 |  |
|
4 minute informational video
Try reloading your browser window or you may need to update your Windows Media Player. Click here for Mac's |
 
|
 | ||
| ||
| ||
 Jon DeKeles Editor in Chief | He may seem like big bad Jon, but that’s because he’s a man of steel – born with trains and technology in his blood. No surprise he engineered the gene splice that gave birth to LSOL.com. | |
| ||
 JD Miller Reviews Editor | The original tinkerer, JD took apart his first watch in 4th grade and now he’s having the time of his life taking apart trains to show you what’s inside. | |
| ||
 Rick Henderson Associate Editor | Rick has more model train experience than Jon has years. He's LSOL.com's jack-of-all-trades from almost day one. He's reviewed, sold retail, and built trains, too. He's not grumpy, just focused. | |
| ||
 Noel Widdifield Managing Editor | Since he’s a card-carrying member of the NMRA and TCA, we all yield right-of-way to Noel’s expertise when it comes to model railroading. | |
| ||
 David Bodnar Electronics Editor | When you’re ready to “Bodnarize” your railroad, David’s the guy who puts the pedal to the metal. Our resident power ranger is all about automation and remote control. | |
| ||
 Jo Anne Sales Manager | What’s a nice lady like her, doing with a crew like this? Joanne is the grand dame of discounts. Better yet, she’ll keep your large-scale spending on the QT from spousal units if you ask politely. | |
John Damkier: Most of my structures are plastic but I do have some wood buildings also. Most are lit with 12v bulbs tied into my Malibu light system. Most of the garden train buildings are heavy enough that they don't blow away. I glued the buildings (that are prone to blowing away) to floor tiles to keep them down.
Gary Lane: I have left buildings out all winter only to regret it spring time. Glues come undone on plastic. Small parts break with the building standing still. Mostly the amount of mud and dirt and bugs to remove is what motivates me to move the buildings into the unheated garage or under the covered deck for the winter.
Bill Waddell: Most of my buildings are made from kits (Pola or Piko) however, all have added detail which makes each more like a creation of my own. It could be a kit bash, color change, store bought details items or ones I hand made. Likewise, lighting is always added for interest at dusk or nighttime. It is be added to platforms, outside work areas as well as the interior of buildings. This allows more detail to be seen inside these buildings and something as little as a porch light makes the town come alive. It should be said however, that highly detailed buildings do require greater care and storage during certain seasons or when bad weather becomes a concern. For this I made boxes to size and bubble wrap.
Important Topics
Bridges
Buildings
Couplers
Getting Started
Grades
How Garden Trains Work
Live Steam
Wheels
Tom Smith: We see thousands of kids and young families get excited over the garden trains and many take home a club membership form never to be heard from again. We need to do some follow up with the ones excited enough to want to take an application with them. The cost and size of the gaden trains hobby can be prohibitive to many. It is my thinking that a personal call and invitation to a meeting or our own layout might give the opportunity to get a better look and feel of what we do. It would also give a better chance to really talk over what is involved in getting started with Garden Trains.
Rick Henderson: I think many a child that is exposed to garden trains at a young age has a great chance to return to his roots after he has experienced other pursuits in life. I started with my dad at the age of seven on weekends. For about 10 years I was deeply interested in the trains but as a military family we moved often and I was starting over often. This background interest in trains kept me returning to the hobby in various scales through the years when I may have been sidetracked by necessities like women and work. But I always came back to trains because of the exposure I had as a child. Now after fifty years in the hobby of model railroading, I can’t think of another hobby I would have enjoyed more. My hope now is that my daughters give me grandsons that I may encourage to take the right track, not to mention inherited my garden trains.
John Damkier: I agree that children should be exposed and encouraged to play with trains. I do not think that large-scale is required. In fact, HO or N is better as the kid can start out with a smaller layout that the parent can afford in cost and space. This stuff is just too big for most people and parents are not going to turn their yard over to their child. Start them small, they will migrate to G when they are older.
There is no better way to share your railroad than with a GRBLOGS. Garden Railroad Builder's Logs is a new blog service of LSOL.com. You can post information in an easy-to-use blog format as often as you like to keep people updated on the developments of your Garden Railroad. Keep your projects organized online in individual projects and show your photos, videos and more online for the whole world to see. Plus you can read other blogs and comment on all the exciting GRBLOGS that others have posted at the site.
Come see the first, the original and the best web blog dedicated to Garden Railroads. Remember: Some people talk about what they are going to do, and others actually do it. Come show people what you have done.