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 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. | |
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 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. | |
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 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. | |
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 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. | |
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 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. | |
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 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.
Updated every 5 minutes
Important Topics
Bridges
Buildings
Couplers
Getting Started
Grades
How Garden Trains Work
Live Steam
Wheels
Joseph Cicerello: I think that the grades provide a more realistic setting and make the garden railroad much more interesting. I have been reading as much as possible as to the ability of certain engines to climb and I hope I do it right.
John Damkier: No grades, allows me to run very long consists which is what I enjoy. I do have hills for added interest and a dry riverbed for the tracks to bridge across.
Mike Evans: Original loop was pretty much flat. Redesigned and rebuilt last year to create a twice around plan with an up and over. If you keep the garden railroad grade gradual and under 2% (2" in 10 ft seems about right), most modern equipment will handle reasonable length trains.
Jerry Tupper: I have a grade on my garden railroad. It is more interesting than running the train on the level. Since I have experience in HO scale, I know the value of keeping the grades within 2% if at all possible.
Jeff Crotty: I tried to limit all my garden railroad grades to 2% or less, but in a few spots the grade is more like 4%. This doesn't seem to cause a problem, but it just doesn't look as realistic. I am presently revamping a large, high, curved trestle to help reduce excessive grade in a spot. It's a lot of work - but isn't that the fun of garden railroading?
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.