Andrew has been in touch with his G scale track outdoor railroad:
“Dear Al,
this is a video of my 10 year project which is now up and running after three years.
It’s called Blairgowrie Forrest Railway.
It was started after I was moved out of my small train room.
I am still working on a few of the teething problems as they appear.
The track layout is a simple dog bone designee with 1 point at the moment.
As I work through the layout eliminating the teething problems.
I may consider adding more points as the time allows.
Please also find some pictures of some of the loco’s running on the railway.
Kind regards,
Andrew”
Latest ebay cheat sheet is here.
A big thanks to Andrew for sharing his G scale track outdoor railroad. Just goes to show, this hobby really can be fun for all the family.
Darrel email in his response to Andrew’s G scale:
“Great Job on the garden layout !!!!!
I have a triple track in HO scale. it started out as a family project, As the 4 children were involved from the start, they got more and more interested and my oldest sons friend became involved in model railroading and still is involved.
As the children got older they finally got married and had their own children. My wife was involved also. Now my Daughter in Law and the 2 grandsons have a layout in the basement of the 2nd house. My 2 daughters are involved still in the model railroading and so are my other grand children. My mother was involved and I built a layout all around the upstairs with holes in the walls for the trains to go from one room to another. Now my 5th child will get her layout when he gets older and on his own. Mom passed away last year. Also my youngest daughter got married in Oct 11, 2015 and guess what – Yes her husband is also a model railroader and it is also good to see different generations and the daughter in law and 2 son in laws getting involved into the hobby and passing it down to another generation as well. So with my mother, myself; my 5 children; and 7 grand children – that’s 4 generations of model railroaders in one family.
Probably when your daughters get older they will bring their boyfriends to the house and you can run trains with them also. They just might continue the saying that ” Model Railroading is Fun”.
Keep up the good work – and just remember that what you say was a 10 year project – Remember model railroading work is never done and you will always think of ways to add on here and add on there. Just keep your wife involved also as that is the company treasurer say if the expansions projects will get built or not – right.!!!!!!!!
Can’t wait to see it as the work progresses.
Darrel”
I have to say, there is something magical about how this hobby can inspire generations of a family. It’s a familiar theme on the blog.
That’s all this time folks, I’m short on time.
I was lucky to get this post out to be honest.
Always got time for a shameless plug for the Beginner’s Guide though – which frankly keeps the site going.
Thanks for all the comments on it too.
Please do keep ’em coming because it’s very quiet again this end.
Best
Al
Well done Andrew. The video was a pleasure to watch and hopefully we will see more later.
Great video Andrew, inspiring, hope the girls continue to be excited by your garden railway project.
Mike S
I think that the photographs and video epitomise what this and other hobbies are all about. An opportunity to use and display skills and imagination but most of all it’s about having fun.
Good luck with the project
Beautiful job with the garden layout. You are blessed with two lovely girls. I hope they continue to enjoy their dad’s hobby and have great memories. Cheers! NJ Mark
What Gauge are the loco’s and stock.
Reminds me of a plan I drew up for a garden railway a few years ago – only one of the reversing loops was (mostly) in an 8′ x 6′ shed, housing a station with two terminating roads, a through line, carriage sidings and a loco depot and goods yard, with the headshunts extending outside but all points undercover. Never built it though….
Very impresive layout
Fantastic. I really love to see garden and outdoor layouts and this one is amongst the best. Well done.
I really love to see garden and outdoor layouts and this is amongst the best. Well done.
Great work and a fine video, Andrew. Nice that you thought ahead and captured the work in progress from the beginning. An inspiration to be sure and while it could be done, I am thinking the snows of Michigan (over 200 inches one winter not long ago) might make for a very short running season. Your attention to detail during construction (as with the concrete footings) is both creative and functional.
Thank you for sharing the layout and the fine family. -Walter
Andrew,
Thanks for documenting and sharing your hardwork in creating this wonderful layout. Hope you and your girls enjoy it for many years to come. Thanks for sharing it with the world.
Kristin – California, USA
let’s just see, what DAVE can do with this creation… I mean toots and whistles… Plus the water, Grandpa, and two pets of the day. Weee wooo…
Love the video, looks like o gauge, how do you protect the track from weather?
Fabulous! Never thought about doing it elevated. Very clever. Gives me several new ideas to work on with grandson!
Bill
Wow, nice! South African?! Keep it up!
Very nice layout, in a lovely garden. I’m 78 this year and I had a layout as a youngster, 0 gauge. Never had enough time in my later years to complete a new one, or the money to do it right. So here I am enjoying some of the best layouts around thanks to you great people.
Jim
Marvelous layout! I’m jealous of the Flying Scotsman!
Brilliant work and great video. If you’ve got the weather for it, outdoor railways are just great. With some careful planting they don’t even look intrusive, just like they’ve always been there. It’s nice the family is involved, but be warned, they’ll soon have their own ideas about how it should look! Please feel free to keep us updated as you progress, I could watch that kind of video all day.
Thanks for sharing,
Mark J
Very nice layout and HO scale in the garden is not that common…
Good work overall!
John from Cali
Great job so far, Andrew! I’ve always been interested, but time and money have always been in the way! Other that small set-ups, I’ve not been able to set anything close to what you have here! Love it! I’ll be looking forward to the finished product!
Thanks, I enjoyed watching your progress. I’ve suggested doing something like this at our house, but my wife thinks that I should keep my antique Lionel inside. I think she wants her flower beds for herself, she agrees. I guess I’m stuck inside. Nice job Andrew
Thanks for sharing Andrew. I really enjoyed watching it and see the fruits of your and your children’s labour come to fruition. Well done! Cheers Rossco Adelaide, South Australia
Wonderful! How did you get power all round the track? A bus underneath I guess?
Well done Andrew, where about are you, as I also live in SOuth Africa.
Blairgowrie Forrest – an inspirational work for all garden railway afficionados! Probably one of the best vids that Alastair ever posted here.
Very well done; mine is much more modest but no less time consuming. It is called Coastway Central, a loose copy of Brighton, Sussex.
Hope the girls continue to be interested too as one day I’m sure that they’ll be sorry if they didn’t.
All the best!
John
fabulous! what a great thing to do when the children are so young and can have so much fun with this. I tried but never made it in time with a large project in my loft in the house. Now I have finally achieved this, ( I posted photos a few months ago) the children are now grown up and the circle of life starts again with the grand children! They will be able to have fun with it even if I am twenty five years too late for my daughters!
Thanks for sharing it with us – lovely and well done
Steve Masters
10 years in the making and the results are excellent .
This is truly a museum piece, and I especially like the Engines . The best part is the smile of the child watching the trains,as they go by. I bet a lot of adults also smile like children when seeing this marvelous layout.
Looks great especially since I have NOT had an outdoor layout since 2005. Thanks for sharing. What part of the country are you? Elaine
Just beautiful! A labor of love! Great work, wonderful girls and I love calico Cats!
Precious – beautiful
great work fits right in with the garden. thanks for sharing I am sure you have given inspiration to others.
Absolutely delightful. I hope you and the girls will continue to enjoy it for many more years to come.Please keep us updated on your progress.
Thank you so much for sharing. It’s nice to start the day with inspiration!
We holiday end in Blairgowrie last year, and what a beautiful region of Scotland it is. WTching Andrews video and the name brought back fond memories. You’ve done well Andrew getting this far with two youngsters growing up as well. Guess you don’t get as much time as you’d like on the railway. Once the girls realise trains don’t just stop dead, they will make good engine drivers really liked your photos and video. Hopefully we will get to see the completed track and garden.
Frank.
Thank you for all your positive comments. I’m glad to see that some one fell for the Blairgowrie in Scotland trick! Blairgowrie Forrest Railway is actually in Blairgowrie South Africa.
Hi Andrew
You answered my question just before I asked it! I thought “garden railway?” – my wife and I tried to identify the plants to identify the locality, especially seeing the photograph of the SAR suburban stock. I tried to build a garden layout here in the UK but removed it because I found the weather too limiting. When the track was in the sun it expanded drastically and distorted but when covered with snow, nothing could run! But well done on your building. Looks great.
When my son was very young, I used to hang his sling (with him in it) on a strong coat hook behind the door and he would watch the trains running. Now at the age of 40 he is still fascinated by trains and one of the first things he does when he visits to to take his little daughter to see progress on my new layout under construction. Fascination with trains can last a lifetime!
Nice one Andrew …like a garden railway …big problem though weather …Dave
NIce video and excellent layout!
Nice job love the smiles
Amazing Layout
great second act . Does the cat ( the grey one ) not bother your trains. I have a solid white one and she will bother mine when given a chance. She’s 16 lbs.,spaded/declawed (front paws) and about 10-12 years old, we’ve had her since 2009
Quite the layout. Look forward to more videos as you proceed further on it.
A lot of work and a lot of fun. Keep up the good work
Yes Marvelous layout! Great Job. Hope to hear more in the future.
Comment on comment: Cheers to Heinrich Maritz for recognizing the flora of South Africa. From a one-time student of biogeography and botany.
And of course congrats to the builder of a wonderful garden layout.
Love it, enjoy the life out of it. There are no oooops only fun!!
BRAVO Andy ! Love that the little chuggers are so enthused. Just like my Grand daughter is.
The Critic
Awesome layout!!! Is it ho scale or o scale. It’s hard to tell in your video ? I hope that it gives pleasure for many years to come. This hobby is very enjoyable and rewarding. Good job !!!
Thanks for sharing your layout with us, Andrew. I especially enjoyed the two little blond garden fairies!
Awesome garden railway. I have always fancied doing one but never lived anywhere long enough to get stuck in.
I see Blairgowrie has a South African urban train on its tracks.
Wow Andrew! Fantastic video and a wonderful garden railway. Your two daughters’ smiles make all that hard work worthwhile. When I think of garden railways, I usually assume G scale, but yours looks to be either OO or O scale. Brilliant raising the railway on posts above ground! Thanks for sharing your marvelous video with us.
Look pretty kools.!!!! I have always wanted a outdoor railroad but was worry about the elements outside.
Probably the most charming video I have seen. Very well done. A garden railroad mounted on PVC pipe, wood base, and cork roadbed. Very innovative.
Hi Awesome railway Great as for the Girls still wanting to Play Trains at our Club layout at Butterly Ripley we have 2 let say Senior Ladys who still have the train layouts and Love to still Play trains so there’s Hope for your Girls yet lol Please Post move Vids as you Progress can I Suggest you buy a CMX brass Track Cleaner truck its the best Cleaner the club ever Had after 2 years no trains running it had all our track working in 30 mins
good Luck and thank you
It’s a family affair! What an astonishing effort. The day may come when, as you say, the girls will no longer be interested in trains . . . but the day will never come when they will forget how you and they worked together to make this happen. This is the sort of thing that makes the memories that holds families together. Well done, Dad!
Forgot to mention that I see it even has a Thomas the tank engine!
Awesome Andrew
Andrew in Oz
Great to see your construction progress along the way. Well done!
Thank you. Well done!