Afternoon All,
I usually like to run the trains for an hour or so at or just after sunrise. I sit on the front porch (often joined by my wife and our dogs), which faces east, drinking my morning coffee. There is something about the first light of the day that puts a special look on the cars. Anyway, it’s a nice start of the day.
Ron
I have both an indoor and out door layout, so I can run whenever I am in the mood. I frequently operate alone, or with one or two others, I also run whenever there are kids around as I want to promote the hobby and encourage younger folks to get involved. My Out door RR is period 1940 to 1957 and indoor layout is 1904 to 1935. I do open house twice per year and others on request. I do operation and round and round on both layouts depending on the audience or my mood. Operation to me is mostly switching industries and yards, but I do not do the serious timetable style of operation that some do. I do play with them about once or twice a week on average.
Have fun with your new hobby and while this thread is fun and interesting, don’t let the fact that you may not interested in some aspect of the hobby deter you in any way. I know several folks who have little or no interest in even having a layout, but like kitbashing, electronics gizmos, custom painting equipment, layout design, or you name it.
Again Welcome and Have fun!!!
We just started building our new railway this past May.
All of the track is in place and operable but the rest of the railway has a long way to go (plants, buildings, figures etc.)
We have managed get some trains out there to run, we are just the roundy - roundy type and that’s all I ever plan on having my railway be. I enjoy sitting and relaxing watching trains go around… it’s a great stress relief.
Our railway is setup for the main outer loop to run continuous (177’ of track) and we also have a reversing track setup to run a second train (about 30’ of track).
I tried to run as often as I could this summer while building the railway, sometimes that would mean 2-3 times a week, sometimes it would only be once every other week.
Our goal over the next few years with the railway is to be able to come home from work every night and sit outside until the sun sets enjoying our yard and our hard work.
On my old railway I would have trains running from sun rise to sunset (and beyond) most weekends providing the weather held out.
Thanks, all, for taking the time to answer (and if you haven’t done so yet, don’t let my thanks stop you!).
I just got home from my first-ever club meeting, the Redwood Empire Garden Railway Society of Santa Rosa California. It was the last open house of the season, held at a lovely layout under some tall shaded trees on a rural 30 acre parcel way up the side of a hill. We were greeted warmly by our hosts and the club regulars, and we met another newbie couple who, like us, were in the train and structure buying stage, with no track yet laid.
The old-timers were incredibly encouraging to us and gave us many valuable tips. I am happy to say that my three weeks of reading the MLS and LSC online forums before attending the meeting was very helpful – i actually knew what the guys in the engineer caps meant when one told me, “You’re gonna want to swap everything out to Kadee couplers” and the other said, “I’ve been running hook and loop for ten years; just add the second hook on your loop and it will be fine.” Likewise, i knew what a Phoenix Sound System is and why i want one, and i saw a track cleaning pad in action (and realized why i don’t want track power). I also got the name of a semi-local man who does professional weathering, and another who will copy prototype buildings and build trestles.
As with the folks here at LSC, the variety of ways that people build and use their layouts was greater than i had originally supposed possible.
One man runs a large scale indoor train in a public venue five hours per day during seasonal holidays. A few said that they had “complex” or “pretty big” layouts, but the average couple in our area has a lightly landscaped roundy-round layout. Some build everything themselves, others buy new or used pieces already assembled. Some install complex electronics, others pay for the installation of sound boards and other electronic parts by experts. Some run track power, some have converted to battery power. Some run HO scale indoors as well as large scale outdoors.
I was amazed to see how many couples there were – delightful folks who obviously enjoy modelling and gardening together.
Most told me that they run their trains at least one a week, some every day, just to relax and unwind.
The average session time, according to my informal survey of folks at this meeting, is either just a short run to check in with the trains or 3-4 hours while gardening or hosting visitors.
Around here we have long months of winter rain, and when asked about winterizing the railroad, the consensus was that wooden buildings must be brought indoors during the rainy season, but plastic buildings can stay outdoors. The structures on the layout we visited were about 1/2 wood and 1/2 plastic, and the wooden buildings were well maintained, but they do come off the layout for 5 months out of the year. That alone made me decide on plastic, much as i like the look of wooden buildings.
Talking to folks in person and on the internet is bringing my own plan into focus for me.
Thanks again, everyone, for sharing – and if you have not done so, please do.
Since I became the president of the Sacramento Valley Garden Railway Society two years ago, I’ve not run my trains more than (maybe) once. I usuallly attend our modular meets and run trains there: my McKeen Car and Trailer, a Bachmann Ten Wheeler, and my Napa Valley Wine Train F3.
If you are looking for some inexpensive buildings, I’ve got about two dozen fixer uppers that our club received from the widow of one of our members. These ARE sweat equity projects, but might be useful if you’ve got time over the winter!
This kind of stuff gets in the way of my track and ballast repair, pond fixing, coupler changes, etc.
Dick, that is a fantastic offer.
Sacramento is not too far from us, and my step-sister lives there – a good excuse to head that way for a one-day visit.
Are these plastic buildings or wood? Any idea of scale? Can you post a photo or two in the “for sale” section of this forum so as not to derail this thread, or email snap shots of them to me? My email is catherine (at) yronwode (dot) com.
Fixer-uppers sound great to me – halfway between unbuilt kits (shudder!) and expensive built-up pieces, and, since i will have time over the winter, i could attempt to rebuild one or two, to see how well i take to the work.
Thank you.
Catherine,
Before I took down my layout to move I ran a minimum of once a week, with my 8 year old son, sometimes my wife and 4 year old daughter also hung out on the deck to watch. Our club also meets once a month, so I am fortunate enough to get to run with all of those great people as well.
If we have something going on with the modular layout the club has met 2 to 3 times a month to run.
My son also likes to build layouts on the basement floor. So if it is too late, cold or bad weather we usually end up running in the basement.
catherine yronwode said:
As with the folks here at LSC, the variety of ways that people build and use their layouts was greater than i had originally supposed possible.
How true and it is what makes this hobby so great. There are so many facets with the large scale trains that they can provide you a life time of enjoyment. Also since it is your RR no one can tell you what is right or wrong. The range of largescalers runs from exacting rivet counters to a parent with child laying on the floor running a train in circles. Some guys need kaddee couplers some are happy with hook and loops. Some have highly detailed trains running on a plywood benchwork while others have straight stock right out of the box trains meandering through a lush garden.
Remember there is no right or wrong way to build your RR but some helpful tips can certainly keep you from making painful mistakes.
If I was just starting out again I would run track power with stock trains and get some track down quickly to have fun. As your interests come into focus you can work on the details like battery RC control, couplers, making buildings over buying them. etc etc…
Happy RRing
Todd H. You hit the nail on the head… A Railroad can be anything you want. It’ your Railroad and to make it a fun hobby.
Catherine,
If you look under the heading ““Layout Logs””, you can get an idea as to how folks do operate their railroads…
I believe it would make for some good reading for you…
Currently, we at the Bluestone Southern are trying to do 4 full blown operating sessions a year…
Layout is still being added to, in an attempt to complete the overall design… We get some done each year… Running other than during Ops sessions is rather sparodic, depending on many other factors.
catherine yronwode said:
Any and all replies will be gratefully received for my education.
Welcome Catherine!
I’m not educated but I will respond to the topic
1…Not enough
2…I have been know to go from 9am till 9pm through out the seasons in PA and I got some long junk(as there guys call it) too drag around as well!
3…Myself and occasionally a friend from LSC
If that didn’t make sense then perhaps I’m not comprehending properly as usual!
I have a roundy-round track at the shop, which gets used the most.
The layout in the garden ist still a-building and operations will only start when the track is done all the way through - hopefully next summer.
Then I’ll have to round up my buddies who also run ZIMO DCC and away we go. For entertainment I plan on a shuttle Push-Pull train - a railcar with a pilot car, somewhat prototypical. Then I can weed and watch the train.
David Russell said:
catherine yronwode said:
Any and all replies will be gratefully received for my education.
Welcome Catherine!
I’m not educated but I will respond to the topic
1…Not enough
2…I have been know to go from 9am till 9pm through out the seasons in PA and I got some long junk(as there guys call it) too drag around as well!
3…Myself and occasionally a friend from LSC
If that didn’t make sense then perhaps I’m not comprehending properly as usual!
Made perfect sense I just copied and pasted your response into google translator, and set it from rooster to english!
I run daily weather permitting. The best time is towards evening when I’m grilling outdoors and am High above the RR and just let them run. Usually the trains run for 4 to 5 hrs per day. I swap out locos on a regular basis. Sat and Sunday is when the trains really get a work out.
Couple times a month a friend of mine comes over and then we do some main line running with meets of trains and such. Makes for a fun few hrs. My RR is basically set to be more of main line trains running than have lots of industries. This way I can run the long unit trains. Later RJD
I would guess that I run once a month or so for an hour or two at a time. On a normal run, the railroad is operated by one operator. However, for switching operations a “Engineer” and “Brakeman” are required. Whats going to be interesting is when I get the indoor siding completed (if ever). These will mainly be for locomotive storage, but may be used for building consists. I operate more often in Spring and Fall, Winter is usually work months and Summer is normally inactive for operations and work.
Nico Corbo said:
Made perfect sense I just copied and pasted your response into google translator, and set it from rooster to english!
Thank you for your understanding Nico
