I recently came across some photos of my garden layout at my old house and thought they might be of interest.
It was a G scale double main line approximately 60’ by 50’. We had some woods behind the house and my son and I decided to build the layout in the woods.
We ran into numerous difficulties but I would say that, overall, we were very glad that we built it that way. One great advantage of a garden railway is that you can run it through natural, growing vegetation.
This was my first outdoor G scale layout (we had one around the tree every Christmas for many years), and there was a large amount of trial and e
This is what we started with.
My youngest son, Mark, really got into building this layout and was a big help throughout.
The area had a number of large trees and the underbrush where we built the layout was mainly composed of small to medium sized trees.
After clearing some space for track, a small town, a farm, etc, we started trimming the trees to scale height. We had no idea how this was going to work out, but 10 years later, the trees were still thriving. Each spring I just cut them back and shaped them.
There happened to be a gravel supply company near us with a G layout out front and they sold us 60-pound bags of just the right sized stones for ballasting. This would have been way too expensive if we had to buy it at a regular garden store.
We just dug trenches, filled them with ballast and laid the track on top, then added more ballast. The process was quite pleasant- pretty much the same as prototype track laying!
At first, we had an issue keeping power running to all areas of the long track, until I finally realized that LGB track has little screws attached. They are imbedded in wax under a sleeper and we never knew they were there! Once we screwed together all sections of track, power remained steady with just 2 electrical connections along the approximately 250’ loops.
We had a lot of natural stone around in the woods and used it throughout for retaining walls.
This shot shows a few other techniques we used. The whole area of the layout was on a gentle slope, dropping about 18” from the top to bottom and we built a variety of bridges and embankments, keeping the track fairly level.
The hill that the church is on was built up with rocks and dirt. Right in front of the church you can see a few twigs. These were transplanted from another area and watered regularly. They eventually grew higher than the church and were trimmed into a very nice-looking tree.
You can also see the concrete bridge- a rather simple casting. We made a mold out of wood, with a bucket in the center and we were able to make 3 bridges out of the mold. The roads were very simple- we just mixed up some concrete and started troweling it out where we wanted the road to go. In the town area we built a wood form to cast the roads.
Another nice thing about garden railways is that you can use natural water. We bought 2 plastic garden ponds and put one at the top of the area and another at the bottom. We eventually connected the 2 with a small stream, and a pump took the water back to the upper pond.
We started the whole project by building a shed next to where the train would be. This turned out to work well because all the rolling stock, vehicles, and people could be brought out or put away in just 20 minutes.
Most of the buildings were plastic kits and they did fine being left out- just needing occasional cleaning. The couple of plywood buildings, like the church and barn, were taken in also.
Behind the barn you can see one of the small trees that was cut and shaped each year.
The layout was located in Pennsylvania and the biggest challenge was getting everything cleaned up after the winter. After a few springs of a long process of cleaning leaves, twigs, acorns, etc from the tracks, we decided to buy some very large tarps and we covered most of the tracks at the end of fall.
After a couple of years of trial and error (mainly adding enough large stones to keep the corners from blowing up in the wind), the tracks were in pretty good shape when the tarps were taken up in the spring. A quick pass around the track with some fine sandpaper, and the trains were soon running.
Storage shed in the background.
The barber shop on the left has a photo in the window of my grandfather’s barber shop. The shops sit on a piece of foam core- with all the people glued on. This made it easy to move in and out of the shed.
This shot is obviously in the fall- just about time to put it away for the winter.
You can see a little of a natural environment that we used. The “lawn” around the farmhouse is transplanted moss. The moss grows liberally around the edges of the woods and takes well to transplanting. Just occasional watering and it lasted year after year.
The layout was planned mostly to just have trains running, so we kept it simple. There were only a few turn-outs, for a spur to a freight yard, one to a lumber mill, and one under construction.
By the way- this all sounds expensive, and G scale really is. I was very lucky to live just a mile from one of the top train auction houses in the US (Ted Maurer’s) and I bought most of my G trains there.
Auctions are really fun, if you ever get to go to one; if you are careful, you can get most items about half-price. Because I could go often, I was able to purchase items I needed, plus some to sell on eBay. It obviously wasn’t free- but this greatly reduced the cost.
Like, I suppose, so many garden layouts, we were just getting to where it was finished- and everything was running well, when we decided to move.
We had 10 years of great enjoyment building the layout, but only a short time enjoying really running it. My only regret is not getting any good photos of the full finished layout- all of these are ones taken along the way.
As always- thanks Alastair for the great work you do for us!
Tony, Kitty Hawk NC”
A huge thank you to Tony – I do love it when a garden railway comes in. Unfortunately yhey are few and far between, but always a please sure to see.
Of course, when it comes to garden layouts I always think of Cary’s G scale.
That’s all for today folks.
Please do keep ’em coming. I can’t tell you enough how quiet it is this end.
Brian’s been back in touch with more tips on model railroad building interiors.
He’s been busy with his boat house. If you missed his first post, it’s here.
“Hi Al, I have managed to get a lot further with this kit bash since part 1.
Again, a lot of thought went into this building as every time you think thats it, a new challenge comes along and always at the wrong time. The (oops, I should have done this first and THEN the part that you have just done) kind of error that you make in trying to finish the project as it is now taking too long.
BUT, what would the fun be if it was all too easy and plain sailing.
Here I am visualising on what I would like to do by detailing the interior. The HOn3 track is just to help. The correct track gauge will be fabricated at a later stage.
The kit does not come with any interior at all, nor do the plans tell you what is inside. The plan below are my thoughts on what the interior ‘would’ look like.
Here I have cut the sides from card stock to get an idea of where the stone wall sides will go. Currently they are level with the track base. I use this as a template to cut out the base board of the layout.
This is where I glue the photo copies of the building to card stock which stiffens up the whole building making it easier to handle.
The layout base now cut out and test fitted in place. This was a very necessary step as I discovered that the hole had to be cut back a further 40mm to enable the boat track / ramp to be in the water at the front.
Made the boat dolly and used old rail to get the gauge for the ramp.
Another test fit to make sure there was enough clearance on either side.
This is where I realised that I had to cut the layout base back further as the rail ramp was too close to the fascia in front.
A piece of Masonite was cut to fit the area and glued to the side masonry (cast resin) walls.
Here the building is at the correct distance from the fascia. The front outer walls are now in place giving enough room at the front for water.
A photo of the boat on the ramp entrance. Note the nut/bolt/washer casting on the side wall.
An overhead view showing the start of adding the interior work floors. The plaster cast office is held temporarily with elastic bands for placement. The wood brace in front is also temporary to keep the floor sturdy while assembling the building.
Time to start using the wood parts of the building.
Using the Right Way corner clamps to keep things square. Masking tape is used as a temporary measure to keep the building sides upright.
Here it is added to the base of the building to make sure that it fits properly.
It can be seen here why I use cardboard mock-ups of the buildings to be able to visualise what the final product will look like. If mistakes are made here, it is easier to cut new cardboard to fix it instead of ruining an excellent kit. (I did make a few miscalculations on the interior floors but fortunately it was card stock only)
The fun begins, choosing a paint colour and ageing it to look slightly weathered. The interior of the walls were sprayed a light sand colour before assembly. I follow the same process for all of my model railroad building interiors.
The plaster cast office painted, a black wash used over it and then all dry brushed with a very light grey acrylic paint. The stone foundation was given the same treatment.
Very happy with the progress so far.
The top office will have a full interior (to be shown in part 3). Therefore the door had to be replaced with one that was able to be opened to see partially inside.
An overall view showing the interior as well as the office floor. The little building in left front is one of the many cast resin ones that I use all around the layout.
A teaser photo as of 30th June where it is all starting to come together. Until next month, keep on modeling.
Kind regards
Brian
The HOn3 guy in Knysna”
A huge thank you to Brian.
Next, Cassio:
“Hi Alaister
I send a short video showing details of my layout.
I hope you like it and share it with your followers.
hugs.
Cassio Serra
Brazil”
A big thanks to Brian for sharing his tips on model railroad building interiors. And to Cassio too.
