April, 2021 Update from Family Garden Trains^TM

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Update for April, 2021

Not long ago, my March and early April newsletters tended to be about how to make progress on your railroad even when it was covered with snow and ice. But the past March, in Ohio, we had several days in the 60s and one or two that hit 70. I've been outside in shirtsleeves many times. Of course, we're expecting a "hard freeze" tonight, but that's just a one-day return to the weather we used to have most of March and half of April.

Outdoor Stuff

One thing that kept me busy the last few weeks was putting permanent 2"x6" roadbed on the new platforms. Last year, I got the last platform built, but it was too late in the season to install permanent roadbed.

So I hastily laid track for our Christmas-season visitors and spread pea gravel around it to make it look less like it was laying on black vinyl.

The photo to the right shows the west platform with two track loops set in pea gravel. That's not recommended as a "permanent" solution but it looks better than black tarp. The buildings are all North States bird feeders that I set out in the winter to keep the railroad from looking naked.

So, when we got a few warm days this spring, I pulled up those temporary loops and experimented with a bunch of track odds and ends to see where the new right-of-ways would probably go. The new mainline would be based on 10' curves and include several sidings. Before I started cutting the roadbed, I wanted to make certain it would fit where I thought it would. It did, mostly.

Then, I bought a bunch of 2"x6"x12' pressure-treated boards and started sawing the pieces I needed.

When I had about third of the new roadbed installed, and everything was still a mess, a neighbor told me she was having an Easter Egg hunt for 20-25 kids the following Saturday, and she asked me if I could have trains running for her visitors. "Of course," I answered. Which definitely moved up the timetable. But I did get the roadbed finished, and most of the gravel replaced, so it was presentable, as you'll see in the article "New Right-of-Ways on the New Boston and Donnels Creek RR" (the link is below).

At this point the new platforms still need dirtscaping, rocks, trees, groundcover, buildings, lighting, and accessories. But I can run trains on them at any time. For the day of the Easter Egg hunt, I had to pull a few stray sedum branches away from the upper loops, which were built in 2017. But the sedum scraps didn't go to waste - a friend's grandchildren were coming over to make little fairy gardens in a few days. In the future, such "clippings" will go on the new platforms, once they have dirt to plant them in.

In the interests of full disclosure, I can no longer reach all of the track on the top two platforms without stepping up onto the lower one - something that there was no way to design around. But if I only have to do that three or four times a year, that's still way better than going around the entire railroad on my knees several times a year as I used to do.

Indoor Stuff

Back in January and February, I did work on some indoor stuff, including building a railroad timetable for my workshop. To create some of the lettering on the timetable, I got my old Cricut Expression out of storage. And then I learned that much of the world of craftcutters had changed since the last time I cut anything on it. While trying to catch up, I also came across site after site with "information" that was so outdated as to be useless or flat-out wrong, as well as some that had never been right, period.

So I put on my "fact-checker hat" (the one I earned writing history textbooks in the early 2000s). I checked out any number of "tips and tricks" that may have worked one time but don't work anymore.

I also verified modern solutions that work better than some of the outdated hacks folks are still using. And there's some good news for many owners of first-generation Cricuts.

Initially, I was only going to update a few pages on my railroad hobby sites, but I realized that wouldn't be enough.

By the time I had addressed the biggest hacks, work-arounds, and urban legends, I had enough new pages to justify starting a whole 'nudder site. So I did. One dedicated to hobbyists looking to use their Cricuts and Silhouettes of any age to create buildings, signage, and accessories for their hobbies.

Some of you who are still addicted to Xacto knives may be wondering what these things have to do with model railroading, war gaming, putz houses, doll houses, and other hobbies. One easy answer is windowframes. Once you've designed a window you want to cut out for a structure, you can cut out thirty almost as easily as you can cut one. If you're working on indoor hobbies, you can even cut them out of thin wood, thick cardstock, or chipboard to suit any building need. Other indoor railroaders have cut soft wood to make scale building frames, bridge components, siding, shingles, cedar shakes, car sides, and more. Outside is a little more complicated, because craftcutters can't cut most thick weatherproof materials. But we're going to keep looking for useful examples.

This newsletter also includes some general hobby announcements, about a volunteer e-magazine and the upcoming National Garden Railway Convention in Nashville this spring.

Whatever your modeling, railroading, or gardening interests, stay tuned. Every newsletter, we try to publish more, updated, helpful information.

In the meantime, have a great spring!

In This Issue

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

• New Right-of-Ways on the New Boston and Donnels Creek RR - Installing the wide-radius right-of-way on the lower platforms including tracks through the train shed and over the waterfall.

• Creating a Railroad Timetable - For your train club or train room, an example of a custom railroad timetable whose construction that involved blackboard paint, a "Legacy" Cricut, and pinstripe tape.

• Hobbycutters.com - A new web site with tips and tricks for hobbyists who want to get more out of their Cricuts, Silhouettes, and other devices.

• National Garden Railway Convention, Rescheduled for 2021, in Nashville - Rescheduled for the same place and about the same time as the schedule for 2020. Some details are still coming into focus, but many are set.

• Garden Railroading in Early Spring

New Right-of-Ways on the New Boston and Donnels Creek RR

Adding a loop based on 10'-diameter curves. Includes cutting and installing 2x6 roadbed, bridging the waterfall, and cutting a third passage through the train shed, as well as installing roadbed for two smaller loops.

Click on the picture to see our status as of late March, 2021.

Creating a Railroad Timetable

Click on the picture to see our status as of January, 2021.

Hobbycutters.com

When I got my old Cricut Expression out of storage to create the lettering for my timetable project (above), I learned that I had some catch-up to do. So I documented what I learned in my research. Right now it's mostly reference material, but it's a place I hope to publish and link to projects that are doable and useful for hobbyists, even if you don't have the latest and greatest technology;.

Click here or on the picture to visit the new site.

GRNews Next Issue Available

To download both issues free, click here

The people putting the magazine together have also started a Facebook page here. That's probably the best way to keep up with their efforts and any future publications.

National Garden Railway Convention, 2021, in Nashville

Plans are in place to hold it this year, assuming it seems safe to do so.

This year's convention is scheduled for May 30th to June 5th at Opryland Hotel, the same place as last year's. Fifteen great regional garden railways are on the tour, and many optional activities are offered. The clinic schedule is not available publicly yet.

The web site for the convention is here. You need to click on the little menu icon in the upper left corner to see anything worth viewing, though.

You can also sign up for e-mail updates on their Newsletter page.

I've had a number of conversations with the organizers. They're trying hard to serve the hobby and to show attendees a great time in some difficult circumstances. So I'm giving them thanks in advance, however things work out. And a lot of grace. Be sure and thank them all for their hard work.

Garden Railroading in Early Spring

• If you haven't started construction yet, this is a good time to review our planning and construction articles. Otherwise, this is a good time to review finish up our winter projects, including any buildings you want to set outside this spring.

• 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.

• Rake leaves out of your railroad, and deadhead any plants that need it. If you have spring-blooming bulbs such as hyacinth, daffodil, or crocus, wait until the flowers fall off before you cut off any of the foliage.

• As your groundcover revives from the winter, consider splitting out any that is overcrowded and find a new place for it. If you have more than you can possibly use, take the excess to the next garden railroad club meeting.

• Fish any leaves and debris out of your pond before they have a chance to decay and cause real problems. You may want to do a bit at a time, because the water can get murky.

• If you have any improvements to do for your pond or new little trees to plant or transplant, consider doing it before it gets hot out.

• If you don't have any plants in your pond, this is a good time to shop. "Hardy" pond plants will handle any weather you will get from here on out and then some.

• Do a safety check of any electrical wiring or fixtures near your railroad. If you are using AC power on or near your railroad, make certain that the circuit is GFI-protected, and that the GFI protector is working properly.

• Check the track for physical problems, such as misalignment due to washouts or moles, crumbling rail joiners, weed invasions, etc.

• Take a small level out and see if the platforms for your buildings need to be re-leveled before you install them.

• If everything else looks good, you could always wipe the track and try running an engine around it. This is a good way to check track connections. I run jumpers on long ROWs but sometimes the screws on my AristoCraft track joiners work their way loose over the winter. If I can "fix" the connection by wiggling the track, that's nearly always the problem. Nothing that I can't fix quicky with an allen wrench.

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 January, 2021, click on the following link:

https://familygardentrains.com/fgt_newsletter/21_01_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.