Garden Railroading For Beginners

Basics for Beginners

Plants and Trains
I'm an avid gardner and a Bonsai-grower-wannabe, so the flora of my railroad is just as important to me (and sometimes even more so), as the trains. For a lot of indoor model railroaders, who now want to take their hobby into the great outdoors, this frequently isn't the case. Some good plants to familiarize yourself with, if you are just starting out, are Thyme, Creeping Phlox and Sedum. All three are spreading ground covers and are very hardy. This makes them great for rookie gardeners, who might worry that they won't have the skills to keep them from dying. None of these plants are of the "exotic" variety either, so you'll find them just about anywhere they sell plants. One thing really nice about Sedum - it's gotta be the easiest plat in the world to transplant. As it spreads, you can pull up peices of it and use it to fill in some of the bare spots. Another product, that the neophyte gardner should become familiar with, is mulch cloth. This is a fiberglass mesh, resembling burlap, that you use under the mulch, wherever you don't want anything to grow. This greatly reduces the amount of weeding, you have to do. I say reduce, because I'm not aware of anything, that eliminates it. You will still get weeds trying to gain a toe-hold, but the mulch cloth will keep them from being able to root deeply. Any garden store or building supply store that carries lawn and garden products, is likely to carry mulch cloth. I would avoid using the heavy guage plastic, that is available for this purpose, since it doesn't let the soil breath and keeps out moisture for the plants that you DO want to live.

For the person who has heretofore been a gardner, and has no familiarity with trains, go with LGB equipment, unless you want to learn very quickly the arts of model train maintenance and upgrading and of laying precision trackwork. LGB equipment is the best designed, and their small four wheel engines are pretty forgiving of the bumps and kinks that are common for a first-time railroad. LGB is also the most expensive, so be prepared. Expect to spend in the neighborhood of $200.00 for a basic set..

If that price tag is scaring you off, a good alternative might be to start with a trolley manufactured by Bachmann Industries. Since a trolley is a four wheel vehicle, it is less prone to "jumping the track" and you also don't have the problems that come from having a long string of cars connected. If you shop carefully, you probably can get the trolley, track and transformer for around $100.00.

The Roadbed
This generally inspires lots of controversy among garden railroaders. Some people prefer the "user-friendly" aspects of building their railroads on wood risers, while the more 'hardcore" types sneer at this, prefering the realism of having an actual gravel roadbed for their trains. I've come up with a method that gives you the best of both worlds. If you look at the above picture of my railroad, the wood riser is clearly visible on the left, but not so on the right. Basically what I did was build the stone up the level of my riser. This not only gave me a way to hide that I "took the esy way out", but also a nice place to plant some "rock garden" types of plants, such as Candytuft and Thyme. I also made a large pocket for some dirt to plant a Fern Leaf Boxwood, which is a shrub that naturally grows in a very nice "Bonsai" shape.

The space under the risers is filled with coarse gravel. This is IMPORTANT. treated lumber is not rated for continuous ground contact, and will rot away distressingly fast, if you try to fill the space with dirt. Gravel allows any rainwater to drain off quickly, thereby greatly extending the life of your wood risers.

I should stop right here and say, if you don't know what a "Spirit Level" is, or how to use one, find someone who is handy and have them teach you. It's the only way, short of surveying equipment, to make sure your trackwork is even. Take the time to do the trackwork right, and you'll save yourself lots of agony, later.

To support my risers, I sink 6 inch peices of PVC drain pipe (It's plastic and cuts easily, with a hacksaw) and dig a hole big enough for them to fit in, with the top, just level with the ground. Use treated 2x4's cut to the length you need them, plus a few inches to go beneath the ground, and holding them to the right height, fill in the pipe with fine gravel. This does two things: it keeps the soil away from the lumber, and it enables you to make later adjustments in height.

Here's the same area as the above photo, taken a year ago. The wood risers are clearly visible.

The Track
It's been my experience that one type of track is as good as another, when it comes to how frequently you have to clean it, to keep the trains running. However, if you think you may be stepping on the track (a real possibility in a garden setting), you'll want LGB or Aristo-craft track. They use heavier guage metal in their track, so they handle the abuse. Both Bachmann and Lionel track are tubular, so they're not as resistant to abuse.

A note about Lionel Track: contrary to popular myth, it is not plated steel, like their O guage track. It's solid brass; it's just formed in the same way as their O guage track. It works, quite well, outdoors. You just can't walk on it the way you can the sturdier, solid brass track, of other manufacturers.

No matter what kind of track you use, ALWAYS use conductive paste, on the rail joiners. Conductive paste is a magic goo that has the properties of conducting electricity very well and stopping corrosion. If you get corrosion at the point where your peices of track go together, you trains will stop. Conductive paste or "grease" is easily found at harware stores, in the electrical aisle. Remove the rail joiner and smear it on both peices of track. Then join the two peices together. I can't honestly say how long this treatment is good for, but I did this to my track a year ago, and I still have no problems with conductivity.

Here's a nifty technique for taking it easy on the back, when you clean your rails, which you will need to do fairly often. Get a cheap "johnny scrubber"...the kind that has a scratchy plastic pad, instead of a brush. You can use it bare, for those times when you really need to scrub the track, or slip an old sock over it, for the routine cleaning that you need to do to get the dirt off the rails. The handle is really a godsend, and since it's angled at the end, it's easy to hold level with the rails (For you beginners, it's really only the tops of the rails that you have to clean.)

Structures
No question about it, you can spend a mint, in a hurry, buying commercial structures. A simple small house can run anywhere from thirty to well over a hundred dollars. However, there is some good news.
Unlike a traditional indoor model train layout, there is generally considerable distance, between what is being viewed and the viewer (that is, assuming that most of your viewers don't get on their hands and knees, or crawl around on their bellies, to see you layout). This enables you to get away with a surprising amount of "shortcuts" and "cheats". I have a couple of structures that I labored long and hard over to "scratchbuild", but from a distance, they really don't look that much better than the appropriately sized birdhouse that I plotzed in the middle of the layout, to take up space, till I get around to building the structure that I intend for that site. A few simple, undetailed buildings of the wood-box-with-a-roof variety, will give the appearance of houses, stations, etc, untill you can either build or buy the more detailed ones.
If you build these structures out of redwood or cedar, you won't need to worry much about paint. If you build them out of any other wood, paint them heavily with an exterior grade latex or oil based paint. Paint them inside and out, and it's also a good idea to caulk the joints. Also, If you want your structures to last, they should be on some sort of base, to keep them away from direct soil contact. Concrete paving blocks work well for this.
The most important thing in giving the illusion of reality, to a structure, is to make sure it is level. Even a dilapidated and falling down structure, generally has a level base. Make sure, before you place your structure, that your concrete paver base is level.
Actually, for those of you who have the skills to build your own structures, this is a good way to get started on your Garden Railroad, while you are still trying to work up the courage to actually start moving earth. I had a station and a water tower, all ready to go, before I ever touched shovel to ground. It was nice having those two structures, ready to go, as soon as the track was laid.

Garden Railroad Related Links

The Bonsai Styling And Advice Center
Aristo-craft Internet Depot
Gary Lantz'z Garden Railroad Pics
Washington, Virginia & Maryland Garden Railroad Society
LGB Page
Model Railroad Trader