# Introduction



## riderdan (Jan 2, 2014)

Hi all,

I wanted to introduce myself, as I'm sure I'll be asking a lot of questions over the next year or two. 

My name is Dan, and I recently moved my family from a townhouse in California (where we had a postage-stamp-sized back yard) to a much larger place in Kansas. I'm starting planning a garden railroad for our backyard, which now has more space. Although currently that space is under a couple inches of snow.

I got started in model railroading when my dad built an 8'x16' HO layout in our garage when I was a kid. Years later, while stationed in Europe, I came across a toy store in West Berlin that was selling Z scale trains. I scraped and borrowed to buy a bunch of Marklin Z trains and Faller/Kibri buildings and I've had several layouts in Z in the last decade or two. Now that I have kids--two girls who are seven and four, and a little boy who's 2--I'm thinking Z is a little too fragile and small. So it's time to "go big" 

For Christmas I bought myself the Piko BR80 freight starter set (my Z scale was all Era III DRG) and some track. I plan to run this indoors until spring, working out what it is that I want from a garden railroad and where this is going. Since I'm on a limited budget and have a limited amount of free time, I expect this to be a slow process. I do have a pretty complete word-working shop, so I'm hoping to scratch build most of my structures/scenery/etc. 

Currently, I'm thinking about running the trains in a raised bed made from used rail ties, about 8x30. I'd be more inclined to run them at ground level if our lot wasn't pancake-flat and mowed by a someone other than myself. But aside from than an era/setting (pre-war Germany) and a possible spot in the yard, the future is wide open.

Anyway, I'll be reading the forums a lot (and thanks for all I've already learned) and will probably drive you old-timers crazy with hundreds of questions, so I thought I should say "Hi"

Dan


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## Treeman (Jan 6, 2008)

Welcome Dan, look around there is a lot of information here.


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## denray (Jan 5, 2008)

Welcome Dan 
A great place to learn and fellowship, join us in chat room around 8-830 your time 
Dennis


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

Welcome Dan. A suggestion. If it is at all possible try to make the footprint of the track 10x30'. Your trains will look and run better, especially if you want to run longer passenger cars and bigger engines.


Chuck


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## riderdan (Jan 2, 2014)

Thanks for the welcome. I'm really appreciating all the info that's available here.


I still haven't laid out the garden yet, but I will try to see if I can get more space. I realize that larger radii are more prototypical, but I also have to be realistic (money- and space-wise). Also, along with parenting three kids, I'm full-time employed as well as going to college part time, so it's not easy for me to make time/cost trades where I save money by spending a lot of time building things myself. At the moment, free time is very limited.


As mentioned, I bought a Piko starter set that came with a small amount of track, their BR80 loco, a low-side gondola and a box car. The BR-80 is pretty nice... though the plastic valve gear is a little obvious up close.


Just for fun, here are a couple pix of Piko's BR80 next to my z-scale Marklin 0-6-0.


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## chuck n (Jan 2, 2008)

You've got a start on your garden train for your garden train. Chuck


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## CliffyJ (Apr 29, 2009)

Looking forward to hearing from you Dan. Those are gorgeous shots! Almost poster-quality, with that nice black base, white background, tiny against the huge with red accent -- you must be a photographer!

Since your free time and real estate are limited (like mine are), and since RR ties & fill aren't very portable, I'd encourage you to take this opportunity to design your track for your long-term expectations, as best you can. For example, you mentioned an 8x30 area, which limits you to something less than 4' radius at the ends. Only shorter equipment will handle that; so if you hope for large locos / passenger cars in the future, maybe you could enlarge the ends, to accommodate a large end loop radius? 

But maybe tight radii and short wheelbases are fine for you. They are for me as well, but I'm only affirming the obvious that this is the time to do some forecasting, and modifying of your plans if need be. Where the lawn is, and the ties go, landscaping, all of it. 

Cliff 

[edit]
As a fellow newbie, and sensing that you have long-term designs in mind, your biggest decisions will be (IMHO) the following, and in this order:
- Power approach (affects track rail selection; mainly battery vs. rail power)
- Control approach (through the rail vs. some other method)(mainly wireless vs. wired; manual vs. hand-held vs. computer vs. seance)(iterates with power approach) 
- Rail approach (conductive vs. non; cleaning required vs. not)(completely dependent on power / control approach)
- Roadbed approach (how robust / realistic / maintenance-free / easy / etc.)(a decision independent of the above, but a huge one that must be implemented before you lay any trac

And, the biggie,
- How well and cost-effectively you wish to transition what you can afford in the short term to the layout you hope for in the long term.

So don't be afraid to ask questions, we've all been there.


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## Dan Pierce (Jan 2, 2008)

For large scale operation, wireless is a must for me and no matter what method you use to run trains, wireless is the only way to go. 
there is a cost factor for this, I started with the Aristo 27mhz train engineer. 
When I went to DCC, I had to have wireless also. 

Years ago I had a vcr that had a corded remote and I hated that. Only good thing about corded controls is you can always find the remote!!


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## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

Welcome, Dan. I'm the opposite of you! Born in Kansas, have lived in California ever since! I got into N-scale during my Army daze, but moved into Large Scale when I lost my train room. It became a bedroom. 

I'm outdoors now and loving it. But then, California weather encourages that kind of stuff. 

Others are offering good advice, and I have little to add at this point. I would advise a raised railroad. I know that RR ties look authentic, but a raised flower bed of concrete blocks will last forever, and have some resale value when you decide the winters in Kansas are no fun at all! 

Make sure that you plan for both electricity AND water inside your layout. Even if you go wireless and battery, you'll need electricity on the site for buildings and the (inevitable) pond pumps and heaters. Water inside and outside the loop will let you install drip irrigation for you plants. No hose across the lot, and it can easily be automated.


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## Michael W (Oct 10, 2012)

Welcome to the gang! 
Good choice of starter loco, if you look around here there are a few threads on how to tweek yourloco to look better and run better. 
I have one of those little critters and i am very happy with it 
Kind regards michael


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## Michael W (Oct 10, 2012)

Welcome to the gang! 
Good choice of starter loco, if you look around here there are a few threads on how to tweek yourloco to look better and run better. 
I have one of those little critters and i am very happy with it 
Kind regards michael


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