RE: How did you get into garden railroading?

[vsmith]

I dont know!

I had always been more interested in HOn30 and always read magazines like SL & NG Gazette and Finescale Railroader. I was aware of Large Scale but never had the room to consider it. After we bought our house the idea did cross my mind but I had too many other projects to think about.

I guess it was the opportunty to purchase a LGB Porter at a ridiculous low price that really got me going. I got it with the intention of using it as a bookshelf display item. I added alot of detail and it sat there for a couple of months. I started looking into large scale and was fascinated by the posibilities. So I planned my layout, layed the track out and ran trains on the dirt.

Of course now I'm doing a finescale type layout in the garage but thats another thread altogether....:-)

[Anonymous]

I remember seeing several layouts on the local tour and I was inspired. I had always done HO, but the idea of being outside and modeling with real dirt, rock and STEAM was too much.

Tom in DE

[Anonymous]

When I was just two years old my uncle got me a LGB work train starter set. After that I was a train finatic. Everything and Anything about trains I knew by the time I was about 8 years old. Now I enjoy the hobby more than anything else (exept my family).

[Anonymous]

I've always wanted a model railway but could never devote any indoor space to a permanent layout. Back in the 60's my dad had a HO layout in the basement and my brothers and I spent countless hours toying around with that. That layout fell into a rather sad state of disrepair because of it being in the unfinished basement. The early 70's brought N scale on the scene and every christmas we would set up a temporary layout on a small piece of plywood covered with that green fake grass paper. The piece is still down the basement waiting for another chance I guess. I wanted to put the garden layout in about 5 or 6 years ago but my wife talked me out of it because the kids were still small and ran around the backyard with reckless abandon, kicking soccer balls and swinging wiffle bats. I agreed it wasn't time yet. Finally, we put an above ground pool in the yard and that changed the whole yard. No more kids running around and whatever space was left was going to be a flower garden, with a train running around in it. Thats were it is today. Still have plenty of room to expand the road and can't wait for this miserable winter to end. 3 more months.
Pete

[Anonymous]

A friend of mine asked me to help with his G,scale layout at a garden railway show,
I thought it would be a cheap w,end as I didn`t think it would be for me,as I modelled "OO".
The large scale bug bit me! I returned home with a circle of track 1 loco & 2 wagons
now I have a garden layout & a reasonable sized collection of rolling stock.
The last 5 years have been great I should have changed sooner!
My next aim is to visit one of the shows in the U.S.A. the trip has been approved by my wife(she enjoys the hobby too) its now a case of timing!
The weather is not much of a dampener for me (excuse the pun) but summer is on its way at last.

[watergardens]

The wife and I are always looking for new ideas for our watergardens!! We where at a local 4th of July craft festival and came across a display from a local garden center ! That display just happened to be a Large Scale Train display and I looked at the wife and said , you know where this would look great at!! Seeing that brought back alot of memories watching tha trains go by at the back of the house in my younger years[:)]!! The hunt was on,Train Shows, ECLTS, National Convention in Cincy!! And about 5yrs. later hopefully we can put some of the wonderful ideas and experience we have gained from people such as on this forum and meeting new Friends to the backyard this spring!!
Ron

[bman36]

Hey All,
Had done the HO thing for over 25 years. I was on ebay one day looking at Athearn stuff when I came across a mis-located item. Turns out it was Large Scale! Hmmmm....this looks pretty interesting. Lot's of investigating later and my first issue of Garden Railways came home with me. I was sold. Less lawn to cut in favour of a garden with a train...right on. That was over three years ago. LOTS has happened since then. Love this big stuff. Will always have a place for HO in my heart...but this is muuuuuuuch better!!! Later eh...Brian. [tup]

[Marty Cozad]

It was LOVE,,,,,,, at first sight[:I] I went to buy an HO scale passenger train and there she was, sitting on the counter. I couldn't take my eyes off of her. Her shape, the colors. An Aristo Craft FA B unit in ,,,U.P. colors.
But saddly , later divorce, since then there has been many more a true love[;)]
When will this web ever end[?][:p][:D]

[Anonymous]

I attended a model train show in Nanaimo British Columbia one year and set up on the stage was the fledgling group of the Vancouver Island Garden Railway Club. I remember instantly thinking to myself THAT would look great in the backyard of my new home. I made some contacts and the rest they say is history...[:D]

[Anonymous]

My brother a neighbor kid and myself used to combine our Lionel train sets and set them up in the yard. We were in grade school at the time but made a real effort to build a nice looking layout. Unfortunately we had to take it all down at the end of the day. I count this as my first venture into garden railroading crude as it was.
The lattest venture started when my wife and I saw a large scale coach (LGB I think) sitting on a shelf in a hobby shop and said, almost in unison " I really like the size of that train car".

A few months latter we bought a home and started building our layout the following spring. I have never regretted the switch from small scale to large scale although I am now building a "micro" layout in HOn30 and enjoying that also.

OLD DAD

[Anonymous]

I wanted to get into model trains when my kids were small but I worked too hard and wasn't prepared to invest the money in it.Decades went by, changed wives and houses and took up coastal yachting but after many years my knees are going and I had to do something less strenuous.

So I recalled wanting to get into model railways and looked into it, the news was that if you want to get into outdoor railways the only way to go is G scale. I was also advised that the only way to go was LGBand I took a starter set home that very day, plus a lot of second hand track.

Had it going for a while in my garage, then I built my RAGS (Rough As Guts) just about 30 metres of track slung together around the pool. It had to be temporary as we were going to move.

The move took place and here we are on Kawana Island with a much better built reproduction of the old Rags layout plus another 10 M, thi is what we call area 2. We have just completed area 1 which is a long run into a complex reversing loop, all done with, tropical plnts and decrorative gravel and stones to an oriental theme.

Area 3 is in the planning stages at this time; unfortuneately my house doesn't have a back yard as such, just a series of courtyards and joining the sections up in this instance isn't easy, as the pump house for the pool is in the middle.

I have 3 trains; a small fun unit set in the late 19 th century, pulled by my Stainz loco with 5 carriages all a different colour, this is just a development out of the original starter set. Another is the LCE or German Ice train but my main train is DR Mallet engine pulling some Golden Mountain coaches very powerful and full of class.

They are all under the control of an LGB digital MTS complete with cordless remote to allow me to go to each area and still be able to control things.

We like to sit out of a night and warch the lights go round and the reflection in the pool and get slightly sozzled. This is and all year round thinh here as we virtually have very little if any winter.


Regards Ian

[Anonymous]

i had trouble seeing my n scale so i switched garden railroading.

[Anonymous]

My dad and I model in HO scale but i was always drawn towards the large scale displays. I was also fascinated with the garden railroad at Fairplex, Pomona. There was always something new to look at on the constantly changing layout. So at the end of my eighth grade year I decided to buy a starter set with plans to expand to a garden railway when my funds recovered from the purchase.

[Anonymous]

I picked up a battery powered Big Hauler set after Christmas one year at a most ridiculous price. Liked the look and feel of the size and have been adding to my collection ever since. Several years ago a friend who had a large collection had a stroke and gifted me with quite a bit of track. Last year I finally built an elevated 150 ft loop with 2 reverse loops, a passing siding and a 3 track yard with donated and used material. Will expand as material becomes available.

[Dick Friedman]

I had been in n-scale since the '60's,but had to put it away while converting the train room into kid's room. Then about ten years ago, I watched my bro-in-law plan his. Gave him a little help, and acquired a Bachman Big Hauler. After that, I slowly added stock and rail. Last year ran mail rr for the Convention!

[rkdave]

I've been in N and HO since 1970, then I read the review of the Riding Railkits beginner kit in MR and GR - I was hooked on the idea of a model train I could ride on. I now have an RS-3 and some track, and big plans,

[rkdave]

I've been in N and HO since 1970, then I read the review of the Riding Railkits beginner kit in MR and GR - I was hooked on the idea of a model train I could ride on. I now have an RS-3 and some track, and big plans,

[smcgill]

We were @ Yankee Candle in Deerfield and liked the train running along the ceiling!The Boss said that would look nice down cellar! We went with the O-scale (lionel),it did but after a while the engine was chasing the caboose! She did not want a second track put up! I conned her to go with me to Charles Ro again and see some REAL trains! I had a gift cetificate and our garden neaded something.Sue @ Ro's was great and she asked if my wife liked to garden, no turning back! The price of USA compered to LGB at the time helped! Garden Railroad Mag. was a god send! She still says I didn't know how much you liked trains (since childhood).

[d4fal]

As a kid, I was into HO scale, which became O scale when I went to college. My mother gave me a G-Scale train set for around the Christmas tree, and I got into live-steam from there. My next project will be larger yet. Maybe, someday, I will build a prototype scale line. [:D]

[Anonymous]

I GOT IN TO GARDEN RR AFTER I SAW IT ON TV AND IN THE NEXT TOWN FROM US WAS AN OUT SIDE LAY OUT. I BEEN RETIRED 3 YEARS AND EACH YEAR IT GROWS BIGGER, THEIR IS A POND ,A WATER WHEEL, A WATER FALLS,BRIDGES, AND SOME BUILDINGS . COME ON SPRING TIME ???BEN

[Anonymous]

i chose other because i currently model in HO and I thought that stepping up the scale could change the perspective from an above view to a closer feeling. I also like the big diesels. Im still sticking with HO though but I am going to start my outdoor layout over the summer.

[Anonymous]

Hi
Have been interested in trains scince I was 4Yo had seen large scale trains at exhebisions. thought no to expencive
Then I sav a TV gardening show where they visited a garden railway that was it
the trains where only short but looked so right in the garden that was it that years tax return spent on LGB starter set and a few second hand extras.
It was another five years before construction was to start in the garden.
regards john

[Anonymous]

I have always been a big fan of railroads anf trains as well as gardening. My true passion has been N scale, but I must admit I have always wanted an outdoor set.

My main problem is a lack of Model Train Stores and Dealers in my area and my wary trust of Internet commerce. The nearest dealer I visited was in Corpus Christi, Texas. It was an outlet called B&H Trains which has long since closed or moved.

If there were such a place, I think I would be a regular "bar fly." Does anyone have any suggestions as to an outlet or dealer that I can patronize?

[vsmith]

Capt C

St Aubins Station, San Val and Trainworld are the best mail-order sources Ive found they advertise in GR all the time and are very good to do business with.

Go to the "usefull links" thread or just click on www.g-scale-links.com go to "dealers" and they have the websites posted there, Good Luck, Vic

[Anonymous]

When I was a kid I always thought it would be nice to combine my ho set to the out doors thought it would be nice to to see it run out doors and now 20 yrs have passed and its starting to come of age as i am now starting to build all my rolling stock.

[Anonymous]

I was into O gauge. Then I went into the service. When I came home O gauge was had to find. HO was taking over. I hated that so I when to N scale. Now that I have a large lot with some great Garden opportunities, I have started to build a line where I can enjoy the outdoors and my railroading. I am learning a lot, and it is taking me longer that I thought it would to get to a real line (I live in the Pocono Mountains so I can only work on the line from late April to early October, then the stock moves indoors or a rest and I work on the N scale line. I read about Garden Railroading somewhere when I was younger, then went looking for some running lines to learn from. I have also seen some line on DIYTV and Tracks Ahead. I just wish I hade the funds to grow as large as my lot would allow.

[Anonymous]

My Dad had a "train room" in the basement and I use to watch his AF going around the top of the room. he also was modeling a HOn3 yard at the time. Bought me a Lionel for X-mas and then I decided to switch to Ho" got to be like him" Parents divorced train room died[V] Ran my stuff in my room till 13 then boxed it up. 3yrs ago Dad gave me his childhood AF for X-mas, the train Bug bit hard! Then I ran across this forum on the web and started reading, bought the magazine and I WAS HOOKED! My 8yr old daughter and I hope to start soon.

[bman36]

Hey all,
Funny how many of us modelled in another scale prior to Large Scale. Easy to see how we make the switch when you get a good look at all the awesome stuff our scale has to offer. Much easier to work with for me too. Later eh...Brian.

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by bman36

Hey all,
Funny how many of us modelled in another scale prior to Large Scale. Easy to see how we make the switch when you get a good look at all the awesome stuff our scale has to offer. Much easier to work with for me too. Later eh...Brian.

Sounds like a good poll!

I just read an old book on Benjamin Franklin where it discussed one of core his beliefs. He believed that Man was made superior to all beings save one, God. He also looked and observed that there were stages of inferiority among the animals God created that man was to have dominion over. He, thus, reasoned (being a man of the Age of Reason) that there were stages of superiority and inferiority among humans.

I would like to extend that argument to Railroading. I submit that the ultimate zenith of Railroading is the actual 1:1 life size standard gauge trains that ride the rails between our cities and towns. Beneath this is narrow gauge in all its forms.

Then we have those rather large “live steam” layouts that require acres to operate.

G Scale and related scales are next and are the highest level the common man can afford.

O and S are larger gauges for people with room in which to build.

HO and N scales are the most common and are for people with limited space. I have to admit that I prefer N scale because one can make multiple cities and countryside layouts with a degree of realism. Realism, however, seems to be scarified the smaller one goes.

Z scale is for European homes and American tenement buildings where space is at its absolute zero.

It seems that, in the end, it’s not the size that matters; its how much fun you have with it. (?!? oops, that didn’t come out right, but I’ll keep it because it is a little witty)

[Anonymous]

Hi,
I was on holiday in 1987 on the east coast of England and I found a model shop to wander round. I was then into British N, which was not the best quality, and whilst I was looking at N rolling stock an LGB 0-4-0 Stainz rattled over my head. That was it. I bought the passenger starter set and because I was driving a small car at the time I nearly had to leave the wife behind to get that set home. If I had left her behind I would have given her the train fare....................honest!
Cheers,
Kim