1 Year of Garden Railroading is Hard Work!

[@bc5441]

Looking good and I’m sure your kids do have fun with it.

[@averageguy7136]

Jimmy, you are a treasure to the model railroad community. I really appreciate your videos

[@adamprusa386]

Hey, Love your videos man. Just a suggestion: when you record yourself i would love to see your trains run behind you. It would add a lot of depth in my opinion

[@thesheq5023]

I also have a garden model railway... mine is 20x30 feet. I solved the sagging and weed problem by digging about a 4 inch deep trench and filling it with pea gravel and putting pavers on both sides of the gravel. It keeps the track and plants separate, looks in my opinion really good, and is deep enough I can pull out most weeds before they start taking over. It also temp controls the rails, allows for drainage and all the great things that come with garden railroad ballast.

[@drewzero1]

It's so exciting to see more of the garden railroad! I had been wondering how it had weathered the year. It's so hard to find examples of small, simple loop layouts online... there seem to be so many sprawling rail networks, but for my yard and budget it's got to be a little loop or nothing at all!

[@stuartkorte1642]

That little LGB set was my first G scale. Right now my stuff is packed away. A beautiful train running in the garden is my Southern RR Pacific with two coaches.

[@Quince828]

I’ve got the room for a garden railroad and it would look awesome winding among the shrubs and trees but I don’t think it would survive the winter, weeds, and squirrels around here!

[@johnbanicki7232]

Very cool! Thanks for sharing.

[@MarksGoneWicked]

Yeah, definitely hard work. I have 2 layouts outside, both needs weed fabric put in, and I'm looking to get the larger layout off the ground with cap blocks. So I can use the line trimmer. I definitely need help 😅

[@greyfox4577]

I have a garden railroad whcih is fairly large but the problem is always cleaning the track. I hate that, as a matter of fact i despise it since every time i want to run the train i spend days cleaning it beforehand. Part of it also goes inside the house and i have no problem with that since a minor pass with the cleanning rubber will do the trick and i spend no more than 30 minutes on that but the track that is on the outside is a whole different monster. My #1 tip for anyone wanting to run a train outside would be to convert the locos to battery power and forget about all the track cleaning chores which can be a nightmare. Soundtraxx recently came out with blunami which basically is DCC over bluetooth, only the power is sent via the rails but all other communication is over bluetooth, the best part about it is it also works with battery so you basically put the decoder in and instead of connecting to the wheels for track power you connect it to a battery in the loco. You can also connect a switch in the loco to switch between battery power or track power which is a huge game changer and long overdue. If anyone wants to check out a small video i made of a G scale replica i made of the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Dunn & Duffy circus train here is the link below. The only thing i have never been able to acquire is the main locomotive which was a K-36 which nobody makes anymore and extremely rare and expensive when ever one shows up on Ebay unfortunately but everything else was modified and handpainted as needed. kzbin.info/www/bejne/lXK8gXaVapJ2Zq8

[@JDsHouseofHobbies]

A friend of mine has a pretty good size garden railroad and I think he has a live steam Shay. If I remember, it uses RC for the throttle. Most of his locos are battery powered as he runs dead rail. One day, I'd love to visit and work an op session as he has them on a fairly regular basis.

[@TheMonDon1721]

I can't believe it's been a year

[@VestedUTuber]

You forgot to mention 1:22.5, which is "true" G scale, also known as IIm (2m) scale. In fact, that's the primary scale for European narrow gauge. All of your equipment apart from the Lil'BigHaulers is in this scale. As for a small engine recommendation, if you like small European narrow gauge engines, see if you can pick up a Henschel HF110c, most commonly marketed as a "Frank S." or "Nikki & Frank S." but also available in the classic "black on red frame" livery seen on many DR and DB steam locomotives. It's an outside-frame 0-6-0 with a compact but chunky design. It's a bit bigger than the stuff you're currently running but it's still pretty small overall, especially compared to other 6-driver locomotives. There's been many releases of this locomotive by LGB, even including a live steam version produced via LGB's old partnership with Asterhobby. There are some things to note about the models of this locomotive, however: 1. All electric versions of the HF110c are dual motor, with a powered tender in addition to a powered engine. 2. Early electric releases of this locomotive have an improperly geared tender, which makes them somewhat prone to stripping gears. 3. Recent releases with digital sound are power hogs. If you're using the LGB/Marklin .5 Amp power pack you will need to upgrade to something beefier. 4. The live steam version is a great entry into live steam due to its simplicity, however it _is_ a relatively basic live steam locomotive (though a bit more sophisticated than that little Mammod one you've got - it has a regulator and a Johnson bar giving better speed control) without a water tank, and as the model runs out of water before butane, you will need to keep an eye on its waterglass. 5. Also, because the live steam version doesn't have a water tank, you will need to fit it with a Goodall Valve to be able to add more water to the boiler during operation, otherwise you'll have to let the locomotive completely cool down before refilling it. Honestly, I would definitely recommend the live steam version. You'd be able to compare it to the Mammod 0-4-0T you've got. I've got one myself and it's an excellent runner.

[@davidwilliams1060]

Thanks. Glad some people go outdoors but I personally find a hobby that keeps me inside year around is a plus. Thanks also for the F scale mention, which seems to be considered folklore among modelers.

[@robertlinville6997]

Your garden railroad looks great. I can't hardly wait to see your steam engine video. Really enjoy watching your videos. I model O gauge 3 rail in my basement and love the hobby.

[@behlenberg4459]

If you are getting the Piko 25 ton get the battery operated track cleaning engine. You can run it with the pads and clean your track or run it without the pads. You get the best of both worlds. My AAA rechargeable batteries easily pull 4 small LGB passenger cars with ease.

[@4everdc302]

You dont wanna know what mine looks like right now😮😢🚂🇨🇦🇺🇲

[@drewzero1]

Mine too! At least I finally got past the stage where it was just a hole in the ground. 🙈

[@MarksGoneWicked]

Same! After TS Hilary blew through, the weeds took over.

[@modelrailfan37]

I don’t have a garden railroad, but I have a garden, and it’s always a mess, so I can relate 😂

[@GeepSLSF]

Hey was the HGTV show done by Paul James (Gardening by the Yard ) Whistle stop gardening I think great show , I'm like you I like Lil Locos and cars for my garden RR and I have that LGB engine runs like a champ for being almost 20 yrs old , but have you thought about rail clamps for your tracks or evean jumpers on the track for conductivity .

[@wesbrackmanthercenthusiast4695]

Your next live steam model needs to be an accucraft mable i have the ruby but really wish it had a sight glass and a water top off

[@DIYDigitalRailroad]

Question about the minimum Radius. I know it says 4 feet, but can it do a 2 foot radius? Otherwise I may get a roundhouse Sammie.

[@wesbrackmanthercenthusiast4695]

@DIYDigitalRailroad I don't know about the Mable but the ruby will definitely do a two ft radius

[@VestedUTuber]

@@DIYDigitalRailroad Ruby will do 2 foot. I have an Iuki that will _almost_ do that, only because the rear pilot doesn't articulate far enough, and the Iuki is just a factory-made Ruby kitbash designed to loosely resemble a Baldwin 0-4-2ST like the ones run by Hawaiian sugar plantations and Japanese logging lines. Kinda surprised the Ruby doesn't have a waterglass or a Goodall valve. My Iuki came with them preinstalled. If you do go for the Roundhouse Engineering model, I'd recommend the Davenport. You can get it with RC control which makes controlling its speed a lot easier. It's notably more expensive than the Sammie, though. Though, as I said in my other comment, my personal recommendation is the LGB/Aster Frank S.

[@davidkoehler136]

they are a lot of work

[@DaHobbyGoblin]

There is also 7/8ths scale that uses the same track! Its 1:13.7 and is closer to proper scale for 2 foot equipment on G track :D

[@VestedUTuber]

And there's also SM45, which is 1:19 and used to model UK narrow gauge on G gauge track. Plus there's a few scales that use O gauge track including SM32 (which is also 1:19), and even a few significantly larger scales that are rideable and run on much larger gauge track.

[@TRENINI-AEREI-AUTOMODELLI]

lovely garden railroad 🚂🚂👍👍👍👍

[@04fys513]

What state do you live in, and do you have to deal with frost, snow, rainy periods,etc…? Can your track stay out year long?

[@CM-ARM]

Hey Jimmy a little grass killer will help keep the grass from invading your Railroad

[@loispadgett6306]

It is looking good so glad the kids are enjoying running trains. That station looks cute on your garden layout. Enjoyed the update. GOD BLESS 🚂💖🚂💖🚂💖🚂💖

[@El_Crab]

Hello

[@SD45-ET44AC]

Name any favorite model train shops in NC, nearby to you, please. SD45

[@DIYDigitalRailroad]

Little Choo Choo Shop, Spencer NC. Chucks Trains and Hobby Depot, Landis NC. Berkshire Station, Iron Station NC, Lionel Company Store, Concord NC. Also Factory Direct Hobbies is in Asheville NC.