Well, I am going to attempt to build a garden railroad in the spring of 2012. It is also not my first, and probably not the last one I'll build either! Anyways, let me explain what a garden railroad is, and how I got hooked on this area of the model train hobby.
Garden Railroads have really been around a long time. LGB or Lehmann Gross Bahn made their first large scale trains in the early part of the 20th century. However, it wasn't until about the 60s and 70s that the trains could really be kept outside for long periods. Nowadays, there are several manufacturers of G scale trains. "G" stands either for, "garden", "gross" which means large, or it is just a letter assigned to the scale like N and Z scales.
I have been a life long fan of trains, watching go by my house as I was growing up through elementary school. An LGB train set is prehapes my first or second train I ever had, and when I became an adolescent, I built my first outdoor railway. It wasn't anything fancy, it looked like below:
After moving to a different state, I tried again to build a railroad in the garden. Unfortunately, I did not have the finances, space, or time to build it. So I got only as far as building the foundation, and installing a preformed pond:
After moving again however, I now have all the things in place to begin constructing a garden railroad again Well, almost. Though I have arranged to have the time, space, and the finances, I do not have everything thought out as of yet. I am a strong believer in planning the railroad before starting construction, so that I know what to do. This blog is here to document my planning, and inevitably, my construction and operating of my third garden railroad.
Wish me luck, because here I go!
