Beginning of a New Layout in G-Scale Land - Garden Train Railway 12-05-15

Blog Entry By Bob

New Layout

The weather has been colder and getting outside to work on the layout is becoming a struggle.  I have removed the lower loop of track to give me some pieces to use to measure the new layout.  Spacing stakes at 8-feet apart on the straight-away and 5-feet for the radius', I have staked the perimeter of the backyard where the posts will go to support the new raised layout.   I have bags of concrete, mounting plates, posts and cross beams purchased to get started.  First I need to clean all the materials behind the garage.   I have picked up some wood to build a train table in the garage for a rail-yard that will exit through the garage window to the raised track.  This will allow me to have x4 sidings with premade consists of railcars that can be instantly taken for a spin.  I do not know if I will get any of the post footings in before the snow flies but at least I'll have everything in order when the spring arrives.  In the meantime the upper loop of the old layout is cleared for whenever I want to set-up a train to run.

Testing Ideas for a BREWERY FIRE in G-Scale Land - 10-25-15

Brewery Fire
Blog Entry by Bob


It has been a very busy couple of months.  Mary and I  have been helping my Mother-in-Law (Mary's Mom) get her house ready to sell, selling it in less than a week, having to clean it out and move her items between a storage unit and some into our house as she is going to live with us for a while until she finds another place. 

The train layout has become a disaster.  We have been trying to keep up with the weeding but with other things happening in our life at the moment our time has been taken up.    I have not driven a train in months and we have become dissatisfied with the whole thing.  Mary and I have talked about ripping everything out in the spring and re-using the parts to make a raised layout that runs the perimeter of the backyard.  Over the winter, I am going to start building parts for a 3ft high train trestle that will span the back of the yard.  One side the track will run on top of fire wood storage and on the other I will be digging out the big pond for material to make berms.  The front/behind the garage will remain at ground level for easy pedestrian crossing with the trains driving around two tracks running 75ft x 75ft with hopefully minimal maintenance. It is a very ambitious project and will probably have to be done is stages.

In the mean time, we found some cool Halloween lights and put them in the collapsing brewery to make it look like it is on fire.   Here are some photos.  Hoping to add a smoke affect and take some video at some point.  

Again, sorry for the lack of blogs.   It is just a little hectic around here trying to reorganize the house, getting Halloween costumes ready to go to a party,  etc...  




















And of course, let us not forget about a couple of train photos.

Alien Attack in G-Scale Fun Train Land - 08-09-15

(Blog Entry & Photos by Bob)


The previous night was illuminated with a strange meteorite storm.  For an hour past midnight bright flashes burst through the evening sky.  In the morning a strange fog blanketed the town.  The visibility was so bad the trains had to parked on the rail sidings.  Out of the fog began strange eerie sounds.  A droning buzzing sound mixed with metallic banging and grinding.  Flashes of light appeared over the hilltop and ominous sounds desending onto the end of main street.  The cars stopped and people exited the stores to watch mechanized crab machines breaking out through the fog!  It was too late to run as the alien crawlers had opened fire.  Cars were overturned and people were struck down in front of the slow advance of these fearsome visitors!

Evening Arrival in G-Scale Garden Train Railway Land - 08-01-15

(Blog Entry & Photos by Bob)

Darkness falls as the locomotive's headlamps pierce the night.  It
is a warm summer evening and many railcars in the railyard are
already locked down for the night.  Some of the rail crews have a
bit more work to finish their shifts as the last of the train loads
arrive.  It has been a long day as the last arriving crew takes the
short walk to the motel or the restaurants in town.  Outside the
railyard and off the mainline, everything is quiet in the sleepy
town.  The crews are hoping for a good nights rest before heading
back to the engines to continue the trip tomorrow.

Crossing & Bridges in G-Scale Train Garden Railway Land - 07-25-15

(Blog & Photo Entry by Bob)

SD70 #5575 has left the yard with a selection of cars heading north.  The empty car-carrier makes a banging sound as they move across the level crossing.  The long climb up the grade curves around to a raised line overlooking the town below.  The hopper cars blur past the trees and bushes lining the rails.  Breaking the clearing, the train passes over the sleepy village below. The old iron truss bridge carries the train across the skyline toward the hills before its decent into the valley below and along the river to reach the big city sometime in the evening.

Leaving the yard in G-Scale Garden Railway Land - 07-18-15

(Blog Entry & Photos by Bob)


The day starts early as GP38 #4731 pulls in with a line of tanker
cars.  After disconnecting, the locomotive is taken for re-fueling
and a fresh crew is added for the trip back.  Switcher #7961
connects to the tanker cars moving them to a siding.  There, they
await a hook-up to take them closer to their destination.
On the other side of the yard, Switcher #1812 is breaking apart
another mix of freight of cars.  It hooks onto a gondola of scrap
aluminum and moves it to join with a flatcar of white PVC pipes. 
Later, the line of cars will continue their journey.

Loading Dock in G-Scale Garden Train Railway Land - 07-11-15

(Blog Entry & Photos by Bob)


Switcher #1812 backs the boxcars into the loading dock.  The orange forklift drives into the boxcars to grab the crates and pallets of goods. Across the yard the small crane lifts the pipe loads off of the flatcars into awaiting trucks.

Later, the empty cars will be re-assembled on a siding to await the journey back.  New cars filled with returning good will also be added to the queue.

The old red caboose has been waiting along time to be taken out again.  Maybe an extra large load or a maintenance of way train will need its supervision.  But for now, everything is quiet in the rail-yard.