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In my last column for Garden Railways (Tunneling through tough times), I mentioned learning more about making handmade hardscape using hypertufa “in the next issue.” Little did I know how much would change in the next couple of years—the print GR is no longer produced and Trains.com has been revamped. I’m finally ready to showcase […]
Preview Garden Railways May and June content While we may no longer be printing Garden Railways magazine, we’re adding new content to Trains.com every week! Here’s a few recent items, and a preview of what’s coming in the next month. Become a Trains.com member so you don’t miss any of this great content! Working with […]
PIKO America Building Block R/C Starter set: An ongoing question in the hobby is “How do we get new people into model railroading?” PIKO America offers a clever solution with its Building Block R/C Starter Set (No. 37155). The indoor/outdoor set includes a battery-operated 1:24-proportion General Electric (GE) 25-ton diesel locomotives, two flatcars, a […]
Meet Mark Bottrill In a paragraph, how did you get started in the hobby? Despite being a lifelong railfan, I had no knowledge of large scale or US garden trains prior to 2003. This changed when I saw a screensaver on the computer monitor of a USAF Major I met while serving in the military […]
Preview April and May Garden Railways content While we may no longer be printing Garden Railways magazine, we’re adding new content to Trains.com every week! Here’s a few recent items, and a preview of what’s coming in the next month. Become a Trains.com member so you don’t miss any of this great content! Kitbash a […]
I always wanted to build a Sinclair gas station. As a kid, I remembered a Sinclair gas station in Pennsylvania with a large dinosaur statue on the front of the building. You had to walk through its legs to get inside. I wanted a similar style of structure for my garden railroad. I started with […]
Industries in northern Ohio: The track and buildings are relatively level, but the walking area follows the contour of the ground. The entrance at the east is the highest, with the track and buildings being about one foot higher than the path. As you proceed to the west end, the path descends a little, so […]
Common name: Coral bark Japanese maple Latin name: Acer palmatum ‘Sango kaku’ (syn. A.p. ‘Senkaki’) Plant size: 15-20′ high by 15-20′ wide, unpruned USDA Hardiness Zones: 4-9 Plant type: shrubs and small trees Cultural needs: Moist, well drained, neutral or slightly acidic soil; full sun to part shade One of the most popular, semi-dwarf Japanese […]
I had an idea to kitbash a Texaco gas station using pieces of a broken Wells Fargo Pola building. I wanted the station to look like something from my memories. I had a drawing of a similar station that I’d made back in the 1980s. My building looks similar to this drawing. First, I carefully cut […]
Modeling Conrail in the UK The genesis of the Bishopstown Sub is tale that involves a chance encounter and a leap of faith. In 2003 I found myself in Kuwait with the UK Military and one day I found myself in a USAF Headquarters. Walking through an office area I saw a screensaver image of […]
Common name: Bearberry, kinnikinnick Latin name: Arctostaphylos uva-ursi Plant type: Groundcover Plant size: 6″ high spreading to 3′ or more USDA Hardiness Zones: 2-7 Cultural needs: Moist, well drained, acidic soil; part shade or full sun Common bearberry is native to the US and Canada (as well as other continents) and is found in damp, […]
Troubleshooting problems with gauge-1 switches: If you were to ask any model railroader what the biggest headache on his or her railroad was, “switches” would rank in the top three every time. If we want our trains to do more than just run around in circles, however, they’re a necessary part of any model railroad. […]
