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A northwest mountain garden railroad: The Pacific Northern Railway was formed when the Northern Pacific and Great Northern Railroads merged in the early 1960s. I chose the name “Pacific Northern” because it included parts of the names of both of the original railroads. The two-tone green passenger-train colors were used because famous designer Raymond Loewy […]
The 2022 National Garden Railway Convention saw a grandfather and grandson take home prizes in a modeling contest. Here’s a report from the former: I attended the 2022 National Garden Railway Convention in Denver in June with my son and his family. Both me and my grandson entered models in the convention’s contest this year. […]
Cheap lighting for passenger cars: I had kitbashed an LGB No. 3080 passenger car into an observation car and wanted to add interior lighting. Instead of track-powered lighting, I opted to install battery-powered light emitting diodes (LEDs). For around $20 in supplies, you can have flicker-free lighting in your car too. I cut the roof […]
Church garden railroad display: During the Kansas City Garden Railway Society tour, I met the pastor of the Heartland Community Church in Olathe, Kansas, Dan, and his father, Mike who was from California and had his own railroad garden. Dan told me his church had an enclosed area in the lobby called a “light box” […]
Common name: Trost’s Dwarf cutleaf birch, Dwarf European birch Latin name: Betula pendula ‘Trost’s Dwarf’, synonym: Betula platyphylla Plant type: Shrubs & small trees Plant size: 3-4′ high by 3′ wide before pruning USDA Hardiness Zones: 3-9 (10, given moisture) Cultural needs: Sun; moist, drained, slightly acidic One day a horticulturist noticed a finely divided […]
Shay No. 7 and the log operating train Name: Ray Wheeler Railroad Name: Jericho & Mt Zion Railway Location: Lynnwood, WA Scale: G scale Theme: Tourist railroad with freight operations in the modern era. Title: The E.V. Wheeler Timber Company Description: “The E.V. Wheeler Timber Company” – EVWT Shay #7 and log train operating on […]
Large-scale rolling stock decals: Unlike modeling scales with specific definitions like HO scale (1:87.1) or N scale (1:160), the term “large scale” actually encompasses a variety of modeling proportions (generally from 1:13.7 down to 1:32). This segments the market into small pieces. Because of the limited customer base, there are few commercially made decal options […]
Kitbashing a large-scale Pacific from a broken Aristo-Craft model wasn’t easy, but the result has been worth the work. My family has a history of model railroading spanning three generations. My grandfather modeled O scale as a child in the 1940s and passed that love along to my father in the 1970s, and who got […]
Sidewalks and curbs for a garden railway: My downtown area had realistic paved streets. Now it was time to add some sidewalks and curbs. I went to the local Home Depot and found inexpensive small square shower floor tiles in a natural stone color. I also found some beige plastic tile edging, which I’d use […]
The Kettle Valley Railway – Bruce Division is a coal and lumber garden railroad modeled after the Kettle Valley Railway that at one time carried freight and passengers through the Thomson/Okanagan Region of British Columbia. The garden railway was started in 2004 and covers a triangular-shaped hillside on Brian Swanton’s property. The railroad features two […]
Meet Rich Perrelli How did you get started in the hobby? I guess it was in my blood. My grandfather was a steam locomotive mechanic, and my dad encouraged my love of trains when I was a little tyke. On warm summer evenings he would drive us to a place where the highway palled the […]
Model paved brick streets: As on most of our garden railways, trains run by a model town. Mine is based on a small midwestern town I visited every summer as a boy. I hung out on Main Street lined with shops in an array of Victorian buildings with a brick paved street. In those days, […]
