Railway Concept and Site Selection
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B_BZFM 2/7/02 4:11 PM Page 3 Contents CTIO SE N Starting 1 Railroading in the great outdoors . 4 Just do it . 8 CTIO SE N Surveying 2 Railway concept and site selection . 12 Surveying your site . 15 CTIO SE N Planning 3 Drawing the plan for the site. 18 Integrating the railroad into the landscape . 28 CTIO SE N Groundwork 4 Laying the groundwork . 34 Small rock and gravel . 47 Tools of the trade . 37 Working with rock . 49 More tools of the trade. 39 Flat rocks and dirt . 52 Miniature landscaping with natural materials . 42 Roadbed construction . 54 Rock type and shapes. 44 CTIO SE N Trackwork 5 The track game . 58 Grading on the curve. 70 Trackwork for your garden railway . 65 Turnout considerations . 73 CTIO SE N Power 6 Power for your trains . 76 Getting power to the railroad. 84 More power for your trains. 80 Harnessing electrons to power your railroad. 86 CTIO SE N Planting 7 Plant hardiness. 88 Plant portraits . 93 A healthy start: Planning and planting. 90 CTIO SE N Maintenance 8 Track maintenance basics . 102 Maintenance of way . 104 CTIO SE N Project Railway 9 Building the Colorado & Pacific: Part 1 . 106 Building the Colorado & Pacific: Part 3 . 120 Building the Colorado & Pacific: Part 2 . 114 Building the Colorado & Pacific: Part 4 . 130 CTIO SE N Appendix 10 Glossary: Basic garden railroading terms . 138 Suppliers and organizations. 144 ECTION S While this hobby may be new to you, 1 it has been around for more than a cen- tury, primarily in Great Britain. In the United States, garden railroading achieved some popularity in the 1920s and ’30s, but nearly died out by the end Railroading of World War II. Its resurgence was due in the great outdoors in large part to the advent of colorful LGB trains from Germany in the late 1960s. As the company introduced more American-style trains, people took notice and garden railways began to spring up all over the country. Since then, numer- ous other manufacturers of large-scale trains have entered the market. Fun in the sun Part of the fun in this hobby is follow- ing the practices of a full-size railroad and working with the landscape. You need to consider the topography of your land and any existing gardens, trees, or other obstacles when planning your railway. If your backyard is sloped, you might build wood or metal trestles or raise the line on earthworks and use timber or stone retaining walls. The choice is strictly up to you. After all, it’s your railroad! You may think that garden railroading is a hobby strictly for gardeners or people who like trains. The truth is that anyone who loves being outdoors can be a garden Jim Forbes railroader. Your railroad can reflect those interests. If you enjoy electrical challenges, for instance, you can build a line with a complex track plan. If you have some car- Do you enjoy gardening? Great! You can combine that interest with pentry skills, you can make buildings from scratch and model a city. And if you like large trains. It’s called garden railroading. The lush greens of the trees, Marc Horovitz to work with machines, try building and graceful curves of the track, and persistent rumbling of a train work in operating a live-steam locomotive. Many beautiful railway gardens have been < A garden railroad is a fascinating created by people who claim not to be addition to any landscape and is a harmony to form a slice of everyday life in miniature. The railway garden gardeners. There are plenty of resources great way for the whole family to The “garden” part of garden railroading available to help get you started. You can enjoy model railroading. The difference between a traditional indoor model railroad and a is another fascinating aspect of this hobby. start by visiting a local nursery or land- D Many nurseries and specialty plant grow- scaping center. Employees there will be > Notice how the train looks natu- garden railway is the difference between realism and reality. An indoor ers sell dwarf and miniature versions of all happy to answer your questions. ral in its surroundings. Garden rail- types of plants. These specimens are ideal Garden railroading is a deep and roaders are adept at using the layout creates the illusion of reality by using artificial materials— for garden railroads since they fit with exceptionally rewarding hobby anyone dwarf varieties of plants to accent the scale of the trains by having smaller can enjoy. It might be the best hobby for the trains without dominating them. mountains are made of plaster or foam, and rivers are created using features and a slower growth rate than your family, because increasing numbers plastic resin. A garden railroad brings everything outdoors. Mountains their full-size cousins. of women, children, and families are Don’t think you have a green thumb? enjoying it together. Give it a try. are made of dirt, rivers are real water, and rocks are actual stone. 4 Garden Railroading Railroading in the Great Outdoors 5 T SEC ION << Larry Rose’s Rio Verde Western 2 Railroad closely follows Colorado narrow-gauge practice in both equipment and operation. This is an example of adhering closely to Railway concept a specific theme. and site selection < Jack DiSarro scratchbuilt his Jim Hudson sugar-cane train. The sugar-cane theme is only loosely followed on his railway, and most emphasis is placed on the engines and rolling stock. Jack DiSarro If you’ve started building a small, tem- Prototype modeling general style of the trains is more impor- porary garden railway, you’ve gained some Does your main interest lie in replicat- tant to you. Buildings and other acces- practical experience. Now you’re ready to ing a particular railroad or a specific time sories may be few, if any. I think it’s safe start thinking about planning a perma- and place? This can be as general as to say that most of your neighbors and nent railway. Your mind may already be “something with an Old West feel,” or a friends will be less impressed by the his- racing ahead to visions of completed bit more specific, such as “turn-of-the- torical accuracy of your railroad than by scenes. I’d like to suggest that you try to century Colorado narrow-gauge railroads,” the composition and interplay of trains fight off that temptation a bit longer. or as specific as “Silverton, Colorado, in and landscape. Take some time to study and consider all the spring of 1898.” Each of these themes Maybe you seek an escape from life’s your options. represents a different level of involvement realities with something offbeat and You might think that the first place to and a different emphasis on model (loco- whimsical. Doghouses on rails, old musi- start on planning your garden railway is motives, rolling stock, structures) accuracy. cal instruments made into locomotives, with its location. Well, that’s certainly one Less immediately obvious, but proba- buildings painted in a cacophony of col- of the things to consider, but I think bly more significant, are the effects each ors, plants that look like they belong on you’ll do yourself a disservice if you first approach will have on how you plan your another planet. This isn’t for everyone, pick a spot, then try to fit a railroad into railroad. In the first example, just build- but it’s proof that garden railroading can it. The best approach is one where you ing rugged mountains with some track on be an art form where self-expression is merge a number of elements: your own spindly wood trestles will accomplish the the objective. concepts of style and theme, the space task. For the last example, you’d need to Marc Horovitz you have to work with, and the amounts say, “Okay, the mountain with the strange Location, location, of time and money you can invest, to rock outcropping goes here, the track location . name a few. Work at one aspect for a little must curve around past the depot just so, It’s true in retail and real estate that while, then approach it from another the river goes there, and we need to build location is everything. Maybe this also The great American architect Frank Lloyd Wright insisted that his angle, then another, until you finally a bunch of buildings from scratch.” There applies to garden railroading. Before you blend it all together. I think you’ll find are dramatic differences in the levels of narrow down your style or theme too far, apprentices work around the grounds of his Taliesin school commune. evidence of this kind of thought in most effort involved in the various approaches. you need to start identifying the pros and Each took a turn as a farmer, cook, laborer, mason, or carpenter. Not of the “great” garden railways. Even if you cons of possible sites for your railway, In aren’t planning a “great” garden railway, Forget prototypes, the process, allow your theme to be modi- only did this help to keep expenses down, it provided these aspiring the, project will still require a good chunk let’s have fun fied a bit to fit your site. Try to work with of your creative energies over an extended Maybe you don’t know or care all that your site instead of against. it. For example, designers with something invaluable—practical experience. Wright’s time, so it is worth some deep thought.