Just Saying Hello

[MTCarpenter]

Hello! I've been a registered lurker for several months trying to collect info, and today was the big day. I received my Aristo-Craft 0-4-0 Pennsylvania freight set! My wife bought it for me [:D] (my wife basically said that any reason to get me to landscape our yard she'd back me up - we have nothing!) I originally wanted the passenger set, but from what I could see, it's sold out around the country.

Here's the basic circle (on my porch)


And my excited, but tired of Daddy telling me to sit still and smile, 2 year old son Matthew Jr.


I need to show you my back yard sometime - it is literally an open canvas! I'm looking forward to getting some straight track and sticking this in the ground. And my wife is looking forward to getting some other plants besides the one tree in our back yard! Nothing fancy, but just a pretty basic loop to start.

Now, my son is no stranger to trains. He's been brought up (on purposely?? [;)] ) on Thomas the Tank engine. My father had someone build a custom table for my son. The guy did a killer job on the table part, but he had laid out the track very badly. So I took off all the track and relayed it. Here are a couple of shots of it.




I'm kinda proud of it because I don't know much about how trains move freight and switching, but we seem to have fun, and I "shunt" the cars with Percy in the staging area, and he uses an engine to make the run. He loves it, and loves daddy to play with him. I can't wait as he gets older and can do more with me in the yard...

Quick question. I bought locally some LGB smoke liquid, but wasn't impressed with the results. I just found a whole article on smoke liquid here: http://www.girr.org/girr/tips/tips3/smoke_tips.html#fluid (great site BTW). So I'm wondering what you all might use? Or is smoke for losers and little kids? [8D]

Anyway, thanks for reading this. Looking forward to getting to know you all a bit better.

[kimbrit]

Hello Matt from our side of the pond. You've gone and done it now, this is just the start. Two or three years from now - and two or three thousand dollars - you'll have track everywhere. Well done on actually going out and buying the set!
Cheers,
Kim

[tangerine-jack]

Cool, welcome aboard!.[#welcome]

I don't use smoke, if anything smokes on my railroad it means that it's on fire. I was never impressed by it in HO scale, O scale or tinplate, and it looks even goofier in G scale, so I just don't fool with the stuff. If you run live steam, then that's a whole other matter.

I also started with a very bland, flat back yard so don't be discouraged. It is easier that way actualy, it gives you complete freedom of design. What is in my yard now is there because I willed it to be there, it is an expression of me and my creativity (or lack thereof). Be sure to take lots of "before" pictures because by this time next year your yard will look nothing like it does now. Grab a shovel and get busy!

Moving frieght or passangers, aka "commodities", gives a railroad a purpose. You should think about having a "point A" and a "point B" when you conceptualize your railroad. These points can be any type of industry, customer or passanger platform that you want them to be, and even on a simple loop or oval it will create a sense of urgency and purpose to what you are doing. After all, Granny Smythe-Smythe is waiting for the train to take her to the mall, it's your responsibility to get her there and back! This is what is called "operation" and can be as simple or complex as you want it to be. Either way you will get more fulfilment out of the garden railway by having some theme or purpose to the railroad to justify it being there.

Good luck!

[Train 284]

Welcome aboard! Looks like your off to a great start!

[bman36]

Hey there,
Welcome to the forum. Congradulations on taking the plunge. Before you know it you will be working hard in that yard of yours. Get running as soon as you can! The porch is better than nothing for now....so enjoy! All the best. Later eh...Brian.

[ttrigg]

Matthew
[#welcome][#welcome][#welcome][#welcome][#welcome]
I'm with TJ on the smoke, didn't like it in HO or N, just never thought about it in the Garden. You'll need at least two towns or villages (reason number one for a larger track plan), like TJ said somewhere to leave and somewhere to go. Looks like you've got it out of the box, time to start putting it into the dirt. Remember: if all else fails - have fun doing it!

[Anonymous]

Welcome It 's obvious that these guys that don't like smoke have never seen my MTH (G )Hudson run. The smoke puffs( mushroom pattern) in time with the chuff(sound)
as the real engines did. It doesn't roll out like most of the other brands do
I find it quite impressive if you like things to look as real as possible go for smoke
and anyone that wants a look see, come on by any time I live in Thomasville N.C.

Ed

[MTCarpenter]

Thanks for all the replies everyone!

From what I've read and seen, everyone says to start small and build on that, but I'm having a hard time starting small. I think, "I'll just do a loop right here..." but it gets bigger and bigger, and I think "I'll put a station here, but I'll need one over there too." Also, every time I think I've found a good place for it in the back yard, the idea of my oldest daughter's soccer ball crashing down on it make me a little bit concerned. And I've got another 7 years of that, so.... I'm even thinking front yard, but we'll see. My wife says thats great because the front yard is just a barren as the back.

As for smoke, I kinda like the idea of the smoke, and my son really gets a bit kick out of it, so I'll probably go with it for a bit.

RAIL FAN - just wondering what brand of smoke liquid do you use? I bought some LGB, but it doesn't seem to be very "puffy".

(Edit to add "e" on "some")

[Anonymous]

I use what ever the brand of the engine is ,aristo for aristo etc. But buy far the Mth with
the mth smoke are the best. The Mth engines and their system can get kind of pricey
My advice is to start small and grow into the more costly engines as It may start as a dream and could turn into a night mare( not likely But thre is a chance)
Good luck at what ever you do As far as puffy goes it has more to do with the smoke unit than brand of smoke
ED

[tangerine-jack]

The idea is to start. Small is how it happens most of the time and that is good when used as a test bed for ideas and techniques. Starting large is OK, but if you are not certain of what you want then you could spend a lot of money for nothing and get turned off to the hobby. I suggest putting the track you have in the yard itself and running the train there while you gather your information and make plans for the “big one” railroad. The rest will take care of itself.

See my thread on rebuilding the Dixie D Short Line http://www.trains.com/community/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=59536 for a good example of changing one’s likes and dislikes over the course of a few years. I started with a basic ground level loop around a pond, and learned what I really wanted to do before committing large amounts of time or money to the project. I believe the primary thing I learned was that a railroad needs a purpose, and needs a name. I am much more enthusiastic about working on the “Dixie D” than I was working on the “generic no-name train in the yard”. The current rebuild is the first time I’m phasing together both the railroad and the garden as a complete theme and so far I am very happy with the progress and the overall balance.

BTW- I'm not dissin' anybody's smokers, I'm just stating that I don't like the way they look so I don't bother with it. I'm not too far from RAILFAN, maybe I'll come by and see what he's got, who knows, it might change my mind!

[Anonymous]

TJ COOL Used to live in Martinsville Va. Just let me know when .
Ed

[Tom The Brat]

What fun!

And a son to enjoy it with. Life is good.

[MTCarpenter]

Yeah, being brainwashed!! He never stood a chance!

[Anonymous]

In an unusual situation; i agree with what has been said above particularly what Kim had to say, this is the start and if you have the urge you will go on for years and thousands of dollars.

The smoke bit; i was pretty keen on it to start but noticed others who had been in the hobby longer weren't really that interested and the only time i bother these days is when my grandson Andrew visits, he is twelve and interested in smoke and some other things that an older person like me would not be of interested in


Rgds ian