# Styles of RRs



## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

We talk about track work, but what we want to spend our $$ on determines (maybe) the style of RR we have.

example
Me
I like the hobby for the scenic value. Its worth it to me to move to a location and hire a dull dozer to shape my mountains to get me started.
Sure I wish i had a raised roadbed or no landscaping to mess with. But thats not true. We build the way we want to spend our money.
Live steamers like to walk along and try to burn their fingures so they have raised track period.
Others wanted a brick retaining wall and pretty flowers with a train running in it.
others try to blind the stles together.
Just something to think about.

So it may look greener on the other side, but is it???


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## lownote (Jan 3, 2008)

Mine keeps changing. I started as a Christmas thing--my wife and I have a very nice garden, and we added a train. Smal it first, then it got bigger. We added the train to a well established garden, which is not the best way to go, and had to make a lot of compromises as a result. But it's come to work pretty well. I'm kind of at the limit for now in terms of new track

We started with some LGB starter sets. I really wanted mainline steam, so I got an aristo Mikado and a Pacific. No I think that was a mistake--smaller stuff scales better in our space. I'm thinking seriously about going to all live steam


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## leonpete (Jan 4, 2008)

I agree with Marty. I'd love to have a beautiful natural back ground of mountains and valleys and distant trees, but when you live in town you loose all the natural scenery that enhances great looking photos and huge layouts. So we build our railroads in a confined area and have fences and retaining wall blocks and maybe our house or the neighbors in our photos for back ground. But I am just happy to have a place to run some trains and work on related projects for the railroad. What a GREAT hobby. Greener? Probably, but I'm content with my small railroad.


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## Bills (Feb 20, 2008)

I think there are a lot of factors that determines the rail road we each make. Space, time, and commitment are the primary determining factors. I would love a rail road like Marty’s, but I do not have the skill or time. I use an elevated bed because the landscapers would drive their mowers right over ever thing given the chance. I have about 150 feet of track because my back yard must be shared with my family. I like building bridges so an elevated track in my flat yard works for me. Adding plants makes it appear that there is an esthetic reason to have a garden rail road.


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## SlateCreek (Jan 2, 2008)

And for a completely different tack .... 

My scenery is pretty much like the HO guys do it, only REALLY large. Trees are often way too expensive to have more than a handfull, and there's enough room for little details that something like a meadow becomes a really tall order in a hurry! 

I far prefer to put my efforts into modelling rolling stock and running/operating trains ... but I gotta have a stage to put the production on that's believable. 

I guess that's why they tell me an indoor large scale layout is unusual, at least the way I'm trying to do it! 

Matthew (OV)


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## sheepdog (Jan 2, 2008)

We like a train in the garden...... All types of gardens.

Garden Train 


Started on the ground..... Knees and hips said *'Nope*'. So we raised the garden and pond.


Craig


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## paintjockey (Jan 3, 2008)

Mine's on the ground. More due to money than anything else (dirt is expensive). Now that it's down there though I find it's easier to expand and change. I don't have to build new walls and buy tons of dirt. Someday when my knees give out I'll probly raise it up but right now I don't mind playing in the dirt. As far as scenery goes, Im not much of a gardener. I like to make realistic surroundings so I use plants to enhance my railroad. I guess I would consider myself more of an "outdoor railroader" than a garden railroader. 
Terry


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## blackburn49 (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By NTCGRR on 04/16/2009 7:48 PM
We talk about track work, but what we want to spend our $$ on determines (maybe) the style of RR we have.

example
Me
I like the hobby for the scenic value. Its worth it to me to move to a location and hire a dull dozer to shape my mountains to get me started.
Sure I wish i had a raised roadbed or no landscaping to mess with. But that's not true. We build the way we want to spend our money.
Live steamers like to walk along and try to burn their fingers so they have raised track period.
Others wanted a brick retaining wall and pretty flowers with a train running in it.
others try to blind the styles together.
Just something to think about.

So it may look greener on the other side, but is it???



I am one of those who is working toward combining styles together. Due to the climate and the nature of the ground here this is particularly difficult. That was one of the major reasons why I built my two outdoor railroad lines (now combined as one) as raised beds. However, I am inspired by some of the incredible garden railroads I see here and _do_ plan to ultimately build a Phase III on-the-ground model railroad, probably on a _concrete_ rail bed base, economic conditions permitting. At that point I am looking a real hills, river beds, on-the-ground trestles and maybe a tunnel or two. We will just have to see how the _local_ economy goes. So far the outlook remains promising.


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## Torby (Jan 2, 2008)

Mine is of the "vaporous" style, but I enjoy visiting


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## GG (Jan 1, 2009)

Mine will be elevated, however I will need to stoop to get to it. My garden will be built up and an effort will be made to blend in things. 

Garden Railroads are very personal and I see that everyone has their needs. I'd love to have a Marty type layout however for me... not practical given my circumstances. 

gg


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## Duncan (Jan 2, 2008)

There are times when I wished I'd gone to the raised platform sort of layout, but given the fluidity of the Sun Dancer's evolution over the last seven years, finding what "tracks" the best, I'm glad we opted for something "down in the dirt"... 

Pulling weeds from between the ties is sometimes a back breaker (as is moving tons of dirt by hand), but the ability to easily change a segment of the layout (add or remove a siding, or a spur, or put in a whole new interchange) is quite a benefit. 

Especially if you make a change from track power to on board battery power, where the interconnectivity of physically isolated loops is now a possibility...


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Ours is designed for operations with the viewer in mind.

It is a series of highly detailed vingettes all tied together with the railroad providing the interconnecting theme. It all runs though a scale garden of real plantings. No weeds are allowed to roost in the garden, ever. Track power and relatively simple electronics let 7 trains run on interconnected loops and point-to-points totally unattended over about 600 feet of track in a ~1,200 foot area.

We do regular open houses and I am able to run the trains and attend to guests unaided. We are always a hit. This works for us.


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## aceinspp (Jan 2, 2008)

My RR is built to please me and no one else. I build it like I want and still is pleasant even through the part that does have garden plants. As we say its your RR make it for your pleasure. It's nice to see the various ideas. But i think we all like what we have and the way it's built. Later RJD


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## placitassteam (Jan 2, 2008)

The Zia and Columbine RR is built on the side of a hill therefor I had to build a 2 to 4 foot high retaining wall along one side and haul in 350 tons of fill to get a level area to run manual control live steam. There is also an upper loop which has grades of up to 3 1/2 percent. In order to be able to run the entire layout all my locos have RC. Since we live in the desert all the vegetation on my layout is what grows naturally without watering. Right now there is so much stuff popping up that this morning I had to pull up a bunch of it to keep it from getting out of hand. There are still no buildings but I plan to someday do models of historic structures from New Mexico and Colorado. I love seeing what others are doing and learning from their experiences.


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## Marauderer (Jan 5, 2008)

Pictures, Pictures, we want pictures!!


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## toddalin (Jan 4, 2008)

Posted By Marauderer on 04/19/2009 2:49 PM
Pictures, Pictures, we want pictures!!










http://www.tortoiseandlizardbash.com


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## Marauderer (Jan 5, 2008)

Todd, it really looks great. You and Linda did a fantastic job.


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## GG (Jan 1, 2009)

Posted By toddalin on 04/19/2009 5:14 PM
Posted By Marauderer on 04/19/2009 2:49 PM
Pictures, Pictures, we want pictures!!










http://www.tortoiseandlizardbash.com 

Now that IS nice !




You have certainly set the standard with this layout. 


gg


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By toddalin on 04/19/2009 5:14 PM
Posted By Marauderer on 04/19/2009 2:49 PM
Pictures, Pictures, we want pictures!!










http://www.tortoiseandlizardbash.com 


http://www.tortoiseandlizardbash.com 
Now it should work


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## Duncan (Jan 2, 2008)

Posted By Marauderer on 04/19/2009 2:49 PM
Pictures, Pictures, we want pictures!!









Hope your bandwidth is up to it...













































































































































































































































































































































If you have any questions, just ask...


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## GG (Jan 1, 2009)

Kripes....!

I need the palm trees and pool up here in N Canada ! forget the track business. 


However not complaining.. love it. 

gg


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