Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 10, 1995 TAG: 9503130006
SECTION: LAWN & GARDEN PAGE: L&G-12 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: BETSY BIESENBACH STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Long
For the past three years, Long has planned her garden around the outdoor model railroad built by her husband, Curtis.
But she doesn't mind. That's why they chose this particular hobby, Curtis Long said. "It's something we can do together."
Outdoor, or garden, railroads long have been popular in Europe and Great Britain, but they are just catching on in the United States, said Dave Meashey, a member of Big Lick Big Train Operators, a club for large-scale model railroad enthusiasts that was formed six years ago.
Club members collect and operate G-scale equipment, which is the largest size available. It is the kind most commonly used in department store Christmas layouts and hobby shops, Meashey said. In Roanoke, a steakhouse also has one that runs around a track near the ceiling, on permanent display.
Outdoor railroading is most common in places with temperate climates, such as California, Meashey said, but it can be done in areas such as Roanoke despite the extremes of temperature.
For several reasons, its popularity "is just beginning" here, Meashey said.
First of all, the biggest manufacturer of G-scale equipment, which is based in Germany, made only European-style models until the 1970s. Until then, it was impossible to replicate an American railroad, which many enthusiasts want to do.
Curtis Long says he believes Americans are reluctant to convert their traditional large, grassy lawns to the formal garden beds common in Europe, which give outdoor railroads their interest.
If it were up to her, Dianne Long would have track laid all over the yard. "We'd never have to mow it," she said.
Meashey suggested that the growing interest in large-scale trains has a lot to do with the fact that many of the people who collected the small H-O scale trains when they were children now need bifocals. "It's helped it along," he laughed.
Expense is not usually a problem, said Jim Molinary, one of the owners of the Rail Yard, a hobby shop that stocks G-scale equipment.
Although "some tend to get carried away buying equipment," a simple layout with controls, a locomotive and a few cars can be had for less than $500. The average set costs about $1,200, Molinary said, but when compared to an estimated price of $600 for a similar H-O scale layout, "it's a lot of difference."
There even is a G-scale version of Thomas the Tank Engine that sells well, said his partner, Rick Anderson, who also has an outdoor layout. Most of these are run indoors, however.
Many train buffs are willing to make the investment, however, because "it's more realistic" than smaller-scale equipment, Molinary said.
Having a large, flat back yard is important, too, Meashey said, but not absolutely necessary. A small loop of track can be installed in a flower bed, and some modelers prefer more rugged terrain if they are trying to achieve the look of a certain railroad.
Many outdoor railroads are set on a raised bed or on a retaining wall so the operator doesn't have to get on his or her hands and knees to work with the equipment.
There are as many problems involved in planning, building and maintaining an outdoor model railroad as there are in keeping up the real thing, Meashey said, only on a smaller scale.
"It's going to be out there in the weather," he said. The tracks can rust, frost can cause them to heave out of place, and rain or digging animals can cause erosion of the roadbed.
Most of the track is made of brass or aluminum, which looks like stainless steel. A nickel-alloy track is available, Meashey said, but "it's very expensive."
Some of the track comes in pre-assembled sections, but some builders choose to lay each tie and rail by hand, fixing them to the roadbed with tiny stakes. Granite chips crushed to scale serve as realistic-looking ballast.
The locomotives are powered either by electrical wires run from the house underground to the tracks, or by battery-powered, remote-control units.
Some garden railroaders "are very meticulous" when it comes to what they plant around the track, Meashey said. Others simply plant what looks pretty.
Those who want to use scaled-down vegetation will use small boxwood shrubs, azaleas and dwarfed pines. Herbs such as thyme and mint also are popular for mimicking deciduous plants, and many modelers use Scotch moss to simulate grass. Some people even use bonsai methods for miniaturizing plants, "but no one in our club is that adept yet," Meashey said.
Many railroad gardens have an adjacent pond filled with water plants and goldfish, he said.
There are nearly 20 members in Big Lick Big Train Operators, but only four members have working layouts. Three of them live in the Roanoke Valley.
Long is president of the club and has the biggest layout. His house is small and his yard is large, he said, and that led him to sell his H-O models and move outdoors.
When they first saw a G-scale layout, "we fell in love with it," Curtis Long said. It was perfect use for an area of the lawn where grass wouldn't grow, Dianne Long said.
The Longs' layout, which has 180 feet of track, runs the length of one side of the yard, and features three hand-built trestles. The Longs even gathered the moss that lines the miniature right-of-way. They hauled in rocks and placed them around the layout to simulate mountains.
During the summer, miniature buildings line the track. During the winter, Long brings them and some less-hardy plants inside.
Dianne Long planted hostas, hollyhocks, foxglove, snapdragons, phlox and black-eyed Susans among several dwarf conifers.
During last year's severe weather, some of the trestles were damaged by ice and Long had to rebuild them.
"That's the bad thing about this area," he said. In places where the weather is good year-round, the equipment suffers less damage and there are more days in the year to work with it, he said.
This spring, the Longs plan to install a second track that will circle around and under the first one.
Owning an outdoor railroad isn't all work, however. Much of the Longs' time is spent watching the trains wind their way along the track. They also enjoy watching the plants grow over the space of a season. Invariably, they said, the sight attracts crowds of neighbors who seem to like it, too.
While Curtis Long chooses to build his own trestles, Joe Feazell, also of Salem, likes to make his locomotives and buildings from scratch using plans he finds in magazines.
Besides providing him with the satisfaction of doing the job himself, this technique also saves Feazell money.
His layout occupies a flower bed in the front yard, but Feazell has both real and artificial plants lining his railway.
He learned to create dwarf shrubs by reading magazine articles on the subject, but several of his plants have died. To fill in the landscape, he crafts pine trees to scale from the branches of discarded artificial miniature Christmas trees. Feazell is trying to re-create an old logging railroad, and the effect is realistic.
Among his real plants are miniature mugo pines, junipers and azaleas. He hopes to put in a pond this summer.
Feazell, who is off work because of an injury, began working on his layout three years ago because "it keeps me from going nuts." During the summer, he said, he spends 20 to 30 hours a week working on his layout.
Although he had been involved with H-O scale trains for 20 years, "I decided I wanted to take it outdoors," he said.
Because he makes much of his equipment and scenery from scratch, he keeps busy winter and summer. He also does custom painting for other modelers.
Feazell has run his trains in all kinds of weather. After a snowstorm, he put one of his locomotives on the track and it pushed the snow out of its way, just like the real thing.
Long said he doesn't recommend running layouts with electrified track in the rain, but Feazell's set is radio-controlled. A tiny engineer who waves his arm out of the locomotive's cab serves as the antenna.
Some of the locomotives are rigged with realistic lights, sound and smoke. "There's no limit to the detail you can get" as long as you're willing to pay for it, he said.
With a controller clipped to his belt, Feazell can operate five or six trains at once, he said. With 15 locomotives and more than 100 cars in his inventory, that's not too hard to do. Some of his trains can be up to 70 feet long, he said.
Rick Anderson owns the Roanoke Valley's oldest outdoor G-scale layout. He started his project five years ago, he said.
Like the Longs, he and his wife, Brenda, work together on their hobby. He takes care of the railroad and she takes care of the flowers.
They have candytuft, petunias, several varieties of annuals, lilies, azaleas and a rhododendron planted around their little railroad.
Anderson would like to expand his layout, which measures 10 feet by 30 feet, but he said it is too big a job to tackle alone.
"It's a good hobby for people who like to build things," he said, but those who don't understand "just see a grown man playing with his trains."
Big Lick Big Train Operators meet once a month at various times and dates. There are almost 20 members in the group, and they are involved in building an indoor modular layout they can take to schools and meetings to generate more interest in their hobby. A major part of the club's activities is helping each other build the equipment and layouts.
Building a G-scale model railroad "is not a project that is going to get done in one year," Curtis Long said.
"It takes time," Dianne Long said.
by CNB