# Newbie - My Introduction And Story



## SoCalNever2Old2Start (Jan 15, 2010)

Hello to all and thank you for allowing me to join this community. 

I'll try to keep this brief.

I am relatively new to railroading and have joined this Forum in hopes of gaining a better understanding, advice and direction on my journey to building my first outdoor Garden Railroad. Actually my first railroad period. At 43 years, I figure it is never to old to start. (Thus my Handle). 

It all began about (6) months ago when my neighbor informed me that he had an older outdoor train set that he had in his Garage since the Northridge Earthquake. Excessive damage to his pool required that he dismantle it before the pool was to be repaired. He never got around to getting it back up and running. He figured he'd like to see it resurrected someday, just not by him, and offered it to me for my 3 year old son. I always wanted to do an outdoor train since I was a young boy. We had a neighbor around the block at that time that had a large (He used to give us rides on it) train that looped around his front yard. Needless to say, I jumped at the chance. Little did I know what I had gotten myself into. My neighbor told me to come on over that weekend and claim my new railroad. Five (5) large storage bins later, I had our new yet to be constructed railroad on the back patio.

It consisted of:

MRC Trainpower 6200 Controller
(2) LGB Locos, Starters (0-4-0) I believe.
(10) LGB Rolling Stock (Passenger Cars, Flat Cars, Box Cars Etc.) 
Approx. 75 Feet of LGB Track
(3) switches
(4) Pola Bldgs (Schoolhouse, Church, Market, Station)
And various figures.

All in Great Condition, and All For Free. Actually, After going on the Internet and realizing the what he had invested, I offered, actually I insisted he let me give him something, and he reluctantly took $150.00. The next day I constructed a temp 20' oval, hooked it up, and proudly watched as my son operated his first train ever. Everything worked like the day it was taken apart (15) years ago.

Since then, I have gradually been assembling additional parts and peices needed, actaully wanted more than needed, in preparation of the Big Project.

I aquired from a young man through Craigslist (He was enlisting into the Army and lquidating his collection prior to shipping out) quite a bit of equipment for a discounted price of $400.00 to include the following:

Approx. (30) peices of rolling stock (LGB, Aristo, Bachman, USA) 
Approx. 200' of track (LGB, Aristo, Bachman, Usa)
(6) switches
(6) Buildings Various
Approx. 100 Figures
And lots of Project parts and peices, just too much to list.

All of this was used and in fair shape (Nothing a bit of elbow grease won't take care of), but that's exactly what I wanted. Weathered. And the price was right. Of course I still needed a good powerful Loco. I purchase a LGB 2019S American Mogul on E-bay for $320.00. It was listed in C-6 Condition. I received it on X-Mas Eve, and was absolutely amazed at its condition. Brand new as if it was just removed from the shelf at the Hobby Store. Mint Conidtion. I test ran it and my sons eyes lit up with the sounds and lights.

So now after a total initial investment of $870.00, (I realize I am not done, actually just getting started), I can get Planning.........................and educate myself. I figure to break ground in the Spring, if all goes well.

Any and all advice, suggestions or any other information you could offer would be greatly appreciated.

I would escpecially like to hear from anyone local (West Hills, CA) who has an existing garden layout and would be willing to help out a newcomer. Or if you are also new, let me know and maybe we can learn together.

Thank you.

J


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## coyote97 (Apr 5, 2009)

Hi my dear freind "never to old",

take a look, read, see, think, dream...the forum and the internet is a deep pool to drink from.

So one tip in front:
NEVER forget to have fun with the hobby.

Greetings

Frank


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

Welcome, and nice intro. 

My best advice is to read some of the more popular sites, and also as many beginner FAQs as possible. 

Planning and thinking what you want to do is important. There's a lot of great sites out there to read.. 

I have some FAQs on my site that might be helpful and also about planning... go to the trains section and start at the top... the menus are self explanatory, my site is in my signature below. 

Regards, Greg


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Welcome! That's pretty close to how I started, 4 years ago--we were given a number of LGB and Bachmann starter sets and had added a bit here and there, but had never really set it up. 

Before you do anything else, think about what you want it to be. We had a very nice garden already, with a pond. The garden was a real focal point. We decided to just fit the train into the garden, so we have in effect a nice garden with a train in it. In retrospect, I think it would have been better all around if we had planned both at the same time. But it's still really fun and delightful and people come from all around to see it. 

Visiting garden railways is a great idea--a really great idea. Asking questions here is a great idea too. But I would just think about what you want it to be--what kind of "story" do you want to tell? It might be pure whimsy, it might be about exact fidelity to some era or period. Lots of people like the look of western narrow gage, lots of people like the look of mainline modern freight. 

Have fun!


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## Nicholas Savatgy (Dec 17, 2008)

Welcome to the Forum, you sure did get a great deal. As others have said you should try to think about what you would like to do then you will have an ideal. You should come onto chat room at nite, A LOT OF GOOD PEOPLE IN THERE AND CAN GET YOU GOING IN A GOOD DIRECTION. Also many live out your way.....


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## Rookwood Central (Jan 2, 2008)

If you have not already done so, I would suggest getting Garden Railways magazine, which is published bi-monthly, either from your Newsagent or subscribe, always a good read.


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## CCSII (Jan 3, 2008)

One piece of advise - take all of your Bachmann track and switches and put them back in one of your containers. Bachmann track and switches rust away into dust when installed outdoors. You may be able to use them around the Christmas tree or for an indoor layout at some time but don't count on them for your garden layout. 

Welcome to the chaos! 

Charley


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow. You're off to a great start.

1. Put some track on the ground to play.

2. Look around here and visit some railroads to see what others have done. Decide what you like.

3. Pick some methods you think you can do.


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## Pete Thornton (Jan 2, 2008)

One of our members, Alan Miller (who occasionally reads these threads) wrote the book:

*Getting Started In Garden Railroading* from Amazon.

Highly recommended as a starting point to give you ideas.

Woah - I just noticed the prices!! Looks like it is out of print. Maybe someone can lend you a copy.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

If you can find a club to join also helps. Get to visit other layouts is a great way to get Idea's it's kind of what I did and still do. Later RJD


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## Big John (Jan 4, 2008)

You are in a great area for garden railroading. There is probably a garden railroad club close enough to you to join. That was the first thing I did when I moved to the state of Delaware. Nothing beats meeting other railroad modelers and talking to them in person. 


Big John


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## ThinkerT (Jan 2, 2008)

One minor detail not mentioned so far and might have been addressed by a previous owner: 

Couplers. Aristo knuckle couplers in particular are ... not really compatable with other brands. Recommend you standardize.


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## GaryY (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Pete Thornton on 16 Jan 2010 11:58 AM 
One of our members, Alan Miller (who occasionally reads these threads) wrote the book:

*Getting Started In Garden Railroading* from Amazon.

Highly recommended as a starting point to give you ideas.

Woah - I just noticed the prices!! Looks like it is out of print. Maybe someone can lend you a copy.


Too bad it's out of print. I also have been looking for this book...did you check out the used price .... $67.90! Wow

Be nice (and cheaper) if they updated it a bit and did another edition....

Gary


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## SoCalNever2Old2Start (Jan 15, 2010)

Thank you all for your kind support and good advice. 

Frank (Coyote 97) - Thank you and you are absolutely right! If it's not fun, we shouldn't be doing it.

Greg - Thank you for the link to your site. I'm still navigating my way through it and have found it to be a tremendous help. Thank you.

Lownote - I'm working on the 'Story', and will let you know what I come up with.

Nick - Thanks for the advice. I'll try to get on the Net at night after the little guy goes to sleep.

Rockwood - I did sign up for the Garden Railways newsletter, but realized it was not the same as the magazine. Time to Upgrade.

Charley (CCSII) - You sure nailed that one!!! I had a chance this weekend to sort through all the track and dtermined the follwowing.

60% USA Trains good shape, needs cleaning
20% LGB good shape, needs cleaning
20 % Aristo good shape, needs cleaning
(2) peices of Bachman, not salavageable.....tossed out.

Torby-I was tempted to set some stuff up this weekend, but resisted. I definitely have some work ahead of me.

Pete - Thanks for the tip. I'll keep my eyes open for the book.

ACE in SPP - I'm currently looking for a local club, hope to find something close to home.

Big John - Could not agree with you more! They have a Great Display out at the LA County Fairgrounds in Pamona. My highlight of the year.

Thinker T - Thank you. Alot of the Rolling Stock is Bachman, so I just chenged out 50% of the existing Knuckle Couplers, as they were in pretty poor shape. Also, As I was going though the 'Junk Box' of Items I bought, I found (4) sets of KAdee couplers. I'm thinking about putting those on my Locos and first car of stock. Let me know what you think.

Gary - If I can't find a better price on the book, I may just have to break down and pony up the $70.00. If I do, I'll let you know. You can read it when I'm done.

Thank you all again...............Now I'm off to do some more research.

Gotta Roll!
John


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Couplers--none of them are really compatible with other brands, except for the old hook and loops. I've found that you can make them all play together with work, but they don't play together that well. I standardized on aristo knuckles because they were easy to use and easy to install. Aristo is coming out with a new coupler, the "kuppler," which it's claimed will mate with all other brands. I's not clear eaxtly when they are coming out with it, probably this year.


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

Welcome to MLS. 

95 % of my Rail Road is used equipment. so you are off to a good start. Please post some pictures of you progress.


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## smcgill (Jan 2, 2008)

Welcome J? 
Just put some track outside and look how it looks, then let the mind take off! 
My mind took off a long time ago! 
That's why I'm having so much fun!! 
Tell us you're real name so we know who to blame! 
Also check out George's site whole bunch of good stuff! 
http://www.girr.org/girr/ 
Welcome to the insanity! 
Sean


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## Spule 4 (Jan 2, 2008)

Interesting find on CL, and I suggest you keep your eyes open, a lot of LGB and Aristo shows up on CL in Cali. I have bought a lot of stuff from CL including a lot of LGB track for well under $2 a foot and even found a few folks willing to ship stuff.


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## Gary Woolard (Jan 2, 2008)

John, you have private mail.


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## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

Garden Railways has another getting started book by Kent Johnson called [oddly enough] Garden Railroading: Getting Started in the Hobby, 2002 Kalmbach publishing. Around 20 bucks. You may find it helpful. 

Best of luck and enjoyment to you, 

Scott


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## vsmith (Jan 2, 2008)

You'll find that already having alot of track is by far your best asset, given todays loony prices for track. I say get something down, even temporary, get trains running so you can test them. but not till after we resurface after all this rain..I'm about ready to install a periscope on my car....


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## Gary Woolard (Jan 2, 2008)

About books;

Alan's book is good, but maybe a bit dated by now? (I'm allowed to say that since he's not getting royalties from it anyway







)

I found the late Peter Jone's *Practical Garden Railways* to be interesting, but _not_ that practical for American practice, unless you're running live steam.


The best beginner's book I've found so far (IMHO) is Jack Verducci's *How to Design and Build Your Garden Railroad.* It's a compilation (with additional info?) of the articles he's been writing in GR forever. I presume it's still available from Kalmbach? About $20.


BTW, I just learned that Verducci is coming out with a new one later this year, to be titled *Building Structures for Your Garden Railway*. Probably not for the beginner, but..?


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Regarding track, yes, it's really expensive. As you probably know you can get aluminum, brass or stainless track, and sometimes nickle silver plated track. If you never plan to run track power aluminum is the cheapest. If you do plan to run track power stainless steel needs less cleaning. Although I have to admit on my layout there is not a huge difference between brass and stainless in terms of how often and how much I need to clean it. Other people report that stainless is way way better. I think it depends a great deal on your particular micro-environment


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## Greg Elmassian (Jan 3, 2008)

correction: 

nickle-plated brass, and solid nickle silver rail. 

Nickle silver has never been used for a plating that I have ever seen. 

The reason I bring this up is nickle-silver track DOES oxidize, and, in my opinion, takes only slightly less work to remove oxidation than brass, i.e. I put it on par with brass. 

Nickle will not oxidize, and is comparable to stainless steel in this regard. Of course nickel plating will not necessarily take the same abuse as solid stainless steel. There were some problems with the LGB nickle-plated rail released a while ago, regarding abrasion resistance. LGB even said not to use their cleaning loco on it. 

Regards, Greg


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## SoCalNever2Old2Start (Jan 15, 2010)

Thank you all again for your great advice. 

Just a quick update on the Status Of Prgress: 

1. Seeing as I have the stock in hand, I will be running Code 332 track. 

2. I will be running Track Power to start. I can always convert at a later date. I am thinking about investing in the DC Aristo Engineer walk around system and would love to hear all of your thoughts on that. 

3. In order to better assist in my planning, I have purchased the AnyRail Software Program. It is easy to use and the Price was right ($59.00). Does anyone else here use or have used this Program? It allowed me to completely layout my entire back yard including patios, trees etc, and had most of the track that I currently own in the Library. Pretty neat little program. I hope to have a 'Draft' of the preliminary design completed in the next few days, and will post for all of your feedback if that is OK? I'm still tweaking it, but I currently have approx. 450' of track on the layout, according to my 'Parts List'. 

4. As for the layout, I am contemplating running (1) narrow guage Loop off of the larger Main Line. That would allow me to keep my corners tight around the Island Patio, and run Larger Locos and Freight around the Perimeter of the yard. Does anyonle elsy combine their track in this fashion? Would like to know your feedback. It will make more sense to get you a visual so I'll get to work on that. I'll also post some photos of the yard to give an idea of the direction I'm going. 

That's it for now. Thanks again everyone. 

Sure am having a blast here! 

John


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