For Your Garden Railway

50 Tips& for your garden tricks railway 618158 A supplement to Garden Railways magazine Axle Flange Bolster Tread Wheel Brake shoe Spring Brake beam Journal box Terminology—Archbar truck Journal box lid or cover 1 Hanging on to little screws To keep those pesky little track screws on the end of the driver when getting them started, apply a tiny bit of Elmer’s glue stick on the end of the driver. It’s white glue in a semi-solid form. Rain and weather will eventually disperse it, but it 50 is enough to provide some hold. Tips& 2 Wiring in pipes Don’t run wiring under the track. If you have an electrical problem, you’ll have to for your dig up a large part of your railway to find it. tricks Instead, bury 2" pipes beside the line, using garden 6" plumbing pipe and end caps to make accessible junction pits. Run feeders away railway from the trenches using small pipe. Wiring can then be easily accessed for repairs, additions, etc. Wiring is also protected from a garden spade. Pits can be hidden or visu- ally softened with plants. gardenrailways.com 3 Stock rails Switchstand ties Frog Guard rails Throw rod Wing rails Point rails Retainer plate Frog point Wood batten Terminology—Switch 3 5 Making translucent Before you paint “glass” Before painting a plastic kit, wash all of If you paint newsprint the parts in soapy water to remove any with polyurethane resin, mold release or hand oils that would pre- it becomes translucent and vent the paint from properly adhering. stiff. It can be cut with an 50 X-acto knife and is great for use in clerestory windows in 6 Tips& coaches, bathrooms, or any- for your where else “see-through” Use the proper tools tricks glass would be inappropriate. Nothing frustrates more than taking three garden hours to do a task that should have taken railway three minutes, if you’d used the proper tools. Using improper ones is like using a 4 plastic butter knife to cut a thick steak. Unless you’re on a diet, it is inefficient Don’t be afraid to try and counterproductive. Using improper People often believe that they are tools is not only discouraging, it could be incapable of doing something only dangerous, both to you and your model. because they have never tried. Any- The use of proper tools will make the one who has been successful has projects flow faster and you will be reached their goals by taking risks encouraged by the confidence and skills and venturing into the unknown. you develop. Learning the art of weathering, for example, is a common fear amongst modelers fear, but knowledge will not 7 come without effort. The best tool for learning is to practice on a cheap or old Weatherproof control box model. If you make a mistake, you can If you’re looking for a weatherproof con- learn what went wrong and try again. trol box for outdoor use, consider using a This is the best way to both discover and large, insulated ice chest to keep your improve your capabilities. electronics safe from the elements. 4 10 Take small steps Risk taking is good, but you don’t have to build the whole Roman empire in one day. Start your modeling career simply, by adding a little detail to a model. Once you build confidence, try painting and lettering a car for your favorite railroad. As you continue to learn, try some light weathering. Skills are not acquired over- 14 night but, once acquired, the results are Weathered enamelled signs quite rewarding. Here’s an easy way to simulate old, rusting enamel signs. First, invent and print the sign, or digitally pho- 11 tograph a real one. Print it onto gloss photo paper. With a scalpel, scrape Bird-house buildings away the top color in places, leaving 8 Ready-made, unpainted bird houses, avail- the white base. Then, in a smaller able from Hobby Lobby, Michaels, and area, scrape away further until you Protecting LGB switch boxes other craft stores, make excellent starting are left with just the ragged paper. Commercially available, weatherproof points for large-scale structures in the gar- Blob some gray-brown acrylic paint mailboxes will house three LGB switch den. A good coat of exterior-grade paint on, then wipe it off right away. It boxes mounted side-by side, using the helps make them weather resistant. will soak into the ragged paper and side connectors of each box. Install the remain. Give it a light spray with a main input cable on the rear of one of the sealant. The result is that your boxes, as there is not enough room to use 12 enamel sign now not only has areas the remaining side connector for input where the enamel has chipped away when using three boxes side-by-side. Sim- When planting, plan ahead realistically, but this has a genuine ply drill holes for front mounting of the Most of us, in our impatience to get lots three-dimensional effect to it. It is switch boxes in the floor of the mailbox of green into our garden railways, tend to quicker to do than to describe. and install using small screws, after drill- plant perennials too closely together. Be ing holes in the rear of the mailbox for sure to read the information on how far a incoming/outgoing wires and attaching plant (particularly a groundcover) can be the wires to the switch boxes. The switch expected to spread. Consider what to boxes will stay clean year round and can expect in another year or two, and space be locked in the mailbox to deter theft. new starts accordingly. Cover the empty Seal the holes with aluminum duct tape space with mulch and be patient. Your on the inside after wires have been new plantings will fill in the space with- installed if you want a bomb-proof instal- out intrusively intermingling with others. lation. The picture (above) shows these in use: the top box has switch controls, the bottom box has block controls. 13 Better spray painting Spray paint in cans from the hardware 9 store (Krylon and other brands) is capa- An easy-to-use track cleaner ble of giving a fine finish. To help it Use a “Swiffer” mop for a track cleaner. along, immerse the can in warm water Cut off 1½" from each end of the mop for 10 or 15 minutes before spraying. This base, then attach 3" x 6" Scotch-Brite helps the solvents flow better, giving a scouring pads to the mop with double- very fine spray. sided tape. This combination makes an excellent track cleaner. gardenrailways.com 5 Turbogenerator Steam dome Sand dome Smoke stack Safety valve Running board Air tank Handrail Smokebox Bell Headlight Cab Builder’s plate Valve chest Pilot Drawbar Firebox Drive wheels or drivers Side rod Main rod Piston rod Cylinder Pilot truck Trailing truck Reverse rod Power reverser Crosshead Crosshead guide Terminology—Miniature steam locomotive you’ll only need to run a single lead to the headlight. The light’s other lead can 15 be soldered to the headlight bracket or smokebox. Use a continuity tester to see Stone mulch if this will work for you. Consider using crushed stone as mulch around alpine plants. Most alpines grow naturally in poor, but well- 17 drained soils. Stone mulch has Add color with roses heat retention qualities that are Micro-miniature roses (under 12" high) conducive to giving your plants a good start in spring, and the can be pruned to look like scale trees or 50 shrubs. They will add color and texture excellent drainage it provides Tips& will discourage crown rot. to both urban and rural scenes. for your garden tricks 16 18 railway Headlights for live steamers Avoid distractions A working headlight adds a lot to a Have you been guilty of wasting time locomotive. On a live-steam engine, because you tried to work on a model you’ll have to run one off a battery. while watching television? This doesn’t Running wires can be problematic, work. Your attention is drawn to the tele- sometimes. However, it’s possible that vision program instead of your work on all you’ll need to run is a single wire. the model and, before you know it, you A live-steam locomotive is largely metal. You may well be able to solder will have accomplished little in the time one wire from the battery box directly you have set aside. Avoid this distraction to the floor or cab wall of the engine, by listening to music instead. You’ll still using the metal structure of the loco- have the background noise, but you will motive to complete the circuit. Then be more focused on the work at hand. 6 19 Turbogenerator Steam dome Sand dome Smoke stack Conduit Safety valve Running board Air tank If you are running a lot of wiring to dis- Handrail Smokebox tant tracks, PVC pipe makes an excellent, Bell inexpensive conduit. Sections are easily connected to one another using special cement available at hardware stores. Headlight Cab Builder’s plate Valve chest 20 Plan your work When contemplating a project, you must 25 Pilot first set goals regarding what you want to 24 achieve. Part of this is simply deciding A rolling level for Drawbar Firebox Drive wheels or drivers Side rod Main rod Piston rod Cylinder Pilot truck what you want to build. You should then Keep your switches clean track ballasting and maintenance quantify your goals by deciding how To help keep switches from getting Here’s a quick-and-easy project that Trailing truck Reverse rod Crosshead guide Power reverser Crosshead much work you want to put into the proj- clogged by blowing debris (dirt, ballast, will help keep your track in fine Terminology—Miniature steam locomotive ect.

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