# Vegetable garden trains?



## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

It seems for many of us the goal is to find a spot off in the yard somewhere, on it's own, away from the swing set and sandbox and Mom's vegetable/flower gardens to put down rails and then carefully landscape and chose flora that looks like scale vegetation to go with our 1:20-something trains, add buildings and model autos and...voila'. An outdoor model RR layout/garden.

I was wondering if other folks have just laid down tracks, maybe due to small yard constraints, right through their vegetable gardens or maybe their "significant other" doesn't wish to part with her big perennial flower garden.

If someone has done this would they please share photos of what that looks like? It might be perfectly cool to have a model railroad chugging around the bean poles, tomato plants and lettuce I think. If someone has done this I would really like to see what that can look like.

Thanks,

Scott


----------



## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Scott;

I don't think Larry Rose does large scale anymore, but I remember that he once had an article in Garden Railways about bringing his vegetables from the garden on his trains. Gondola cars for things like tomatoes and peppers, and flat cars for the ears of corn. No photos, but you get the idea.

Have fun, David Meashey


----------



## Henson (Jan 2, 2008)

A year or so ago I planted some tomato plants in my wife’s southwest garden that I also had run some track to. The grandkids loved to come over each evening and run the Tomato Run Train. 

Braden loading cars at the garden. 









And unloading at the backdoor.


----------



## benshell (Oct 1, 2008)

I'll try to take some pictures this weekend... I only have 80 feet of track down so far (and it's not even a complete loop yet), but it's around a vegetable garden and in the last two weeks the garden has taken off and it's looking great (or at least much much better than it was a few months ago!). It's definitely time to share photos on MLS, so please bug me about pictures if I continue to put it off…  

I'm a big fan of railroads that are integrated with yards, and whatever features they may have. Most yards can fit wide curves if the railroad goes around things instead of being isolated next to them. 

David, I remember seeing Larry Rose and his railroad in Garden Railways years ago. His railroad was always one my favorites, so I'm disappointed to hear he's gotten out of large scale.


----------



## Henson (Jan 2, 2008)

Wont let me edit the about message I made. Tired of trying to edit but the kids sure had a great time with the Tomato Run..


----------



## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

Thanks Dave, I'll try and look for Larry's posts. and thanks Henson, I have to admit it's a bit of a trick to post pictures on MyLargeScale forums. I've read and watched the 'how to' video on posting pics but compared to my other hobby site forums this is the most difficult to post picture to. Most other sites you click on the 'post photo' icon and a window pops up that allows you to grab a file from you hard drive and upload it. Maybe someday this site can modify to that. 

Ben, consider this your reminder to come back and share photos of your "integrated" garden railroad. 

I've been looking to move to a more expensive area this summer so I may have to downsize my yard expectations and "integrate" my gardening plans. That's why I was inquiring if other folks have found compromise between their garden railroads dreams and their vegetable garden needs. I think the two should be able to peacefully coexist.

Thanks,

Scott


----------



## benshell (Oct 1, 2008)

Scott, 

I just posted a new thread about my railroad under construction: 
http://www.mylargescale.com/tabid/56/afv/topic/aff/9/aft/121067/Default.aspx 

I had to downsize my yard expectations too, but it's a good thing I only ended up with about a 1/4 acre. I had no idea how much work it is to maintain a landscape and build a garden railroad! As it turns out I won't have much room for buildings and yards, but I have plenty of room for a nice long loop around the yard and that's what is most important to me.


----------



## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

thanks for the link Ben. Congrats on the new home and new family. It's looking good so far. 

The next place I buy will not be the last place I plan to buy and the hope is to be there about a half dozen years at most. Therefore, I want to landscape in such a fashion that when I box the train and track back up what's left is landscaping that makes sense and appeals to buyers. I have a lot of ideas how to do this easy enough and it may incorporate both a vegetable garden and the general landscaping/beds so there will be little to patch up when I wish to sell the home.


----------



## benshell (Oct 1, 2008)

Thanks Scott. I think you have an interesting goal, and I think it's a great idea to try and integrate the railroad in that way. Good luck with finding your new place!


----------



## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

Finding a new place is the easy part Ben and everything I'm looking at these days around Asheville is about 40-50 grand less than it was in 2007. [Still overpriced but...less insane than it was] The trick is finding a buyer for THIS place [laugh] but someone will come along. 
Landscaping in general in the Asheville area is a laid back, casual affair [like most things in Asheville]. Neighborhoods are old and established and the problem if there is one is there is too much shade. You almost need your headlights on in midday driving through these old neighborhoods and how people sleep at night in windstorms with these ancient giant oaks/maples/poplars, etc. right up against and hanging over their little bungalows is beyond me. Folks usually take the au natural mountain woods approach with laurel, rhododendron, hostas, ferns and perrenial bulbs, plant the stuff and then...let it all go wild. It should be fun hacking a space for a vegetable garden and railroad out of many of these overgrown yards I'm looking at. But then again I tend to garden with chainsaws or a chain wrapped around the trailer hitch of my pickup truck. [When in doubt, rip it out.]


----------



## cape cod Todd (Jan 3, 2008)

Hi Scott 
I run my layout like a miniature train in a big world. Trees, weeds, flowers and veggies are in the backyard and my train runs through them all. Just last night I sent a train down to collect a radish for my salad. I thought it was one expensive way to bring a radish to "market". My wife thinks I'm certifiable. I think it is a valid reason for the rail roads existence. This past winter I made a video of a train hauling firewood from the woodpile to the woodstove. Check it out here. 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J7sF-NT8tPY 
I think given the size of our trains it is difficult to designate a area as train only especially if the track will meander all over your yard. If we were to sell our house I would pull up the tracks and buildings and leave behind terraces and flower boxes for the new owner the only thing that would be tough to explain to someone that didn't know a train had run through the garden would be the tunnels. 
If you do run a train through your garden it will still need to have a solid foundation for your track or over time it will lift dip and lurch. 
Have fun. 
Todd


----------



## sheepdog (Jan 2, 2008)

It's a train in the garden......

Several Gardens

Harvest 

Craig


----------



## Henson (Jan 2, 2008)

Craig, looks like a real hot load.


----------



## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

"It's a train in the garden......" 
Craig 


I think that sums up what I plan for my next home and the kind of photos I hope others will share with me. I want to landscape the yard for 'resale appeal' and for a vegetable garden and run my trains through it all while I live there. Then, when it's time to move on to the next place, pull the tracks up and leave an attractive garden behind. 

S


----------



## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

You might want 100ton hoppers for greenbeans.


----------



## mikegiangrande (Apr 10, 2011)

I have the exact same problem. I have to share my yard with two dogs, two (soon to be three) children, and a wife that won't plant anything in the backyard that doesn't produce fruit or vegetables (grass is the only exception).

I found a good article online for building an elevated railroad using 2x6 stringers on 4x4 posts. This was my first backyard setup, and it's only about a month old, so I only have a single track that runs around a corner of the yard on a loop. In the middle of the track, we have a pumpkin patch. The pumpkin plants stay low, so my engines runs above it the whole time. It will look really cool when I have a couple dozen full-size pumpkins on the ground. We have a pumpkin carving party every year for all the kids in the neighborhood, and it will be neat when they come to pick them with a train running around the perimeter of the patch.

I thought about running a line where the tomatoes or other plants will grow, but I thought it would be too tough to keep the plants off the track. 

If anyone else has thought about using the elevated railroad using the same method I did, I recommend not digging cement foundations for your 4x4 posts. I found concrete bases at the hardware store that my posts just sit in. They aren't quite as pretty, but this is my first outdoor layout experiment, so I don't know what I want yet. I just wanted to get my trains outside to start. Using the prefab concrete bases, I could have my entire layout pulled up, moved, and put back together somewhere else in an afternoon if I wanted or needed. 

When I get some time, I will take some pictures and post them. 
@import url(http://www.mylargescale.com/Provide...ad.ashx?type=style&file=SyntaxHighlighter.css);@import url(/providers/htmleditorproviders/cehtmleditorprovider/dnngeneral.css);


----------

