Small trains give the illusion of traveling long distances in a garden railway. Marc Horovitz As mentioned in the first installment, since we had a little, tiny railroad, small equipment was called for. The smaller the equipment, we reasoned, the greater the illusion of distance travelled. So, we opted for the smallest equipment we could […]
The importance of ballasting gauge-1 track: LGB track is heavy enough to float by itself in ballast, just like full-size railroad track. The ballast not only provides a good, solid base for the track, it keeps the track away from the soil and provides good drainage. Before we could begin ballasting, we had to remove […]
Marc Horovitz Before we could start building, we needed a track plan. But before we could design our plan, we needed to know what sort of railway we wanted and what was possible. This was an important part of the process and not one to be glossed over. Rod and I sat down and discussed […]
Adriane stays at stake #1 while I move around the yard. Here, the string has been tied to the second set of stakes. I call out dimensions while Adriane notes them on the site plan. A small passenger train is ready to depart the station on the newly completed Colorado & Pacific Marc Horovitz Marc […]
Marc Horovitz Adriane curves the rail in a bench-mounted rail bender. Marc Horovitz I confess to being something of a track fanatic. I love track. To me, the railway is the track. Track can make or break a line. No matter how beautiful or well thought out the rest of the railroad is, poor trackwork […]
This wooden column supports the control center. Leads have been neatly attached to it. Marc Horovitz Small trains give the illusion of traveling long distances in a garden railway. Marc Horovitz With our trackwork complete, we could now turn our thoughts toward wiring the Colorado & Pacific. Since ours was a small railroad, wiring would […]
Choosing the right tools will make garden railroading a much easier experience. Marc Horovitz There is no single right way to build a garden railroad. There are, however, lots of wrong ways. The first step in heading down the wrong path starts with the tools you choose to do the work. In garden railroading, as […]
In this overview of the entire FCM de STL, you can see how much action and detail is contained in a small space. Knobs on the fascia boards control turnouts, while on/off switches control power to sidings. Bill Zuback The open-air market in the town of Santa Lucia bustles with life. Bill Zuback An FCM […]
A lumberjack rolls wet timber to the ramp at the R&P Lumber Company sawmill. The “water” is made of clear resin. Marc Horovitz A bird’s-eye view of the little town of Aurora, nestled high in the Colorado Mountains. Marc Horovitz Engine No. 1 crosses the high bridge at Indian Leap, with a load of empties, […]
This RhB Ge 6/6 II locomotive is one of a batch that was built by the author and a group of other modelers. It takes its power from the overhead wires. Martin v. Meyenburg The functioning overhead catenary system provides power for all locomotives that run on the line. The entire system was scratchbuilt. Martin […]
I see there are locomotives in 1:24 scale for gauge-3 track. What width is gauge-3 track? How many gauges are there? Gauge 3 is 2.5″, which is the correct gauge for modeling standard-gauge trains in G scale (1:22.5). 1:24 scale is close. There are three gauges commonly used in garden railroading: Gauge 0 (11/4″ or […]
Align every rail joint Every rail joint must be carefully aligned, properly fitted, and level. Sight along the rail to check the alignment through the rail joiner. After the track is spiked down, use a fine file to smooth the top and inside corner of the rail joint until you can slide a fingernail across […]
