How To Large Scale Layouts Capturing reality in garden railway photographs

Capturing reality in garden railway photographs

By John Vorhes | October 28, 2024

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Many of us started our love affair with model trains after getting Lionel or American Flyer items, perhaps to circle a Christmas tree. We might have gotten a toy plastic or metal station with people printed on the sides and some fake evergreen trees. It was all the excitement and the reality we needed. I remember lying on the floor next to my layout, my eyes next to the track watching my Lionel pass as close to my face as possible.

Getting older, we might have built ourselves a permanent layout fastened to a ping-pong table and decorated it with a model town, cars, animals, and people, but it was really a “toy setup,” with only symbolic reality. I still put my face near the track to watch the passing locomotive circling. I craved more of the real thing.

I eventually found I could aim my Brownie Hawkeye Box camera at my track and if I was lucky, I could get a blurry shot of a passing driving wheel. I found that distance shots or standing up shots didn’t look as real, like you were circling the layout in an airplane, all the toylike features then stood out.

After retiring, I built myself a permanent garden railroad, with reality as my goal. I used standard LGB 1600 curves which were tighter than the curves on real railroads but I had space limitations. I liked the gardening aspect of large scale, its weather resistant toughness, and the wonderful detailing on the rolling stock and locomotives.

I cannot claim that my resulting garden railroad is the most realistic it could be, but I still occasionally lay down trackside to get that old passing train effect. I got more sophisticated when taking photos, not using an expensive camera but my handy smartphone. Some of those photos surprised my family and visitors, they looked so real. I’d take several shots of the same scene to get the right angle or light effect, spotting a fallen leaf or spider web that betrayed the scale. I practiced improved art direction before shooting, like shooting on a movie set, using a tripod, my better shots had only occasional flaws. You can find them if you look hard enough.

Being outdoors in large scale means that you have more garden space to include (or not) in layout photos. With more space you can place model buildings in preferred locations away from the tracks. Roadways and streets need shoulders and sidewalks that have some sense of zoning regulation. You can make a small layout look large if the structures are at realistic distances from each other.

I often found that sunlight can work for you or against you. Strong shadows may become too defined, perhaps a more overcast day will give you more reality. Experiment. I have no camera preferences. Slow motion video also adds to reality.

Learn more in this related article from the author.

Capturing reality in garden railway photographs

grade crossing on garden railway with horses nearby; Capturing reality in garden railway photographs
This shot has space, probably inspired by watching for trains while riding with my family out west. The highways followed the tracks but rose and fell with the contour of the farmland. Forest moss makes good pasture grass. Ceramic tile passes for concrete roadway. John Vorhes photo

a figure of a child walks on the rails next to a boxcar on garden railway
A memory from your childhood could inspire a shot. Here, while waiting for a train to come by, a younger me walked the rails by a small-town grain elevator with wheat dust flying around. For the photo, I tossed some white flour– which turned out a little too streaky. John Vorhes photo

model pens with cattle and cattle cars on garden railway
Here some plastic cowpokes are having some trouble loading waiting stock cars. I like to make up a story line with my photos. John Vorhes photo

scene with figures near grain elevator on garden railway
Unloading the truck at the grain elevator. Farmers waited for the load to be weighed. I used sand for the grain. I put tire tracks in the concrete “mud.” John Vorhes photo

model steam engine with cows on track in front of it; Capturing reality in garden railway photographs
Wandering Holsteins stopped the old “102” on the rickety Kansas Central narrow gauge. Blowing the whistle, and they’ll jump off the cliff. So the trainmen wait it out. John Vorhes photo

man with model of depot
Sometimes a little research into an historical society or railroad collection might uncover an old photo that can be used to make an accurate model of a long-gone structure.

model of depot on garden railway
According to old photos, this old narrow-gauge depot at Onega was actually made of local Kansas limestone. So for the sake of realism, I found a supplier of the real thing. Close up it looks a little crude but the model is a good historic and geological talking point. John Vorhes photo

city scene on garden railway; Capturing reality in garden railway photographs
There are lots of details here, maybe too many, but complexity sometimes works. Pruning the live plants can make some real tree shapes. John Vorhes photo

low angle photo showing steam locomotive, depot, and passenger car on garden railway
The Miltonvale depot was the end of the line on the Kansas Central with a crew change for the return to Leavenworth. John Vorhes photo

steam locomotive in scene on garden railroad; Capturing reality in garden railway photographs
Larkinburg didn’t grow much along the Kansas Central in the 1870’s and eventually became a ghost town with a few empty streets. John Vorhes photo
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