Visit a garden-railway display at a nature center

A family watches a large-scale train display

For many years I have been a volunteer at our local nature center (Sandy Creek Nature Center of Athens-Clarke Co., GA). It occurred to me that their circular flower and nature gardens would be a perfect setting for a garden railroad. I approached personnel at the center, and they were enthusiastic, as it would create […]

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Model railroad locomotive, freight car, structure, detail, tool, and book announcements for May 27, 2021

Refrigerator car

Product news  Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. Here are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of May 27, 2021. HO scale locomotives  Electro-Motive Division SD40-2 diesel locomotive. Atchison, […]

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Thimble cactus

Thimble cactus in a garden railroad

Common name: Thimble cactus Latin name: Mammillaria gracilis fragilis Plant type: Perennial USDA Hardiness Zones: 9-11 Cultural needs: Gravelly or sandy well-drained, neutral or slightly acidic soil; full sun Plant size: 1″ high, spreading to 6-12″ As might be expected, this miniature mammillaria cactus hails from south of the border in Central or Eastern Mexico, […]

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M.T.H. will continue to make trains

Open garage door with moving truck

  Some good news for toy train hobbyists: Mike Wolf might be retiring, but his former company isn’t. A year after M.T.H. Electric Trains’ owner announced his plan to depart the industry, a significant portion of the company is relocating from its Columbia, Md. facility to a new one in Elkridge, Md., while another part […]

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M.T.H. will continue to make trains

Open garage door with moving truck

Some good news for toy train hobbyists: Mike Wolf might be retiring, but his former company isn’t. A year after M.T.H. Electric Trains’ owner announced his plan to depart the industry, a significant portion of the company is relocating from its Columbia, Md. facility to a new one in Elkridge, Md., while another part continues […]

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M.T.H. will continue to make trains

Open garage door with moving truck

Some good news for toy train hobbyists: Mike Wolf might be retiring, but his former company isn’t. A year after M.T.H. Electric Trains’ owner announced his plan to depart the industry, a significant portion of the company is relocating from its Columbia, Md. facility to a new one in Elkridge, Md., while another part continues […]

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Model railroad locomotive, freight car, passenger car, detail, tool, and book announcements for May 20, 2021

WalthersProto HO scale Electro-Motive Division

Product news  Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. Here are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of May 20, 2021. HO scale locomotives  Genesis 4-8-4 FEF-2 and FEF-3 steam […]

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Create a soybean field for your garden railroad

A garden railroad scene with a model soybean field.

Always looking for new ways to make the farm scene on my garden railroad layout look more realistic, I decided to add a field of crops. With my limited knowledge of gardening, creating long rows of perfectly aligned tiny plants just wasn’t possible. I pondered several ideas but discovered the best one as I strolled […]

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Model railroad locomotive, freight car, detail, book, tool, and club announcements for May 13, 2021

Broadway Limited Imports BNSF Ry. Electro-Motive Division SD40-2 diesel locomotive

Product news Model railroad operators and builders can get the latest information about locomotives, freight cars, passenger cars, tools, track, and more by reading Model Railroader’s frequent product updates. Here are the products Model Railroader editors have news on for the week of May 13, 2021. HO scale locomotives Electro-Motive Division GP40-2 and GP40-2L diesel […]

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A fun way to operate your garden railroad

A hand holding two, handmade, four-sided dice.

We enjoy operations on our Weona (we-own-a) Railroad, but we wanted something different for our operating sessions. Here’s how we do it. I made a pair of four-sided dice, one with sides labeled 1, 2, 3, and 4, and the other 1, 2, 3, and blank, giving a possible outcome of 1 to 7, to […]

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Welcome to garden railroading!

 Get an overview of the garden railroading hobby by watching our introductory video. If you are interested in knowing more about putting trains in your backyard or garden, consider signing up for our welcome email series. […]

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