Garden Railways

AS I WRITE THIS a few weeks before it goes to the printer and even longer before it gets to you, the world is in the grip of COVID-19, a virus that at this point only seems to be held at bay by social distancing. That means many of us are either working from home or just staying there to avoid contracting or spreading the contagion. It’s our sincere hope that by the time you read this, conditions have improved. Hopefully you, your families, and your friends and neighbors are all safe and healthy, or are getting that way. I also hope we’re all able to interact again as we did just weeks ago. The more realistic side of me, however, thinks it might be a while before the world…

YOUNG RAILWAY HELPER Savannah Viggiano, age 4, loves helping me pull weeds and loading up the train cars with rocks and sometimes her Peppa Pig figures. She also likes to help set up my figures around the railway, and of course control the trains on our Kittatinny Mountain Railroad. –Shawn Viggiano, Wantage, N.J. YOU’RE JUST CHICKEN I am a 52-year-old woman fairly new to model railroading. I have an outdoor and an indoor G-scale layout. Here are photos of a car I’ve been working on while inside because of social distancing. It’s more fantasy than factual, but it’s based off a Live Poultry Transport car. I made it out of a caboose from a Bachmann Big Haulers set. I spent no money making this. The wood is bamboo slats from fabric-backed place mats that I…

YOUNG RAILWAY HELPER Savannah Viggiano, age 4, loves helping me pull weeds and loading up the train cars with rocks and sometimes her Peppa Pig figures. She also likes to help set up my figures around the railway, and of course control the trains on our Kittatinny Mountain Railroad. –Shawn Viggiano, Wantage, N.J. YOU’RE JUST CHICKEN I am a 52-year-old woman fairly new to model railroading. I have an outdoor and an indoor G-scale layout. Here are photos of a car I’ve been working on while inside because of social distancing. It’s more fantasy than factual, but it’s based off a Live Poultry Transport car. I made it out of a caboose from a Bachmann Big Haulers set. I spent no money making this. The wood is bamboo slats from…

Engines & rolling stock Accucraft, 3260 Central Ave., Union City, CA 94587 offers a 1:32 scale Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL) sleeper car under the J&M Models brand (shown above). These cars will be made from brass, have interior lights, and feature four different car numbers as used in the famous Blue Train. Price: $950 each or $3,800 for a set of four. Visit Accucraft.com for more information. Bachmann Trains, 1400 E. Erie Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19124, sells Thomas & Friends rolling stock. Shown here are the Spiteful Brake Van (no. 98021) and the Explosives Box Van (no. 98017). Price: $99 each. Other Thomas & Friends pieces are available. Visit Bachmanntrains.com. Electronics & software RailModeller Pro has released version 6.2 of its layout-design software. Updates include an optional mouse cursor coordinate display, exporting to…

We continually search for ways to encourage children to interact with the trains on Train Days at the Children’s Museum of Sonoma County (California). While it’s wise to keep the kids and adults at a safe distance from the live steam exhibit, the museum’s large collection of Brio train parts, the ride-on train in the parking lot, the Diablo Valley’s kidoperated modular unit, and the hunt for Waldo on the club traveling layout reach out to kids in hands-on fashion. Two more connections recently added with Lego-compatible equipment offer suggestions for making backyard garden railway gatherings even more kid friendly. Lots of Lego The popular Lego railroad rolling stock and villages are approximately G scale. We (volunteers dubbed the “train guys”) used a large collection of donated Lego buildings, models, track, and rolling stock…

Engines & rolling stock Accucraft, 3260 Central Ave., Union City, CA 94587 offers a 1:32 scale Compagnie Internationale des Wagons-Lits (CIWL) sleeper car under the J&M Models brand (shown above). These cars will be made from brass, have interior lights, and feature four different car numbers as used in the famous Blue Train. Price: $950 each or $3,800 for a set of four. Visit Accucraft.com for more information. Bachmann Trains, 1400 E. Erie Ave., Philadelphia, PA 19124, sells Thomas & Friends rolling stock. Shown here are the Spiteful Brake Van (no. 98021) and the Explosives Box Van (no. 98017). Price: $99 each. Other Thomas & Friends pieces are available. Visit Bachmanntrains.com. Electronics & software RailModeller Pro has released version 6.2 of its layout-design software. Updates include an optional mouse cursor…