Common name: Trailing ice plant, Cooper’s ice plant Latin name: Delosperma cooperi USDA Hardiness Zones: 6 to 9 Cultural needs: Well-drained soil, sun or part shade Plant size: 3-inches high by 3-feet wide Sometimes called hardy ice plant or purple ice plant, this low succulent is not to be confused with the larger purple […]
Common scales of large scale trains: Most of us have had this experience as we got started in garden railroading: You go to the hobby shop or look online, looking for equipment for your new railroad. It’s all large scale and it all looks good. But the more you look, the less comprehensible your choices […]
Accucraft Adams Radial Tank 4-4-2T Engines & rolling stock Accucraft, 3260 Central Ave, Union City CA 94587 has an Adams Radial Tank 4-4-2T in 1:32 scale. This live-steam engine is butane fired and available in both kit and ready-to-run versions, with a choice of several roadnames Price (kit): $1,945 or (RTR) $2,160. See the website […]
What could you have seen at the annual (all scales) Railroad Hobby Show held in Springfield, Massachusetts, on January 25-26, 2020? Follow along as MR associate editor Eric White shares his walk-and-talk tour of the various buildings of the Eastern States Expo Fairgrounds, each housing all sorts of vendors, displays, layouts, and so much more! […]
East Broad Top Railroad combine No. 18 has long fascinated the author. The opportunity to walk through the still existing, circa 1876 railroad car prompted him to build this 1:20.3-scale model of the car. Kevin Strong EBT combine No. 18 waits in the Rockhill Furnace yards for its next trip south to the mines at […]
This is a beginner’s guide to dwarf Alberta spruce trees. Across the country, hundreds of us rely on one, small scale, slow growing, almost perfectly conical evergreen to fill our miniature forests, towns, and mountains: dwarf Alberta spruce (Picea glauca ‘Conica’). How do you prune them, what kind of conditions do they really need, and […]
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The author and several helpers modeled the Alhambra Trestle over the course of three years. A 7/8″ Fairymead pulls Dave Frediani cars past 22 Japanese maples, both dwarf and semi-dwarf, back to the caboose. Nancy Norris After decades of building and maintaining garden railways, I’ve built my own railway for low maintenance and live-steam access. […]
Nancy Norris Common name: Goji berry, wolfberry, Chinese boxthorn Latin name: Lycium barbarum, L. chinense Plant type: Perennial USDA Hardiness Zones: 6-9 for L. barbarum, 4-9 for L. chinense Cultural needs: Well-drained, high pH (alkaline) soil, full sun Plant size: 5-8′, easily pruned to stay 2-3′ as in photo Nurseries stock Goji berry plants more […]
Bill Zuback Manufacturer Bachmann Trains 1400 East Erie Ave. Philadelphia, PA 19124 bachmanntrains.com Price: $399 Era: 1949 to present Paint schemes: With sound and moving eyes: Percy the Small Engine and Thomas the Tank Engine ($399 each). With moving eyes only: Emily ($429), James the Red Engine ($389), Percy the Small Engine ($319), Thomas the […]
Bill Zuback Manufacturer PIKO America LLC 4610 Alvarado Canyon Road, Suite 5 San Diego, CA 92120 piko-america.com R/C GE 25 tonner, 284.99; R/C GE 25 tonner Clean Machine; $299.99 Features: Directional light-emitting diode head light and backup light Five-pole ball-bearing can motor Heavy duty hard chrome ball-bearing wheels in gauge Minimum recommended radius: 600mm (23.6″) […]
