October, 2015 Update from Family Garden Trains^TM

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In this Issue

In our family's case, we decorate our outdoor railroad with lights, set out trains for children to run, and otherwise host a "Christmas Train" party - our eighth annual event. The bad thing about this is that as soon as we set a date, all sorts of other things start intruding on the schedule. The good thing about it is that a good time is always had by all. Plus having at least one open railroad a year forces me to keep things at least somewhat under control.

For that reason, a lot of the articles I write in September and October have to do with maintenance, updates, and rehabilitation of various aspects of garden railroads. This year will be no exception.

We have one article announcing area open railroads, including our own, one article describing what we're doing to prep for it, and one article describing a bridge "facelift" we're trying to get done in time for the open railroad. But a lot of the content relates to anyone who has ever run trains outside and had company coming over to watch them.

In the meantime, I've been looking at the train market, in part because I always need SOMETHING. But also because this is the time of year when we start getting a lot of questions about which kind of trains to buy, etc. In years like 2010-2011, when most companies put a hold on new orders, it got interesting. Not to mention when one of our biggest suppliers of our equipment went through multiple changes of ownership, and another went out of business altogether. This year is looking better, with some "old favorites" becoming available again, but many trains are still in short supply. I'd rather mention this sort of thing early and have folks get tired of me talking about it than spend half of December and most of January answering angry e-mails from folks who waited too long to get the train they wanted and blame me for not warning them. :-)

Whether you are shutting your railroad down for the winter as you get this or helping set up a holiday railroad somewhere or just wishing you had trains, we're here to answer your questions as well as we can. And we wish you the best that each upcoming season has to offer.

Topics discussed in this update include:

• Give Your Raised Railroad a Facelift - Dress up the edges of your 2x6 right of way.

• Christmas Train Day, 2015 - Regional Christmas train festivities for the holiday season, starting with ours, on November 14, near Springfield, Ohio.

• Preparing for Christmas Train Day, 2015 - Getting ready for a cold-weather open railroad.

• Garden Railroading in Early Winter

• Big Train Availability for October, 2015

Give Your Raised Railroad a Facelift

Click on the following link to see the article:

http://familygardentrains.com/primer/bridges/deck_girder/upgrading_raised_railroad.htm

Christmas Train Day, 2015

Click on the following link to see the page of information we have so far:

http://familygardentrains.com/outside_resources/openhouses/christmas_open_houses_2015.htm

Preparing for Christmas Train Day, 2015

Click on the following link to see what we've got ready so far and what we're hoping to get done.

http://familygardentrains.com/newbost/15_10_8_train_day_prep/prep_for_train_day.htm

Garden Railroading in Early Winter

Plant Soon for Spring Color - Sometime between now and Thanksgiving, get any spring-blooming bulbs into the ground. Crocus and Grape Hyacinth provide great early spring color in plants that are small enough to keep from overwhelming your trains.

There is also a kind of dwarf daffodil called "Tete-A-Tete" whose bulbs are hard to come by, but which are well worth planting if you have a chance - for one thing, in temperate regions, they will "naturalize," which means they'll come back year after year and start spreading out. For more ideas about fall bulbs, see the following link:

http://familygardentrains.com/primer/plants/spring_color/spring_color.htm

I know I mentioned this last month, but late autumn is the best time of year to trim any conifers that really need trimming. Our article Trees for Your Trains contains some information on the mechanics of trimming dwarf conifers to improve their health and appearance. Click the following link to see the article:

http://familygardentrains.com/primer/plants/conifers/conifers.htm

If you have time to keep leaves from staying on your railroad all winter, they're easier to remove before they dry out and become brittle. The truth is, because I use so many conifers and evergreen groundcovers, my railroad looks relatively green all year long.

Most years I don't take my buildings in, but we've had a couple bad winters in a row, which is hard on the signage if nothing else, so I'll probably be bringing most of them in from now on. But the open railroad comes first. Plus I often have visitors around Christmas and New Years.

Indoor Activities

Big Train Availability for October, 2015

• The economy is improving enough for people to start buying trains again,
• Several manufacturers underordered last year and are still trying to catch up, and
• If you want a specific train under or around the tree this year, you shouldn't wait too long.

I'm already taking down train descriptions and photos that I just posted in our buyer's guides a few weeks ago, as well as getting disappointed e-mails from folks who waited too long to order some specific product. Once again, I hate seeing folks disappointed, and I hate having to tell them all the same thing (they should have ordered earlier). So these postings are "pre-emptive," so to speak.

On the bright side, some of the trains that disappeared from shelves altogether last year are trickling back into the stores.

Here's a quick recap of where "Big Train" markets stand as of October, 2015:

Large Scale Trains in Christmas Colors - These are perfect for big displays in bank lobbies, etc. And they are "jaw-dropping" around the tree. A couple of the most popular Bachmann Christmas-themed Large Scale sets are available. But the best (and probably most fleeting) news is that as of this writing, two LGB Christmas sets are available. I expect them to go VERY FAST. A Bachmann "Lil Big Hauler" Kids train decorated for Christmas might be the best solution for folks who want a real train around the tree, but whose kids still have "pokey fingers." I expect them to go fast, too, just not as fast as the LGBs. The Piko Christmas set that is available this year has a very nice paint job as well, and seems reasonably solid.

To see the Large Scale trains that are decorated for Christmas, click the following link:

http://bigchristmastrains.com/ls_xmas/ls_xmas.htm

Large Scale Trains for Kids - Last year, several of the trains we have posted disappeared very fast. Fortunately, the suppliers have reordered, and some delightful trains are available as of this posting. There are several trains that work as well under the tree or on the bedroom floor as they work outside.

To see Large Scale trains that are designed to be kid-friendly, click the following link:

http://garden-train-store.com/kids_trains/kids_trains.htm

Large Scale Trains in Railroad Names - Bachmann "Big Hauler" train sets are still available, although they have obviously cut back on ordering new sets, and their most popular current set seems to have sold out since June of this year. Starter sets from Piko and LGB are available, although I expect the LGB set to go very fast.

To see our best currently-available recommendations, click the following link:

http://garden-train-store.com/begin/ls_starters.htm

O Gauge Trains in Railroad Names - Last year, Lionel issued a number of new trains and has reissued several existing sets with a different locomotive or different cars. They also completed the transition of replacing the 4-4-2 that was in most of their starter sets a few years ago with an 0-8-0. The truth is that the rest of the locomotive looks about the same, but if you already have the 4-4-2 version of a set and would like a little variety, this is a good time to jump in.

The bad news is that most of the Lionel sets are in relatively short supply. I'm not saying you won't get ANY Lionel train if you wait too long, but you might not get the one you want. Lionel typically has another containerload of trains showing up about this time each year, so some may become available that we haven't featured yet. If you click on the Amazon link for a Lionel train and it is low or out of stock, be sure to scroll down and see the "Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed" section, in case new trains have been added.

My favorite new Lionel train is the "Albert Hall' set, with the Great Western Railway (UK) locomotive that Lionel "borrowed" for the Hogwarts Express painted in its original green color.

To see the Lionel trains that are painted for PRR, NYC, UP, GWR, and other "real-world" railroads, click the following link:

http://bigtrainstore.com/o_gauge/o_gauge.htm

O Gauge Trains in Christmas Colors - This year, Lionel has more trains decorated for Christmas than they have ever offered at one time. Again, some of the units are already in short supply. And I expect others, like the Peanuts-themed train, to sell out quickly.

My favorite new Lionel Christmas-colored train is one that uses the British Hall locomotive and coaches that Lionel originally created to represent the Hogwart's Express. The whole train is red and is called a "Victorian Christmas Train." Like the "Albert Hall" train set above, it is selling fast, and price-gougers are already lining up to take advantage of folks who wait too long to buy it at a reasonable price.

Click the following link to see Lionel's Christmas-Themed O gauge offering:

http://bigchristmastrains.com/o_gauge_xmas/o_gauge_xmas.htm

On30 Trains in Christmas Colors - Hawthorne Trains used to order specially painted On30 train sets from Bachmann to sell in "collections." They featured art from folks like Thomas Kinkade and Al Agnew, as well as cultural icons like Coca Cola and "Rudolf the Red-Nosed Reindeer." Several of these classic collections are still available new, although I don't think any new Bachmann-built On30 sets have been ordered since 2009. The newer sets are cheaper HO trains with almost toylike details. So once the On30 sets sell out, they are gone forever. And yes, I expect to get a lot of disappointed e-mails, based on experiences with other Hawthorne Village trains that have disappeared over the years.

These come one piece at a time, except in some cases you can order a "super saver set" in which the first three "issues" come in the first shipment, and after that, the subsequent pieces come one at a time. To see which collections are still available, click the following link:

http://bigchristmastrains.com/hawthorne_trains/hawthorne_trains.htm

On30 Trains in Railroad Names - These were are almost non-existent last year. A few seem to be showing up - perhaps Bachmann has ordered another batch, or one of the distributors came across some he wanted to move. Again, if you click on any Amazon link, be sure to check the "Customers Who Viewed This Item Also Viewed" section of the page to see if anything's been added since I last visited the page. On30 is a great size for running with holiday villages, and it's a fun scale to model in regardless. Click the link below and scroll down to see the links for those products.

http://bigtrainstore.com/on_30/on30.htm

Hawthorne Village HO Sports Trains - These are the only HO trains I advertise or recommend anywhere, since I target S and larger scales as a rule. But this is a unique product many of my readers have enjoyed. The Hawthorne Village Sports Trains were originally commissioned by Collectibles Today from Bachmann, the world's largest model railroad manufacturer. Equipped with world-class graphics and excellent quality control, they have been favorites as long as they have been made. That said, there have been NCAA and NBA sets that have completely sold out over the years. Since then, Collectibles Today's owner Bradford Exchange was forced to reorganize by the recession. Collectibles Today is no more, and these trains are being sold as Bradford Exchange products. That's not a problem, since they're the same trains. What is a problem is that the NFL and MLB trains are also selling out, and it is doubtful if Bradford Exchange will commission Bachmann to produce another set. (Since the shakeup, most new trains that Bradford Exchange has ordered are made by another manufacturer and are much more toylike.) In other words, if you've wanted to start collecting one of these sets and you've been putting it off, you should check now to see if your favorite team is still available. Several teams are not.

To see the sports trains that were available the last time I went through the list, please, click the following link:

http://bigchristmastrains.com/sports_trains/sports_trains.htm

Keep in Touch

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 September, 2015, click on the following link:

http://familygardentrains.com/fgt_newsletter/15_09_newsletter_gr.htm

To read more, or to look at recommended Garden Railroading and Big Indoor Train products, please click on the index pages below.