Visitor looking around.(photos added)

[Marty Cozad]

This is the first time I posted on this forum. I'm kinda out of my "realm".
I was in HO for years till I tried out door model railroading.
I was wondering is there any one here who loves to model out doors? By that I mean tring for realistic railroading with modern main line trains and heavy freights.
I love this hobby and am looking for others in the S E Nebraska , S W Iowa area who works hard at having fun with trains.
Heres a few photos that I took railfanning in my own back yard.


Grain train at Minersville crossing



Mallet crossing Bang's Canyon Bridge.



Coal train crossing the MLS Canyon bridge heading north.

Some of us GRers feel we are more like modelers than gardners.
Thanks[;)]

[Train 284]

Hey Marty! Glad to see you over here! Of course, I am switching between both forums everyday but who cares.

Great pictures, post em' over on the Garden Railways forum! (if you havent already)

[selector]

Welcome, Marty. Those photos are great! Post them in the Weekend Photo Fun thread, as well.

[grandeman]

Hi Marty. Those are some cool pics. Have you been here?
http://www.modelrailroadforums.com/forum/index.php They have a garden RR forum. I know some folks over there that would love to see your pics.

[Marty Cozad]

Matt
i knew I'd run into some one i knew.
Most of the photos I may have at one point in time posted on GRYS forum.
You'll have to wait for Dec issue and see whats pictured on "The End of the line"

Heres a hint.


Did i ever tell you that outdoor model railroading is a "sport"
Note the exhaust.

Plus snow fighters of the north

This is the first line of defence against mother nature.

I have cases of MR mags that I still go through looking for ideas.

[Marty Cozad]

Now see, their tring to get rid of me already. heheheh
I did not realize that there was so many forums.??????
I spend more time in the fall on web sites in the evenings . Summer is for working ,,,playing out side.

[Tracklayer]

Hat's off and all due respects to you garden railroad folks. I have enough trouble trying to maintain my little N scale layout. If I ever win the lottery I'll join you. It looks like a lot of fun...

"Happy railroading"

Tracklayer

[Anonymous]

I am IMPRESSED! You are making me look more and more into outdoor model railroading. Those are some of the most realistic shots I have seen, talk about proto weathering. WOW!

Modeling N scale, is fun, and a great way to build up skills for that someday G scale dream layout on 5 acre's of land [:)]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Marty Cozad

Matt
i knew I'd run into some one i knew.
Most of the photos I may have at one point in time posted on GRYS forum.
You'll have to wait for Dec issue and see whats pictured on "The End of the line"

Heres a hint.


Did i ever tell you that outdoor model railroading is a "sport"
Note the exhaust.

Plus snow fighters of the north

This is the first line of defence against mother nature.

I have cases of MR mags that I still go through looking for ideas.

You must have went threw a trailer load of Woodland Scenic Snow to cover that area [;)] NICE SHOTS.

[MisterBeasley]

Uh, uh, uh, .... wow. I didn't know anyone actually did GR out in the snow. It's a really neat concept. Maybe when I retire I'll suddenly surprise the wife by developing an interest in gardening.

[Marty Cozad]

David
I used to buy hundreds of dollars of Woodland Scenic materials. Great product.
Now i grow it.
Night running is one of my favorite. I used to use back lighting on my HO RR.
Now I use nature


Picture a lighted passenger passing through the darkness at Minersville station as a storm comes in.

Maybe even the 4th of july with real fireworks.

This is NOT a computer model. its the real model train with a flash light used for back lighting.

Many of us outdoor modelers hand spike switches to save money,weather our rolling stock, design RRs after our favorite era and even plant trees (bushes) to look like the part of the country we are modeling.


Spring trees bud out in Nebraska as a coal train heads south passing North Table Creek station.

Coal and container service is the main stay of our RR.

[railroadyoshi]

WOW...AMAZING.. Unbelievably fantastic pics!

[grayfox1119]

Hi Marty, welcome to the forum .[#welcome] . A great bunch of guys here, I have learned a lot and hopefully have helped some others

[skiloff]

I'm stunned. That is absolutely fabulous. I've always hoped to go to GR when I can better afford to do so, but that is probably 15 years or more away. You certainly have peaked my interest.

[Marty Cozad]

Thanks for the kind words.
i think many of us get into our own "little" groups and forget about the hobby as a whole.
The closest modeler to me is 1 hour away.
4 of us used to put on a mixed scale train show in our town of 6,000. But two moved away and one died. I'm in 4 clubs, 3 GRY and one mixed scale. problem is they are about 2.5 to 3 hour drive one way.
The internet has really opened up things and its great to see and find folks who are like mind and love the hobby.
Us,,," modern mainliners" still have narrow gauge steam ups here with live steam running and with 40 car battery power RC trains on the same track.
The challenge of "keeping the Line open" is one of the theme s of our RR.
As couple of you have said, cost is an issue. BUT, after sticker shock you'll find your happy with two or three 22 pd engines than 30 to 40 in HO.
As with any scale you learn when and where to buy and get the best price.
Modeling trains is my ONLY hobby. I sold all my indoor trains after I tried this for one year.
The newer models coming out from Aristo Craft and USA etc are outstanding and fit right in with my 70's through 90's era.
Yes I still have steam for tourist reasons. heheheh

Even tho I'm outdoors I still feel I am a Model railroader. The same with those who have large scale in doors.


Here on a cold feb morning a coal drag moves queitly past Neb jct where the MOW crews have already spotted 3 ballast cars awaiting the track crew to arrive in spring.

See, now weeds, no mowing, no watering.



And yes as with all scales, some one did not tell the 2nd engineer that a train was stopped on the bridge and this is a blind curve. What you don't see is the 6 cars that went over the edge and down the bank. This was NOT staged and with battery power, it does NOT stop when coming off the track.
After I got done cring I reaslized how realistic this wreck was , we took photos.
The 1st engineer had his controller taken away till after lunch.

I forgot,

heres one of my track inspectors



Spike

[selector]

Marty, if you have ever wired a G-scale outdoors, could you drop over to Blind Bruce's thread on 'How many feeders.." and answer the fellow who just posted with power problems? Thx.

[Anonymous]

Marty

I am so amazed and just overwhelmed with the look and feel you have achieved with your outdoor model railroad, I am really impressed with the look of the modern diesel power and just thinking, this is how laying track should be, actually working with the roadbed around the scenery instead of how us indoor guys do, get the roadbed then the scenery. I also like the idea of running battery, wireless remote control etc.

You say that 1 engine is roughly the cost of a few decent HO engines? That is a cool thing to know. I actually just told my girlfriend about what I saw and how I would like to do some outdoor modeling, her reply was unprintable. Keep posting pictures, unless you have a web site they are at.

Wow, just thinking of the natural weathering that happens, Real life situations we can only recreate in our indoor sets. The fact you can railfan and operate in the winter is cool too. As you can see I am totally taken in by your presentation...

[Anonymous]

All I can say is: WOW!!

...plus great photography. Spike's cool, too.

[Marty Cozad]

David
I'll tell you,,,snow is so FUN.
I did not tell you what our 2nd line of defence was????


Its not a model

I just built it to work

I wanted to clear snow so no human foot print would be in the photos.


the only thing that stops this ,,is ice on the rails


In NE we unfortunity get ice storms before snow

1/4" of ice on the rail will stop it.





ROCKY the rotary snow plow.
18 volt 850 RPM Black and Decker motor.
Can throw snow 6 to 8 ft wet or dry.

Takes two Aristo SD 45 prime movers to push her slow and into the snow.

Will clear snow 6 inches deep.
Man do i love this hobby.
See," these aren't girly-man toys."

this has become a sport.

[railroadyoshi]

as with all of the pictures, absolutely amazing!

[Anonymous]

Please post more pics please this is amazing!
Andrew

[Train 284]

Awesome pics everyone!

[vsmith]

Hi Marty
Great to see these pics over here.
Marty's layout is legendary is large scale circles, all who have seen it in person are awestruck. Hope one year to see it too.

[oleirish]

Sorta makes a fellow think!!!!HUMMMMMMMMMM nope better not mom will have a fit.BUTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTT?!!
JIM

[rockythegoat]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Marty Cozad

David
I'll tell you,,,snow is so FUN.
I did not tell you what our 2nd line of defence was????


Its not a model

I just built it to work

I wanted to clear snow so no human foot print would be in the photos.


the only thing that stops this ,,is ice on the rails


In NE we unfortunity get ice storms before snow

1/4" of ice on the rail will stop it.





ROCKY the rotary snow plow.
18 volt 850 RPM Black and Decker motor.
Can throw snow 6 to 8 ft wet or dry.

Takes two Aristo SD 45 prime movers to push her slow and into the snow.

Will clear snow 6 inches deep.
Man do i love this hobby.
See," these aren't girly-man toys."

this has become a sport.

ABSO-FRICKIN-LUTELY AWESOME! [tup] I've always liked GR's, but never wanted to deal with the plant side. But, your rotary has got me thinkin..................

[Anonymous]

Crazy looking stuff Marty.

I seriously thought that was some sort of ride-on scale or something. That's all No. 1 Gauge track, huh?

Cool stuff. Very cool.

[steveblackledge]

WAHEYYYYYY, way to go guys,,,
FANTASTIC they are fantastic outdoor railroads to be proud of
CAT TOM did you see the cat chasing the train, has spooky been training him up to chase Cabeese[:O]

[Anonymous]

That's some real world-class modeling! Maybe I could start dabbling in that scale once I've finished paying for all my kids' educations....

[Marty Cozad]

Ken
Speaking of kids, they love the sounds and size of out door railroading.
I think its the WOOOW factor

A friend (in the middle) brought guest over to see the RR.

Thomas is always a big hit


Back to railroading that i really like, mustle on the rails. Alot of you take mainline shots, and lighting is what gives it away or not.

[;)][;)][;)][8D][:I]

[Anonymous]

QUOTE: Originally posted by Marty Cozad

Ken
Speaking of kids, they love the sounds and size of out door railroading.
I think its the WOOOW factor

...and if I could cover my two-acre yard with 'garden' trains, my wife wouldn't have to keep nagging me to mow the lawn![(-D]