November, 2017 Update from Family Garden Trains^TM

If you are not subscribed to the Family Garden Trains newsletter, and you would like to subscribe, please join our Mailing List, and specify that you want to receive e-mail updates.

Also, if you would like to subscribe to our free newsletter for indoor railroads and seasonal display villages, please join the "Trains-N-Towns^TM mailing list. You can subscribe to either, both, or neither, and we will just be glad to be of service, no matter what you decide.

Fine Print: If you are receiving our e-mail updates and you no longer wish to subscribe, please e-mail me with a "Please Unsubscribe" message (worded any way you wish), and we will graciously remove you from our list.

In This Issue

Right now, just about everything is back in the garage, though. Too many cold, wet days. I have made quite a bit of progress since my last newsletter, though, as you'll see when you start scrolling down.

Notes on Christmas Train Shopping: I can't send a newsletter out this close to Christmas without taking into account that a LOT of garden railroads started out as Christmas presents. We've tried to update our Starter Set Pages with products that are still available as of this writing. Even the favorites are issued in batches, so something may seem to be everywhere one year, then impossible to find a couple years later, then reappear again after an eight-or-ten-year absence.

One example is the Bachmann Circus train, which has been reissued, and which is shown on our Bachmann Starter Set page. Though this looks like the one they made fifteen years ago, you should know that the locomotives and the coach bringing up the end of the train have several improvements over the older versions.

If you check out any of our Garden Train Store pages, you'll notice that the vast majority of product links we include go to Amazon. For one thing, several of the companies that used to have a big online presence are actually selling more trains through Amazon now. For another, most trains that are listed are available through multiple vendors right on Amazon's pages - so you can do comparison shopping without a lot of Google searches.

But for this time of year, the best part may be that Amazon extends their return period to January 30, so if you buy a train set or an accessory and realize it isn't working out for you, you can send it back even after you've put your Christmas decorations away. Just don't wait until February and then complain about bad customer service. :-)

Along that line, we've updated our track page. For a couple of years, it was hard to find several "standard" pieces. But with Piko and Bachmann in the business and LGB manufacturing picking back up, track for using outside is easier to find. No, it's not cheap, but it's rugged and designed for years of outdoor use (even longer if you paint the ties, but that's a different discussion).

As in all things we recommend, if you find something you like and you decide to buy it, please come back through our pages to link to the vendor site. It's a way to support our site at no cost to you. For your convenience, three of our most popular Garden Train Store pages at this time of year are listed below:

• Garden Train Starter Sets: https://garden-train-store.com/begin/ls_starters.htm

• Bachmann Starter Sets: https://garden-train-store.com/bachmann/ls_bachmann.htm

• Christmas-Themed Garden Trains: https://bigchristmastrains.com/ls_xmas/ls_xmas.htm

Notes About Progress and Plans You'll notice that we have made SOME progress on the railroad since you saw it last. Four articles' worth, in fact. And we hope to have dirt and trees on the railroad soon. We'll keep you posted on that score.

When we've done all we can for the year, we hope to get started on some indoor projects that you'll find useful, as well as restarting our "Fallen Flags" series.

In This Issue

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

• More Good Track Options Available This Year

• Framing the NEW New Boston and Donnels Creek Railroad, Part 5 - Finishing and testing installation of the top tier of our new outdoor railroad.

• Framing the NEW New Boston and Donnels Creek Railroad, Part 6 - Finishing the framing for the middle tier of our new outdoor railroad.

• Decking the NEW New Boston and Donnels Creek Railroad - Installing 2x6 decking on the middle tier.

• New Boston Goes On the Road - Since I can't put buildings on my railroad yet, I can use them in other ways - like helping out our club's display at the Dayton Train show.

• Dirtscaping the NEW New Boston & Donnels Creek, Part 1 - Applying a border that will help keep the dirt and gravel where it belongs, and starting with the gravel.

• Garden Railroading in December

More Good Track Options Available This Year - Frankly, I barely had the heart to keep a "track recommendation" page online last year - so many of the vendors were struggling to bring product to market. And my favorite track vendor - AristoCraft - was down for the count (they still are). But LGB is apparently back to full production, and two other companies have been expanding their product line and their availability of compatible brass track. Good news for the people making really big railroads - Llagas Creek is expending their line of flextrack and custom turnouts as well, including nickel silver options that a number of people have already fallen in love with.

I apologize that track is still expensive, because of the same materials shortages that have caused thieves in my county to steal all the copper wiring out of vacant houses. But just about anything you might need is available, and that's something I couldn't say just a few months back.

Click on the following link to see your best track options this year!

https://garden-train-store.com/track/track_order.htm

Framing the NEW New Boston and Donnels Creek RR, Part. 5 - Spreading the vinyl underlayment on the top layer. Prepping used Aristo track for (hopefully) many more years of service. Laying the first loop of track, and testing conductivity with a Bachmann streetcar.

Click on the following link to see our status as of October, 10, 2017

https://familygardentrains.com/newbost/17_10_framing/framing5.htm

Framing the NEW New Boston and Donnels Creek RR, Part 6 - Modifying and finishing the framing on the second layer, cantilevering, using R3 track versus all other pre-curved track formats, finalizing the track plan, why painting the track makes old and new track blend better, and more. This will be the last bit of "framing" in 2017, and it worked out well, considering.

Click on the following link to see our status as of October 15, 2017

https://familygardentrains.com/newbost/17_10_framing/framing6.htm

Decking the NEW New Boston & Donnels Creek. - Decking the 'middle layer' of our proposed three-tier outdoor railroad. Prepping more track, laying out track and decking to make certain we have measurements correct, installing most of the remaining decking for this layer.

Click on the following link to see our status as of October 25, 2017

https://familygardentrains.com/newbost/17_10_framing/decking1.htm

New Boston Goes On the Road - Well, the weather turned too cold too fast to get my railroad finished for my traditional mid-November Christmas-Themed open railroad. Which means all of my buildings were still in boxes when the Miami Valley Garden Railway Society set up a huge display at the Dayton Train Show and put out a call for more buildings.

Click on the following link to our town "out on the town" so to speak.

https://familygardentrains.com/newbost/17_11_trainshow/trainshow.htm

Dirtscaping the NEW New Boston & Donnels Creek, Part 1 - Getting the existing layers ready to install gravel and dirt, including splitting and trimming fence boards to provide a little border around the edge of the layers, and beginning to dump the gravel. Also getting a few Taxus Hicksii very cheap to give me something green this winter, even if I have to move them later.

Click on the following link to see our status as of November 21, 2017

https://familygardentrains.com/newbost/17_11_dirtscaping/dirtscaping1.htm

Garden Railroading in December

What About "Live" Christmas Trees? - Our local Lowes has a bunch of Dwarf Alberta Spruce in fancy pots with cheap decorations tied onto them for about half-again as much as the same plants cost last spring without the fru-fru. If you buy one or more of these, consider using them outdoors, say on the porch, etc. If you live in a cold climate and you bring them in for more than a few days, putting them out again - right into cold weather - will likely damage or even kill them. In addition, our Lowes carried one attractive little False Cypress that will not survive Ohio winters, so check the labels carefully.

The "Norfolk Island Pine," by the way, is a tropical plant. Yes it's cute. And I know several people who have kept theirs alive for years - INDOORS.

If you've seen these or other 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:

http://familychristmasonline.com/trees/real_live_trees.htm/real_live_trees.htm"

If you already have evergreens on your railroad, consider using any warm dry days between now and February to cut back your miniature trees so their spring growth next year won't make them "oversized." Our article "Tree for Your Trains" will tell you how to get the best appearance from your trees with the minimum of risk. Click the following link for more information:

http://familygardentrains.com/primer/plants/conifers/conifers.htm

Plan to Visit Open Railroads - Depending on where you live, you may be able to visit a Christmas-themed open railroad. Ask early at your area hobby shops, check with local clubs, etc. I used to have one once a year, but I'm too far behind to have a big blow-out this year (see above).

A friend in the Greater Cincinnati area (actually Northern Kentucky has several each year, and they're worth getting to. Check out the following link for more information:

http://cranberrylinville.com/open-houses/

Many of the really big shows put on by the pros are produced by Applied Imagination, the company that master gardener Paul Busse founded. Check out the following link to see if there's anything available in your part of the country.

http://appliedimagination.co/exhibition-schedule

Decorate Your Test Loop or Storage Shelves - If you can scrounge up a color printer and some acid-free paper, there's no reason you can't add a city backdrop to your storage shelves. Most longtime readers know about these, but we have two different pages of building photos that have been cleaned up and rightsized to look good with Large Scale trains.

Our first Building Front page has, frankly, too many choices - I made sizes for people who had oversized printers, etc. But the buildings that you can print on a standard color printer are pretty fun, too. When you go to the following page, look for the word "letter" in the various paragraphs - to see the largest version you can print on 8.5"x11" paper.

Click the link below to go to our original building front graphic page:

familygardentrains.com/resource/buildings/building_fronts.htm

By the time I processed a bunch of storefront photos from Ireland, I realized that ninety percent of the folks using these only used the letter-sized versions, so that's what I created for this batch. Though the photos are from Ireland, many of the buildings would fit right into most turn-of-the-last-century North American towns.

Click the link below to go to our Irish building front graphic page:

https://familygardentrains.com/resource/ireland_buildings/irish_facades.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 September, 2017, click on the following link:

http://familygardentrains.com/fgt_newsletter/17_09_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.