A guide to plant-hardiness zones

Garden Railways

To a novice gardener, the topic of plant-hardiness zones can be as confusing as gauge and scale terminology is to the beginning model railroader. With gauge and scale, there are different standards used by various manufacturers. In gardening, growers and publishers utilize different hardiness-zone ratings. The main confusion comes from the fact that there are […]

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HO scale Agawa Yard

HOscaleAgawaYard

Facts & Features: Name: Agawa Yard Layout owner: Chris Dening Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 4 x 12 feet Prototype: Canadian Pacific Locale: Vancouver, B.C. Era: 1969 Style: Portable sectional layout Mainline run: 30 feet Minimum radius: 20″ Minimum turnout: no. 4 Benchwork: L-girder Height: 48″ Roadbed: cork Track: Peco codes 75 and 100 Scenery: Foam […]

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HO scale Rock Island Lines

HOscaleRockIslandLines1

Name: Rock Island Lines Layout owner: Mike Armstrong Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 30 x 40 feet Prototype: Rock Island Locale: Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minn., to Kansas City, Kan. Era: 1964 to 1970 Style: multi-deck walk-in Mainline run: 750 feet Minimum radius: 30″ Minimum turnout: no. 6 Maximum grade: 1.96 percent Benchwork: open grid Height: 40″ to […]

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Water and backdrops on the Verdi Railroad

backdrop1

Visitors along the back of the garden have this view of Copper Gorge, the waterless water feature encased in recycled auto glass. The battery-powered Union Pacific MOW uses AirWire 900 and Soundtraxx Electronics. Both engines are powered (all 16 wheels drive) to pull full name train car sets. Nancy Norris The Southern Pacific ‘Red Car’ […]

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Watch chain stonecrop

watchchain_stonecrop

Nancy Norris Common name: Watch chain stonecrop Latin name: Sedum sexangulare Plant type: groundcover USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-9 Cultural needs: full sun, average to dry soil with good drainage Plant size: 6-10″ Often used on green roofs for a quick covering, watch chain stonecrop is both dainty and rugged. Like most stonecrops of the genus, […]

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Create inspired spaces

Garden Railways

In the Spring 2019 issue, Nancy Norris shares photographs of nine public spaces designed to inspire you. We’ve assembled all of the related links here for you to access quickly. Gabis Arboretum at Purdue University: tinyurl.com/gabisarboretum A “The sedum spectrum,” June 2013. B “Using red in the railway,” June 2014. C “Massing plants to frame […]

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How-to Library: Designing a layout, Part 7

David designing a track plan.

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page In this episode, David pulls in even more reference materials to aid the accuracy of his initial track plan for a C&NW HO scale layout. It’s also time for a quick reality check, especially when it concerns the pragmatic parts of the design […]

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Olympia 2, The Log Blog: Part 22

Switch stands on a model railroad

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page In this episode of the Log Blog, David applies small patches of static grass to the Olympia Logging Co. On30 layout using the Peco Pro-Grass Precision Applicator. He also installs switch stands to the turnouts. […]

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HO scale Red Mountain RR

HOscaleRedMountainRR

Click on the image to download a PDF of the track plan. Name: Red Mountain RR Layout owner: John V. Lazar Scale: HO (1:87.1) Size: 14 x 18 feet Prototypes: Pennsylvania RR and Ligonier Valley RR Locale: western Pennsylvania Era: 1945 to 1955 Style: multi-deck walk-in Mainline run: 103 feet Minimum radius: 24″ Minimum turnout: […]

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