January, 2021 Update from Family Garden Trains^TM

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Update for January, 2021

While planning the first newsletter of 2021, I determined to make more of the information that is most useful to beginners and intermediate outdoor railroaders available in easily printable "data sheets." Countless experiences and observations during my 36-year involvement in the hobby have reminded me of the importance of starting well and avoiding shortcuts that save you a few days the first year but eventually cost you hundreds of hours of maintainance in future years.

If I had any "sense," I'd put content like this into a book and charge money for it. I still might. But the main thing for me is keeping the hobby going at a time when three important manufacturers have thrown in the towel, and many of the first generation LGB operators are having to shut things down. I'm firmly convinced that the "way forward" must include families establishing low-maintenance railroads that they can enjoy and show off to their neighbors and friends 9-to-11 months out of the year. Ergo my focus on "bulletproof," weedproof installations, that frankly, cost no more money and very little more time than the self-defeating shortcuts many authors have recommended over the years, to the ongoing frustration of their readers.

So under the "Garden Railroading in Winter" section, there's an intro and link to the "Fact Sheet" part of my site. And we're always open to reader requests for more of this sort of thing.

For our part, we have been "hunkered down" a great deal, but that hasn't kept us from continuing projects we started several months back - both inside and out.

Outside Progress on the NB&DC - If you've been following the progress of our current installation, you'll know that we started with two raised concentric track loops and planned to have a third, larger and lower loop running around those eventually.

In 2019 and 2020 we worked on the lower loop. Due to lumber shortages and other issues, the new portion isn't as big as we'd initially planned, but we did get it in place.

We don't have the "permanent" trackage there yet, but during the holiday seasons, we have been adding small temporary loops with kid-friendly trains.

At this point, the first two platforms are nearly four years old, and they have required NO maintenance to speak of. Hopefully, I'll get roadbed, track, rocks, dirt, groundcovers, and trees on the lower platform this summer, plus one more "bridge" across the water feature.

When it was too hot or too rainy to work outside, I worked inside on the same garage bay where I built shelves to hold our trains last year.

This year, I worked on cleaning up one end that the previous owner left looking like a bomb went off. My goal is to make that section look like a Victorian-era train station. Or at least nice enough to use for staging photos of repair projects, product reviews, and more.

Frankly, I hope that my articles on the garage restoration project contain a lot of information you'll never need to use, but it's there in case you need it. Also - to be honest - in all of my articles, I try to give folks some idea of the kind of work involved in my projects, including the mistakes I made before I "got it right," and so on. Turns out that letting folks know how often my projects go "sideways" actually encourages many readers more than some of the experts whose projects always seem to work out perfectly the first time.

This year we scaled back our annual holiday-themed open railroad event, and stretched it out so that only one (masked) family visited at a time. A good time was still had by all, just not all on the same weekend. But it gave us some great ideas for next year's holiday-themed event.

In the meantime, Paul, Shelia, Kristen, Emily, Molly, and all of the contributors and supporters of Family Garden Trains wish you safety, health, and the best year ever!

In This Issue

The following content is linked to or included in this newsletter:

• Westward Expansion 2020, Part 3 - Finishing the new platform, just in time to start getting ready for Christmas visitors.

• Garage to Train Station, Part 1 - Beginning a project to fix up one end of the garage to resemble a Victorian train station interior.

• Christmas Preparations and Operations - Usually we host a big Christmas-themed open railroad in November. This year, we scaled things down and spread them out, but there was still fun to be had.

• Garage to Train Station, Part 2 - With the garage wall in question no longer looking like a bomb went off, we were able to proceed to some cosmetic upgrades that bring the "Victorian train station" theme into better focus.

• Garden Railroading in Late Winter

• Garden Railroading Fact Sheets - Easy-to-print versions of our articles on core topics almost every beginning garden railroader needs to know about.

• Groundhogs and Candles and Midwinter Feasts - A musing about the real, centuries-old history behind Groundhogs Day.

Westward Expansion, 2020, Part 3 - Thanks to a spate of unusually warm weather in early November, I was able to get the new platform finished, lined with vinyl, and bordered with trim boards to keep the dirt and gravel in place.

The next "permanent" improvements will wait for now. In the meantime, we will set out buildings and a temporary loop or to entertain visitors between now and Christmas.

Click on the picture to see our status as of mid-November, 2020.

Garage to Train Station, Part 1 - fixing up one end of my garage to resemble a Victorian train station interior. The initial steps included demolition, patching the ceiling and walls, moving electrical outlets, adding wainscotting and baseboard, and planning for windowframes with painted backgrounds.

Click on the picture to see our status as of early December, 2020.

Christmas Preparations and Operations - Most years we have a single big Christmas-themed open railroad, and we prepare for it much of the fall. But for safety's sake this year, we decided to scale things back and spread them out. Thanks to the new platform, we were able to have five running trains for visitors to watch, including actual model trains and Thomas and Friends trains. We also had three trains for kids to run, including a Hogwarts Express circling a castle where a dragon is pursuing Harry Potter and his friends.

Click on the picture to see our status as of late December, 2020.

Garage to Train Station, Part 2 - continuing to fix up one end of my garage to resemble a Victorian train station interior. I used a digital projector to outline vintage coach details for my windowframes. Then I painted the backgrounds, attached the windowframes, and installed them on the wall. A repro Regulator clock and other details are added.

Click on the picture to see our status as of late December, 2020.

Garden Railroading in Late Winter

If you have any conifers that are "out of control," and you get an unseasonably warm Saturday, you can still trim them now without danger to the trees. Once the new growth starts, though, you'd better leave it until next autumn.

Garden Railroading Fact Sheets

http://familygardentrains.com/fact_sheets/index.htm

Groundhogs and Candles and Midwinter Feasts

To see the article, click on the following link:

http://familychristmasonline.com/other_holidays/groundhog_day/groundhog_day.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 October, 2020, click on the following link:

https://familygardentrains.com/fgt_newsletter/20_10_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.