You provide the rocks, plants and a bit of creative energy... It’s easy and fun! © 2016 PIKO America
See how at YouTube.com/c/PIKOAmerica A great place to start: The 212 page full-color PIKO G-Scale Garden Train Catalog – Available at your friendly PIKO retailer, or $9.00 post-paid direct from PIKO America.
PIKO America LLC · 877-678-4449 · www.piko-america.com 4610 Alvarado Canyon Rd #5, San Diego CA 92120
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