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September, 2012 Update from Family Garden TrainsTM
Note: This is the web version of a newsletter from the Family Garden TrainsTM web site, which publishes information about running big model trains in your garden as a family activity.
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In this Issue
This time of year, we usually spend a lot of time getting our garden railroad the "New Boston and Donnels Creek" ready for an influx visitors in early November. And there's a lot of work to do. Buildings to be repainted, right-of-way to be repaired, trees to be trimmed, etc. But we've also been playing catchup from all of the "growing pains" caused by our recent behind-the-scenes site maintenance. We have hundreds of hours worth of work before we'll even be halfway ready for Christmas. That said, whenever we keep answering the same questions from readers, eventually we've done enough research to publish another article. In this case, two articles. One is for the people who contact us because they've inherited or accumulated a bunch of trains that they would like to see go to "good homes," but wouldn't mind seeing a little compensation for the time and energy it will take to facilitate that. The other is for people who want to set up a train that, in the immortal words of Bilbo Baggins, simply goes "there and back again."
Add to that:
- A review of a new book that will help you choose, establish, and maintain plants for your garden railroad that inspired me to revise our own list of book recommendations,
- New building graphics from our excursion to Ireland,
- Seasonal gardening tips, and
- Timely news about updates and features on our other train sites.
You may find it hard to believe that, before I started organizing all this, I wondered if I even had enough content for a newsletter.
Finally, please accept our wishes for a great rest of the garden railroading season. And please enjoy any time you can spend with your family in the coming seasons.
Topics discussed in this update include:
Topics From Sister Sites - If you subscribe to our other newsletters, some of the content below will be redundant, but we figured it was worth posting here for "general interest."
- HalloweenTrains.com Expansion - A popular site has easier navigation, new features, and room for much more.
- Spook Hill Chronicles , a brand-new, family-friendly Halloween-themed novel just for our readers.
- New Blog-Like Article: Yet Another Scam - 'Tis the season for fake bills from fake companies offering nonexistant services. If you own a web site or domain name, check this out.
Save the Dates
Our garden railroad, the New Boston and Donnels Creek, was first open to the public in 2003, as part of the National Garden Railway Convention that took place in greater Cincinnati that year. Since then, we've been open several times to visitors, especially for our annual Christmas-themed events in association with the local NMRA train show.
This (fiscal) year, we're hoping for lots more opportunities. We're still planning our fifth annual Christmas-themed open railroad (Nov. 10, 2012), but we are also hoping to have open railroads in conjunction with:
- The NMRA's MidCentral Region Convention (in Dayton, May 15-18th, 2013)
- The 2013 National Garden Railway Convention (in Mason, Ohio - near Cincinnati, June 5-9, 2012)
We're still waiting word on which bus tours are heading our way, so we're not entirely sure which days and times we'll be open for the conventions, but we're also on tap to provide at least one clinic at the NGRC event.
So if you've always wondered whether I was a figment of someone's imagination, or you've been looking for an excuse to head to Ohio anyway, or especially if you want to learn more about trains (especially garden trains), make a note of these dates.
Maybe you have no space for a circle of track, or maybe you want to add a train to a seasonal display, or maybe you want to add a little more action to an existing railroad. For whatever reason, you want a streetcar or short train to go back and forth somewhere, and you want to use off-the-shelf products. Sadly, the best back-and-forth products for outdoor railroads are getting hard to find, but more than one "indoor product" can be adapted. This article provides, not a wiring diagram (those come with whatever product you settle on), but an overview of the available solutions for HO, O, On30 and Large Scale.
To see the article, please click the link below.
Kalmbach publishes a uniquely helpful resource for any miniature gardener, especially for any garden railroader who wants to get beyond Elfin Thyme and Dwarf Alberta Spruce. Nancy Norris is a master gardener and professional garden railroad builder who has been writing plant articles for Garden Railways magazine. Nancy's new book which contains some content from back GR issues, as well as much new material. Please click on the picture for a detailed review and links to the book on Amazon.
To see the book review, please click the link below.
I often get contacted by people who've found, inherited, or grown tired of a train "collection" and need help figuring out what to do with it. Unfortunately the sad circumstances that may have caused you to become the unwilling "curator" of another person's collection don't mitigate the financial realities of selling used, possibly collectible trains, and accessories. This article is a collection of advice I've given and the best advice I've heard on the subject.
To see the blog-like article, please click the link below.
Celtic Storefronts - Souvenir graphics you can use on your railroad or village.
While we were in Ireland, Paul took dozens of photos of buildings and textures that he plans to include on our resources pages. In this case, six building fronts from two Wicklow County towns have been cleaned up, squared up, and resized so you can print them out and use them right on your railroad or town. Though they have an Irish feel, they'd be at home in most North American settings, or even on an "Isle of Sodor" railroad.
To see the new resources, please click the link below.
Adding two recent reviews to our recommended book list inspired us to rework that page to make it more user-friendly, and to include more and better choices. Right now four garden-railroading-oriented books are in print (more or less) and several more are available (if somewhat obsolete) in small used quantities. This page contains brief reviews of most of the books you may find helpful, and links to longer reviews of several. After all, it's not to early to stop shopping, or hinting, for Christmas.
Garden Railroading in September
In the American Midwest, September brings earlier nightfall and usually cooler temperatures. Plant growth slows, and most of the noxious bugs, like mosquitos, are starting to taper off. If you've halfway kept up with things this summer, September may be the most rewarding time to have a garden railroad. As Wordsworth might have said, "God is in Heaven, the trains are running in the garden, and all's right with the world."
Fall Plantings - Year-end sales at the landscaping supply places may bring ideas, plants, furniture, and landscaping supplies into your back yard. If you get any plants, make certain to keep them watered and healthy until you have a chance to get them in the ground.
Fall Gardening - It may be cool enough to weed without working up a sweat, and many of the weeds you pull are done for the season, so this could give you several months of a weed-free garden railroad. Still, try to get thistles and dandelions up by the roots just in case you get a warm snap - or a warmer-than-average winter that won't kill off the roots. While you're working your way around, deadhead any flowers that won't bloom again. This will keep your gardens from looking like "the party's over." This is especially true for thymes and sedums. See the Family Garden Trains article on Groundcover 101 for more information about thymes and sedums. For more ideas about perennials in general, see The Secret Life of Perennials.
If you have any trees or bushes that need trimmed, get started as soon as things start to cool down. Flowering plants such as forsythia, lilac, or vibirnum should be trimmed as soon as the flowers go off in the spring, so trimming them now will mean fewer flowers next spring, but if you have to trim them now, it shouldn't hurt the plant. For information on trimming your little evergreens, check out our article on Trees for Your Trains - Choosing and Cultivating Dwarf Conifers
Maintain good water flow or aeration in your water features, especially as long as temperatures get over 75F during the day. Algae problems will start tapering off with the return of cooler weather. As leaves on water lillies and other pond plants start looking "sick," clip off and dispose of the ones you can reach. The pond and the rest of the plant will stay healthier.
Start thinking about how you will protect your pond from leaves this fall. Nets made for this purpose are available at pond supply places. And when they're properly installed, they aren't even that noticeable. Don't put the net on until after you've taken care of your pond plants for the winter, though.
Finally, here's a warning - this is the time of year when yellow jacket wasps are at their most plentiful, and the individuals are at their most aggressive. Also, you may discover that poison ivy has spread out this summer even when everything else seemed to be at a standstill. Consider wearing shoes, socks, and long pants when you work in your yard and gardens, and be aware of the risks. Especially avoid leaving any sweet drinks open - if you are drinking lemonade or sweetened ice tea while working in your garden, use a bottle with a screw-on lid - otherwise you may find too late that you are sharing your drink with an angry wasp. For more information, check out our article on Garden Safety.
That said, make some time to sit back and enjoy the fruit of your many labors this autumn.
A year ago, our articles and projects for Halloween villages and railroads were scattered across three different web sites. Most of those pages are still "out there" because Google is still pulling them up on searches. But the articles that Halloween train and town fans would find useful are now co-located on a single new server, which will hopefully life much easier for folks who need that information. In addition, we have expanded buyers' guides and more great project features planned between now and October.
To jump to our expanded HalloweenTrains.com page, please click the link below:
Inspired by Howard Lamey's "Spook Hill" projects, we've done our best to imagine what it would be like to live in a town where it was Halloween all year 'round. Between now and Halloween, 2012, the Spook Hill Chronicles will be published in installments, one chapter a week. So check back often for some great Halloween reading fun. Right now, our plans are to take the book chapters down a few days after Halloween and making it available as an e-reader download for a small fee. If we get a lot of response, we may "publish" a sequel next year.
To jump to the home page for Spook Hill Chronicles, please click the link below:
Just when I thought I'd seen it all. This new scam targets amateur webmasters - offering to sell you a useless service, but using language that suggests they are selling you something much more important and urgent. If you have a web page, take a look.
Keep in Touch
As always, we have more articles in the works, and we are constantly updating our existing articles, so please check back often. Also, we are sharing some ideas and announcements on Facebook under the Family Garden Trains name.
Finally, please let us know about your ongoing projects. Ask questions, send corrections, suggest article ideas, send photos, whatever you think will help you or your fellow railroaders. In the meantime, enjoy your trains, and especially enjoy any time you have with your family in the coming weeks,
Paul Race
FamilyGardenTrains.com
To view the newsletter for July, 2012, click on the following link:
To read more, or to look at recommended Garden Railroading and Big Indoor Train products, please click on the index pages below.
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New September, 2012: Back & Forth Operation
New August, 2012: Put the Garden in "Garden Railroading" - Nancy Norris' - Miniature Garden Guidebook
New September, 2012: How do I Sell My Train Collection?
Expanded "Bookstore" Page
HalloweenTrains.com(tm) Expansion
New for 2012! Spook Hill Chronicles - A Family-Friendly Halloween Novel Just For Our Readers
New September, 2012: Yet Another Scam
