Visit to BennysRR

[tangerine-jack]

One of the best things about my job is that it allows me to travel to many places around the country. Recently I found myself in Lebanon, PA, home of BennysRR. Ben graciously invited me to his home and showed me his very nice garden RR and workshop. Sadly, I had only an hour to spend with this great man and outstanding garden RR. It even stopped raining long enough to run a few trains around!

I was very impressed by the quality of work Ben has done on the layout. Although it is not large by most garden standards (my own layout is even smaller that Ben’s), I found every inch to be packed with interest. From the scratch built bridges to the Koi pond, Ben’s eye for balancing trains and plants can be seen. Much of what is on the layout is built from whatever is available, I believe the water wheel was constructed with car parts and the pond filter is cleverly constructed from PVC pipes and an old trash can (a man after my own heart on that one!)

Great job, Ben, and THANKS!!!!!!![:D][:D][:D][bow][bow][tup][tup]

[Anonymous]

Nice one T Jack, glad you took a couple of pics, now I know what Ben & his RR looks like!
Cheers,
Kim
[tup]

[Anonymous]

Thanks for the Pics TJ! I've seen Ben's RR before in photo's he has e-mailed me but they were taken in the summer I believe.

Ben, You've done a very nice job having so much color in your RR for early spring! Brighten's even the most dreary days I'm sure!

Thanks for the visit Ben and TJ!

[Anonymous]

Tangerine Jack
THANKS for posting the pictures , the out side track is about 175 ft of track and does have a a lot of different plants .and some more flowers will be added, thanks T.J. FOR STOPPING come back again .I just found by clicking on the picture it gets a little bigger . BEN[:)]

[vsmith]

So thats what you look like Ben!

Actually having you in the pics gives a much better sense of scale for your layout. It was kind of hard to tell in the pics you sent me, looks good. Vic[8D]

[ghelman]

Nice pics. Benny.

It looks like you have a lot of green for this time of year in PA. I don't have near that amount and I am down south. Nice job.

[tangerine-jack]

George,

I live in VA and I was also surprized by how much was flowering and green in PA this time of year. I saw a lot of Dogwoods, Cherry blossoms, Tulip Magnolias and some very nice private flower gardens, all in bloom. I barely have green grass and some tulips. The good thing about down South is that we have flowers and greenery well into November when PA is digging out of snow. I guess it all evens out in the end.[:D]

I did give Ben about half a dozen Canis Lilly bulbs. It is cool to think that a little of my RR will be growing in Ben's yard. That is probably one of the things I like the most about garden RR, in one of the indoor scales we would have exchanged box cars or something, but in the outdoors we can exchange things that grow and have life, ever changing and surprising. I hope the flowers bring you many years of enjoyment, Ben.


[oX)]

[powlee]

Very nice Ben. I assume that is your front garden. I would never even consider it in this country. Bits would disappear on a regular basis. Well done and nice to put a face to the name.

All the best
Ian P

[Anonymous]

powlee
this is the back and the one side of my house ,so far in almost 5 years , i had no problems , today i had to take up 25 ft of track, this was the first time ,the train would slow to a crawl. ,i found some missing screws , i used split jaw clamps to put it back together we are up and running now , and it's running real good again, BEN[:)]

[Anonymous]

Hi Ben,
I've spent today re fixing track and checking the grub screws, quite a few had worked a little bit loose but they were soon tightened with an allum key, better than that screwdriver tool you get with the track, the end of that rounds off pretty quick. Ian's right about Brit gardens, give them an inch and they'll pinch a mile.
Cheers,
Kim
[tup]

[Anonymous]

VIC
I'M GLAD T.J. took some pictures of my GRR, i'm a big fellow , still didn't learn to post I just orded a new RS-3 but will not get it until JULY or a little later, it will have the road name of where i retired from HERSHEY . i saw a picture of it at aristo 's on line catolog, it looks real good BEN[:)]

[tangerine-jack]

Here are a few more shots I just loaded:

This is the Koi pond from the "operator's perspective". Ben has a nice covered porch where he can run trains from the shade.





This is some of Ben's awesome bridge work. I wish I had a reason to build something like this, my yard is dead flat.





I tried to explain to Ben how to do the photos, but like I said before, I only had a little over an hour to spend[;)]. Hope you all enjoy, I did!

[oX)]

[bman36]

Hey guys,
Right on! This is what I love about the forum. Every now and again one of us gets to visit a layout. Meeting the members is awesome. Thanks so much for posting the pics here Jack. Great work Ben. You really made good use of the space. Now I too get to see the man behind the posts. Hope fully one day one of you all will make it up here to Winnipeg. I would love to show you our layout and run some consists also. All the best. Later eh...Brian.

[Anonymous]

Tangerine JACK
I got a load of mulch yesterday , and put it around the GRR, and bought a bunch of different colored flowers, to put in, next time T . J . gets here it will be full of flowers . HI Brian T.J. DID A GOOD JOB of posting the pictures, and thanks for the other comments on my GRR. well all the mulching is done and the flowers are planted now to run trains . they are calling for rain today. [:(] BEN

[Anonymous]

Ben, You may want to keep an eye on the weather reports and if frost is expected cover the flowers with a sheet to protect them. I know we have afrost alert tonight.

[Anonymous]

Ben, I have some bad news for you, you look very much like me, your railway doesn't look like mine at all though. However you would rarely see me with so many clothes on nor would you see too much of me under such an overcast sky.

Rgds

Ian

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by iandor

nor would you see too much of me under such an overcast sky.

Rgds

Ian

Amazing how different people can be.... I on the other-hand having lived here in the "Valley of the Sun" for the past 4 years love a good cool overcast day!

[Anonymous]

BR1116
DO you have a lot of problems with the heat on your tracks. what kind of track do you have???? brass or stainless steel . and are you track power or battery power???, I am track power . Ben

[Anonymous]

We have temperatures in the high 30's cel every day for 5 months of the yaer and I have no trouble at all with hot tracks, what were you worrying about?


Rgds ian

[tangerine-jack]

Just as long as there is a little room for the track to expand you will be fine. I'm talking about a 1/8" gap every 4ft or so when the temp is 70. That should allow for plenty of expansion/contraction for your PA weather.

I am hoping to visit again around the middle of July, I'll be in the area but I'm thinking about flying in this time and borrowing a car from family while I'm there. I'll be sure to call ahead and bring my camera. I'd love to see how the Iris are doing!


[oX)]