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October, 2016 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
Do you know how every coach claims at the beginning of the season that this will be the year they go "all the way"? Then, about two-thirds of the way through, they claim that they never said that and that this is a "building year," in which they were really laying the foundation for next year, and that was their plan all along?
In other words, I know how weak such excuses sound. But this was literally a "building year" in that I spent countless hours (and "real money") making changes and upgrades that should, hopefully, keep our pages going several years before the next forced upgrade or migration. Sadly, most of those changes are invisible. Plus, there was (and is) that whole "day job" thing . . . .
As you know from our July newsletter, the really big change is that we bought another house, one with a bedroom and bathroom on the main floor - some of you know exactly what I'm talking about. Actually, we put an offer on a house in mid-May and didn't close on the thing until almost July. In the meantime, we were busy fixing our "old" house up to get it ready to sell. We didn't move out because we only have one set of furniture for most of those rooms and we wanted the house to look like people could actually live there (Shelia says they call that "staging.") Then we had a several-week period during which we had showings about three times a week, so we were cleaning the house top-to-bottom about every other day (not as much fun as it sounds) and getting nothing else accomplished at all.
By the way, every time I post any significant amount of content about how "life events" affect my garden railroading hobby, several people unsubscribe in anger, claiming they only want to read about trains, not about my family, etc. But of all train-related hobbies, garden railroading is the one that's most affected by family circumstances, and it's also the one that's most likely to influence areas of your life that aren't necessarily affected by indoor hobbies. You have to weed, regardless. And when you entertain, visitors WILL notice the railroad and ask you about it, so you pretty much need to keep it operational. Unlike a Lionel collection or HO railroad in your basement, you can't put a garden railroad "on hold" indefinitely when life gets busy. And it doesn't "go away" to all intents and purposes when you switch off the light and close the basement door.
I did weed the gardens a few times, just to make it look like someone lived here. In fact I weeded the garden railroad a couple of times. I hadn't run any trains until last week, though, since I've already moved most of my railroad "stuff" to the other house.
At this point the "garden railroad" in our back yard consists of a long raised bed with two loops of track (one about 220 foot, the other about 80), a small waterfall and pond, a bunch of perennial groundcovers and dwarf conifers, 6 North State bird feeders, and three 12-volt garden lighting circuits, of which only one has anything to light at the moment.
In other words, the only thing of "value" that remains and could be easily moved is the track (about $400 worth in today's dollars). The bird feeders are just "stand-ins" for my hand-painted, custom-built, and trash-bashed model houses, and can easily be replaced for $20-30 each.
After weeks of showings, we got two offers in one weekend, and one of the offers wanted to keep the "railroad" (which, as I mentioned, is mostly stuff we can't easily move anyway). We countered that offer, and the counter was accepted, but nothing has happened since but a bunch of inspections. So we don't really KNOW anything at this point. Except that the New Boston and Donnels Creek as we know it will not be revived by us.
Back when we started this process, I was hoping to have time to get SOME SORT of railroad started at the new house before Christmas. Now I'm hoping to be moved in before Christmas.
On top of that, one of daughters got married this month. She requested that we have the rehearsal dinner at our "old house," for old times' sake. How could we turn her down, since it's basically the only house she remembers growing up in? And since we were having the rehearsal dinner here, other family members asked if we could have trains running for my great-nephews, one of whom had never seen the trains running. Who can refuse that? I cleaned the multitude of leaves off the railroad, brought back a few of the buildings and my Lionel Thomas and James sets. My daughters who weren't getting married helped clear the leaves off the track and set up the buildings and little people. And Thomas and James ran cheerfully for about four hours that night. There is a link to our article about that below.
So at the moment, we are planning to move "the big stuff" to the new house in a couple of weeks, but that's all contingent on the kind of report we get from the inspections that happened over a week ago. The buyers are trying to go with a VA loan, and we've already spent $5400 to move the well to get it into compliance with that (the water was fine, but the well was too close to the septic system for modern standards). If they decide we need ANOTHER $5k or more in repairs before the VA will approve the loan, we may just go back to showing the house again.
Go ahead, ask me why I don't have a railroad installed at the new house yet. I dare you. :-)
On the bright side, I spent most of Saturday cutting shelves for the new house on a Sears table saw that I bought two years ago and never had space to set up permanently. It works SO WELL that I can see myself cutting the wood for a lot of trestle bents on the thing. I plan on a raised railroad anyway, but this "cinches" that approach. And if things work out, I'd like to do a YouTube series of the steps I go through to install the new railroad. I've already written about all this stuff, but it seems like people prefer watching to reading these days . . .
On a seasonal note, if you own a specific train you want to run around the Christmas tree or in some other holiday usage, check it out now, while there's a chance you could still get parts or service if it's not working. I get lots of e-mails in mid-December from people who just learned the train they put away working last year doesn't work now. How do you get timely service on an electric train three weeks before Christmas? You don't. Since I usually run a lot of trains at Christmas, I have spares, and even spares for some of the spares. But unless you're in that position, think ahead.
If you're thinking of asking for or buying any trains for the holidays, you should know that the folks who provide garden trains and accessories have more stock right now than they will until September, 2017. From here on out, stocks on all but a tiny handful of products will be going down, and some are low now.
Back when I had all the time in the world to keep our "buyers' guides" updated, I used to spend most of the time between Thanksgiving and Christmas removing products that had become unavailable, to protect my readers from the hassle of clicking through to a page that says "no longer available." But some years the trains have gone so fast that it was impossible to keep up.
Inevitably, as the holidays approach, I hear from readers who waited too long to order the train they wanted, and who insist that I owe them an hour or more of my time tracking down a train that was widely available just a few weeks earlier. Sorry, but it doesn't work that way. This is not a complaint, just a friendly reminder that planning ahead can save you a bunch of trouble, and even a bunch of money in some cases (the folks who list the trains cheapest sell out first).
In the meantime, whether your railroad is running nicely, going into storage for the winter, getting ready for some holiday runs, or still mostly in boxes or in your imagination, we're here to answer your questions as well as we can. And we wish you the best that the season has to offer.
Topics discussed in this update include:
 The Last Hurrah!
After almost seventeen years of operation, the New Boston and Donnels Creek railroad has shut down. We hope to rebuild in a lower-maintenance iteration at the new place (probably starting in the spring of 2017). But when our daughter asked to have the rehearsal dinner for her wedding at the "old place," we weeded and cleaned off the tracks again, and brought some trains, buildings, and people back to set up one more time. Someone else called the big feed at our house "the last hurrah," but I include the railroad in that. It certainly held the attention of the youngsters who attended. Until the food was ready, that is.
A longer description of that event is here: https://familygardentrains.com/newbost/16_10_23/last_hurrah.htm
Time for a winter cleanup. You might as well cut your hostas and other plants that freeze off to the ground now - otherwise you'll have a very messy-looking garden in a few weeks. If you still have nice weather, pull any dandelions or thistles now - they will continue to grow roots over the winter.
For the last several years, I've done my weeding and trimming in October and November, since I'm usually prepping for an open railroad. This year, I think I'm done trimming this particular set of conifers ever again. In fact, if I was going to be here next year, I'd consider replacing several of them that have grown beyond a size I can keep nice and trim. As for YOUR conifers, they will respond to trimming better in the winter than in the summer. Again, our article "Trees for Your Trains" will give you some timely hints. Clicking on the following link will take you there.
This is also a time to plant any trees or bushes. My railroad has so many evergreens on it that it looks nice even in the dead of winter. I've taken midwinter photos that would look like summer on some folks' railroads except for the angle of the sun. So if you come across any dwarf or groundcover conifers on closeout, consider an addition.
Speaking of conifers, if you've seen the little "live trees" that grocery stores and garden departments sell this time of year, and you've wondered if you could use them in your garden railroad after Christmas, please visit our sister site Family Christmas Online(tm) for the article "What About Living Christmas Trees?" Click the following link to be taken to that page:
Water Features In November - Time to start preparing for a freeze. They tell you to pull your pump out before it freezes, but if it's deep enough, that might not be necessary (check the frost lines in your area). If you feed your goldfish, stop feeding them once the weather starts averaging in the high fifties - they will be resting more and eating less. The things that will kill your fish are rotting food (which you're going to remove from the equation), rotting vegetation (which it's hard to get all of if you have any plants in the pond) and the carbon dioxide buildup that results from both of those, if it gets trapped under a layer of ice. I used to buy a heater and run it all winter long to leave a hole in the ice for noxious gasses to escape. But it was costing me $100 a month to run the heater. Ouch. For the last several years, I've been using a $15 aquarium air pump, a few feet of vinyl tubing, and one of those "air stones" that makes tiny bubbles. I cover the air pump with one of the few buildings I leave out, and check on it once in a while to make certain it's still working. Technically the bubbles force a bit of oxygen into the water, but the important function is that they force a continuous route of escape somewhere and the noxious gases building up under the ice will follow them. And the cost of running the pump is minimal. Be sure to check on the pump every few days to make certain it's still working, though. And don't imagine that a more expensive aquarium pump would be any more likely to survive the winter - they fail as often as the cheapies.
Start Planning your Winter Railroad Activities - There are many good ways to keep your hobby alive during cold weather. Here are a few ideas to get you started.
- Plan to set up a holiday train display in your home, or go together with friends to set one up in a public place like a church fellowship hall or nursing home lobby.
- Plan a cold-weather "open house" for your garden railroad. A few Christmas lights in the conifers on your railroad, any kind of train running, and a boom box playing Christmas carols will bring a whole lot of Christmas to your corner of the world.
- Make a list of indoor projects you can do that will help your railroad overall.
- Shop for some model buildings that will complement your railroad and drop hints. Seriously, do you really need another pair of slippers? You can find quite a variety of fine building kits at the following link:
Big Train Availability for November, 2016
At the risk of sounding redundant, this is a reminder that if you want a specific train under or around the tree this year, you shouldn't wait too long.
I started trying to update our track pages, but track availability is still "sketchy," to the point where you may have to order pieces from multiple sources. Bachmann, GeneratioNext, and USA trains track is exactly compatible (except in some cases the tie color and or spacing). LGB is compatible except for how the rail joiners work. Most Piko track is compatible.
On the starter set, a couple of Bachmann's most popular sets are unavailable, but the Virginia and Truckee set, which has one of the fanciest locomotive paint jobs you can buy, seems to be available, as do a few other nice sets. Frankly, I'm glad they have reintroduced a set pulled by their "industrial" mogul; it's a nice addition to most Narrow Gauge railroad.
The best new might be that LGB starter sets are still being reintroduced (many of them were unavailable last year). Christmas offerings include the train that was, frankly, the most popular G-gauge Christmas train from about 1970 to 2006 and a nice streetcar set. Non-Christmas trains include two reissued Lake George and Boulder sets.
In the meantime, 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 November, 2016:
 Large Scale Trains in Christmas Colors - These are perfect for big displays in bank lobbies, etc. And they are "jaw-dropping" around the tree. The two most popular Bachmann Christmas-themed Large Scale sets are still available. Two LGB Christmas sets, which you could not get for several years, are available again. I expect them to go VERY FAST. The Bachmann "Lil Big Hauler" kids' train is also still available - a great solution for folks who want a reliable train around the tree, but whose kids still have "pokey fingers." The Piko Christmas set that sold well last year is still available at this time, too.
To see the Large Scale trains that are decorated for Christmas, click the following link:
 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:
 Large Scale Trains in Railroad Names - Bachmann "Big Hauler" train sets are still available, although a couple of their most popular sets are out of stock. Starter sets from Piko and are still available, but the big news is about the reissued LGB starter sets, in both Euro and USA-inspired designs.
To see our best currently-available recommendations, click the following link:
 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:
 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:
 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:
 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.
 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:
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 November, 2015, 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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