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Written by Paul D. Race for Family Garden Trains^TM

Over the years I've answered all kinds of questions for people. In fact, most of the articles on the Family Garden Trains website came about because several folks asked the same questions.

By now, we have added so much information that we can answer the vast majority of reader inquiries simply by referring to a specific part of a Family Garden Trains^TM article. But we do focus on beginning and intermediate readers, so there are some things we can't cover in the depth a more advanced reader may need. In addition, it's nice to get several folks' point of view on some issues.

I will warn you, that a few "experts" have a "my way or the highway" approach to the hobby. But the best cure for that is to be exposed to many sources, so I've put together a list of the best, most useful, and "safest" sources of information I could find.

Family Garden Trains^TM Update (Newsletter)

Magazine

I believe that the quality of the articles and the overall fairness of GR's editorial content will continue as long as Marc is at the helm.

If you are new to this hobby, realize that the cost of subscribing is less than you'll pay for one wide-radius turnout, and will do you far more good in the long run.

Videos

For more information, or to purchase this video, please click on the photograph to the left.

Holiday Garden Railroads Video - Peter Wine, garden railroader and photographer, has worked on several of the nation's best-known display railroads (under the direction of master builder Paul Busse). Pete has captured live-action video of several of those display layouts as they were decorated for Christmas, including display railroads at the Smithsonian and the New York Botanical Garden. It should give you lots of ideas, even if you're not doing a Christmas display at the moment.

For more information, or to purchase this video in VHS or DVD format, please click on the photograph to the right.

Recommended Books

• Marc Horovitz, editor of Garden Railways magazine has also worked with Garden Railways garden editor Pat Hayward to produce the book Gorgeous Garden Railways. While this book is not a "how-to" book, it gives many examples of things folks have done right. For a detailed review of this book check out my blog on the book.
• How to Design and Build Your Garden Railroad contains many of the writings of Jack Verducci, a world-class garden railroad builder and a frequent contributor to Garden Railways magazine. This is the most up-to-date published book on the subject, although it could go into a little more detail in some sections.
  Update for 2008: For some reason, this book is no longer available through Amazon. I know I had a hand in getting sales off the ground, but I can't believe they went through a printing this fast. As of April, 2008, you can still get the book through your local bookstore, directly from Kalmbach, or through this link .
• Garden Railroading: Getting Started in the Hobby is a collection of beginner-oriented articles from Garden Railroading magazine. This is not a single "how-to" source as much as it is a source of encouragement and fresh ideas. Many nice photographs should give you some ideas as well.
• Getting Started in Garden Railroading by Allan W. Miller, is an excellent, fairly current resource.
• The Large-Scale Model Railroading Handbook This book was also updated in 2000; it is a useful reference.

  Amazon links to these books (except for Jack Verducci's) are shown in the following table. If any of these boxes contain a generic Amazon button,please refresh this page to see the link properly.

  Note: this is not an Amazon link, but it works.

  
  

Other Resources

• Our Buyers' Guides - These started as a sort of catalog to useful items from some of my favorite suppliers, but quickly grew to be a resource for anyone wondering what kind of starter kit to buy, what kind of track you can use outdoors, and so on. Nowadays our buyers' guides have more information about many garden train products than the manufacturers' own catalogs. We also provide links to multiple suppliers whenever possible. The button to the right will take you to the main index page of our garden railroading buyers' guides. Other buyers' guides are shown at the bottom of the page.

• Large Scale Central--The Large Scale Central site includes discussion forums, classified ads, and a host of articles you may find useful. The the sitemaster Bob McCown is a nice gent who seems to be very interested in promoting the hobby, and who has helped me with some projects. Some of the other participants are "boldly going where no man has gone before" in the types of railroads they model, the construction techniques they use, etc.
  
  
• Big-Trains List - The original garden railroading mailing list. Join experts and newbies in an ongoing discussion about Large Scale trains and Garden Railroading
  
  
• George Shreyer's "Technical Tips Page" provides"down-and-dirty" technical details on most of the commonly used Large Scale locomotives and rolling stock. In fact, I almost hesitate to buy anything until George has bought one first, taken it apart, improved on it, and written an article about it. Some of George's articles are not for beginners, though.
  
  
• Clubs--If you're lucky enough to live near a large, balanced Garden Railroad club, you will get a lot of information that folks in your part of the country have found useful. One of the best things about clubs is the open houses. I attended a few a couple years ago when I was getting ready to do some upgrades to my railroad, and I learned a lot: things to try and things not to try.

  Our article on Finding a Garden Railroad Club contains information that should help you find likeminded folks in your area.

• Train Shows--If you live someplace that has train shows, you can often see items there that won't show up in your local hobby shop: discontinued stock, one-off pieces, etc. Just be certain you have a good idea of what things are worth before you whip out the check-book, a few vendors "profiteer" on the unsuspecting (like buying all the $99 Bachmann starter sets at their local Sams' Club, then selling them at train shows for $250 @).
  
  
• Manufacturer Pages--Most GR rolling stock manufacturers are listed at the end of the Family Garden Trains article my "Which Scale Should I Model". The LargeScaleCentral.com site has links to many other suppliers.
  
  

Conclusion

As you check out the resources listed above, you'll find additional resources and links to check out. Some will be more useful than others, but the fact is there are a lot of very helpful people out there if you know which questions to ask and you're capable of forming your own opinions in spite of "expert" advice.

If you come across anything that really raises eyebrows or need a "second opinion," please contact us.

Best of luck,

Paul D. Race

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