Kansas in my backyard

St. Joseph & Grand Island and the Kansas Central

The railways at a glance Names: The St. Joe & Grand Island; The Kansas Central Size: 4,000 square feet Scales: 1:29 (ST&GI); 1:20.3 (KC) Gauge: Nº 1 (45mm) Eras: 1950s and 1870s Themes: ST&GI: Small farming town in Kansas on a connecting line of the Union Pacific in the 1950s as it converted from steam […]

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The Gold Rush Special

The Gold Rush Special

Name:    Gary Dennis Railroad Name:    Pinecone County Central Location:    Corsicana, Texas Scale:    G scale Theme:    Back woods of East Texas Description:    This is special run of the Gold Rush Special through Pinecone County. […]

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Build a Mason Bogie locomotive

Build a Mason Bogie locomotive

In the December 2014 issue, Mike Garforth shows us how to kitbash a Mason Bogie, using a Piko locomotive as a starting point. Mike has generously provided 10 step-by-step PDFs detailing the project. Also, despite our best efforts to compress these files, they are graphically intense and may take a few minutes to download. Part […]

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Hardscape using cement products

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1. Edward Van Pelt’s small yard in hilly San Francisco required retrofitting by reusing the underside of walkways as new hardscape. Stacked, recycled concrete (also from on site) forms the hill on the right. Planted with pink-flowering red stonecrop (Sedum spurium ‘Dragon’s Blood’ Zones 3-9), elevated terraces resist erosion from earthquakes and four dogs. In […]

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False bleeding heart

false_bleeding_heart

Nancy Norris Common names: False bleeding heart, Yellow corydalis, Yellow fumitory Latin name: Corydalis lutea Plant type: Perennial USDA Hardiness Zones: 4-8 Cultural needs: Moist, well drained, mildly acid or mildly alkaline soil; shade to part shade Plant size: 6-12″ Native to the southern Alps of Europe, yellow corydalis (kor-ID-ah-liss) sports tubular, spurred flowers on […]

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Annuals for the railroad garden

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1. A spectacular display of annual flowers edges the mainline of Ned and Phyllis Ruetz’s Rock Canyon Garden Railroad in Michigan. Don Parker 2. White sweet alyssum blooms profusely on the right of a clump of blue lobelia on Tom Speer’s Hard Rock & Dynamite Railroad in Denver. Don Parker 3. What appears to be […]

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Moving the logs on the Little River Rail Road

Moving the logs on the Little River Rail Road

Name:    Tom Grabenstein Railroad Name:    Little River Rail Road Location:    The Great Smoky Mountains of Tennessee Scale:    1:20.3 Theme:    Logging Description:   The fifth video from Little River RR productions and Choo Choo Films is a tribute to the 8 and 16 mm films made by railfans and company men toward the end of logging by […]

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Access into your ground-level garden railway

scene on garden railway with house in front

To elevate or not to elevate? That is the question we address while deciding on a style for our garden railway. Proponents of the “box” style like to raise the trains closer to view and say they don’t have to bend over so much, but it may surprise you to know that plenty of folks […]

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The Roundhouse: Episode 18

Hal Miller, Marc Horovitz, and Kent Johnson

Having trouble viewing this video?   Please visit our Video FAQ page Now that spring has arrived, Host Hal Miller shifts the roundtable discussion to garden railroading. Two first-time guests, Garden Railways magazine editor Marc Horovitz and MRVP’s Kent Johnson, share their enthusiasm for running big (Large scale) trains in the great outdoors. Along with […]

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Pulp train in the snow

A diminutive garden scale live steam locomotive hauls a train through a snowy outdoor layout.

Name:  Eric Schade Forum User Name:  captain perry Railroad Name: Winnegance and Quebec Location: Phippsburg, Maine Scale:  1:13.7 Theme: Maine Narrow gauge Description:  My little SD Warren Engine, a 7/8″ scale modified Ruby, hauls some pulpwood on a snowy February day. This is the engine discussed in the October and December 2013 issues of Garden […]

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The Tortoise and Lizard Bash Garden Railroad

A model train running on a bridge in a garden railroad

The Tortoise & Lizard Bash Garden Railroad at a glance Name: Tortoise & Lizard Bash Railroad Size of railway: 52′ x ~20′ plus a 10′ x 15′ “L” Scale: Trains, 1:29; structures, 1:24 Gauge: Nº 1 (45 mm) Era: September 1957 Theme: Fantasy, town and country mainline, and switching Age: 15 years Motive power: Primarily […]

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