Garden railway - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

A garden railroad or garden railway (Railroad in the US, railway elsewhere) is a model railway system set up outdoors in a garden

Garden

A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...

. While G is the most popular scale for garden railroads, 16 mm scale has a dedicated and growing following especially in the UK

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

. Model locomotives in this scale are often live steam

Live steam

Live steam is steam under pressure, obtained by heating water in a boiler. The steam is used to operate stationary or moving equipment.A live steam machine or device is one powered by steam, but the term is usually reserved for those that are replicas, scale models, toys, or otherwise used for...

scale models of British narrow gauge prototypes. 16 mm scale (which runs on ) track, the same gauge as O gauge is probably now more popular in the UK than G scale.

A garden railway's scale tends to be in the range of 1/32 (Gauge 1) to 1/12 (1:12), running on either or gauge track. 1/32 scale (1:32) is also called "three-eighths scale" meaning 3/8 of an inch on the model represents one foot on the real thing. For similar reasons, 1/24 scale (1:24) is also called "half inch scale". Other popular scales are 1:29, 1:20.3 (representing 3' gauge prototypes on 45mm gauge), 16mm (1:19). They are smaller than the Backyard railroad

Backyard railroad

A backyard railroad is a privately owned, outdoor railroad, most often in miniature, but large enough for one or several persons to ride on. The rail gauge can be anything from to or more. Smaller backyard or outdoor railroads that cannot be ridden are called garden railroads.Hundreds, even...

and would not provide a ride on facility, being intended instead as a display railway. Smaller scales and gauges are used in the garden, but in general garden railway is used to refer to the medium scale sizes which would be impractical to use indoors.

Function

At its most basic level, it works just like an indoor railway, including turnouts and turntable

Turntable (railroad)

A railway turntable is a device for turning railroad rolling stock. When steam locomotives were still in wide use, many railroads needed a way to turn the locomotives around for return trips as their controls were often not configured for extended periods of running in reverse and in many...

s. However, special considerations must be taken for everything from sunlight

Sunlight

Sunlight, in the broad sense, is the total frequency spectrum of electromagnetic radiation given off by the Sun. On Earth, sunlight is filtered through the Earth's atmosphere, and solar radiation is obvious as daylight when the Sun is above the horizon.When the direct solar radiation is not blocked...

and water

Water

Water is a chemical substance with the chemical formula H2O. A water molecule contains one oxygen and two hydrogen atoms connected by covalent bonds. Water is a liquid at ambient conditions, but it often co-exists on Earth with its solid state, ice, and gaseous state . Water also exists in a...

to dirt and leaves

Leaves

-History:Vocalist Arnar Gudjonsson was formerly the guitarist with Mower, and he was joined by Hallur Hallsson , Arnar Ólafsson , Bjarni Grímsson , and Andri Ásgrímsson . Late in 2001 they played with Emiliana Torrini and drew early praise from the New York Times...

, and even wildlife

Wildlife

Wildlife includes all non-domesticated plants, animals and other organisms. Domesticating wild plant and animal species for human benefit has occurred many times all over the planet, and has a major impact on the environment, both positive and negative....

. The distance covered also means that electrical resistance

Electrical resistance

The electrical resistance of an electrical element is the opposition to the passage of an electric current through that element; the inverse quantity is electrical conductance, the ease at which an electric current passes. Electrical resistance shares some conceptual parallels with the mechanical...

in and between sections is much higher, and electrical power

Electric power

Electric power is the rate at which electric energy is transferred by an electric circuit. The SI unit of power is the watt.-Circuits:Electric power, like mechanical power, is represented by the letter P in electrical equations...

will tend to drop off at the far end.

To eliminate this, some are rigged to use RC car parts such as rechargeable batteries. Others even use live steam

Live steam

and run as a real steam locomotive

Steam locomotive

A steam locomotive is a railway locomotive that produces its power through a steam engine. These locomotives are fueled by burning some combustible material, usually coal, wood or oil, to produce steam in a boiler, which drives the steam engine...

would. The steam can be generated from a variety of sources, ranging from messy solid

Solid

Solid is one of the three classical states of matter . It is characterized by structural rigidity and resistance to changes of shape or volume. Unlike a liquid, a solid object does not flow to take on the shape of its container, nor does it expand to fill the entire volume available to it like a...

pellet (i.e. methenamine) or sterno

Sterno

Sterno is a fuel made from denatured and jellied alcohol. It is designed to be burned directly from its can. Its primary uses are in the food service industry for buffet heating and in the home for fondue and as a chafing fuel for heating chafing dishes...

-type fuel

Fuel

Fuel is any material that stores energy that can later be extracted to perform mechanical work in a controlled manner. Most fuels used by humans undergo combustion, a redox reaction in which a combustible substance releases energy after it ignites and reacts with the oxygen in the air...

, through clean-burning butane

Butane

Butane is a gas with the formula C4H10 that is an alkane with four carbon atoms. The term may refer to any of two structural isomers, or to a mixture of them: in the IUPAC nomenclature, however, butane refers only to the unbranched n-butane isomer; the other one being called "methylpropane" or...

gas, to prototypical coal burners. Live steam is particularly widespread amongst 16mm scale garden railway enthusiasts.

Many also have digital audio

Digital audio

Digital audio is sound reproduction using pulse-code modulation and digital signals. Digital audio systems include analog-to-digital conversion , digital-to-analog conversion , digital storage, processing and transmission components...

on-board, so they sound like a real train. They can also use Digital Command Control

Digital Command Control

Digital Command Control is a standard for a system to operate model railways digitally. When equipped with Digital Command Control, locomotives on the same electrical section of track can be independently controlled....

or other similar systems, though dirty outdoor track can cause less of a problem with signal than with simple DC

Direct current

Direct current is the unidirectional flow of electric charge. Direct current is produced by such sources as batteries, thermocouples, solar cells, and commutator-type electric machines of the dynamo type. Direct current may flow in a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through...

power. This is because DCC puts the full voltage on the rails at all times. There are many benefits of DCC when compared to DC analog systems.

Design

Plant

Plants are living organisms belonging to the kingdom Plantae. Precise definitions of the kingdom vary, but as the term is used here, plants include familiar organisms such as trees, flowers, herbs, bushes, grasses, vines, ferns, mosses, and green algae. The group is also called green plants or...

s are usually an integral part of a garden railway, and dwarf varieties along with pruning

Pruning

Pruning is a horticultural practice involving the selective removal of parts of a plant, such as branches, buds, or roots. Reasons to prune plants include deadwood removal, shaping , improving or maintaining health, reducing risk from falling branches, preparing nursery specimens for...

are often used to keep them in proper proportion. Some go so far as to use bonsai

Bonsai

is a Japanese art form using miniature trees grown in containers. Similar practices exist in other cultures, including the Chinese tradition of penjing from which the art originated, and the miniature living landscapes of Vietnamese hòn non bộ...

techniques, however this can be very time-consuming for large areas.

Building

Building

In architecture, construction, engineering, real estate development and technology the word building may refer to one of the following:...

s are also often used in a garden railway, though they too must be constructed to withstand the weather

Weather

Weather is the state of the atmosphere, to the degree that it is hot or cold, wet or dry, calm or stormy, clear or cloudy. Most weather phenomena occur in the troposphere, just below the stratosphere. Weather refers, generally, to day-to-day temperature and precipitation activity, whereas climate...

. Train station

Train station

A train station, also called a railroad station or railway station and often shortened to just station,"Station" is commonly understood to mean "train station" unless otherwise qualified. This is evident from dictionary entries e.g...

s and freight depot

Train station

s are popular, some even building whole town

Town

A town is a human settlement larger than a village but smaller than a city. The size a settlement must be in order to be called a "town" varies considerably in different parts of the world, so that, for example, many American "small towns" seem to British people to be no more than villages, while...

s trackside. The loco shed is a common place to store a locomotive (or the whole train) when not in use.

Other geographic features are used, such as a small pond

Pond

A pond is a body of standing water, either natural or man-made, that is usually smaller than a lake. A wide variety of man-made bodies of water are classified as ponds, including water gardens, water features and koi ponds; all designed for aesthetic ornamentation as landscape or architectural...

to represent a lake

Lake

A lake is a body of relatively still fresh or salt water of considerable size, localized in a basin, that is surrounded by land. Lakes are inland and not part of the ocean and therefore are distinct from lagoons, and are larger and deeper than ponds. Lakes can be contrasted with rivers or streams,...

, rocks

Rock (geology)

In geology, rock or stone is a naturally occurring solid aggregate of minerals and/or mineraloids.The Earth's outer solid layer, the lithosphere, is made of rock. In general rocks are of three types, namely, igneous, sedimentary, and metamorphic...

for boulder

Boulder

In geology, a boulder is a rock with grain size of usually no less than 256 mm diameter. While a boulder may be small enough to move or roll manually, others are extremely massive....

s, or tunnel

Tunnel

A tunnel is an underground passageway, completely enclosed except for openings for egress, commonly at each end.A tunnel may be for foot or vehicular road traffic, for rail traffic, or for a canal. Some tunnels are aqueducts to supply water for consumption or for hydroelectric stations or are sewers...

s through "mountain

Mountain

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s" or under stairway

Stairway

Stairway, staircase, stairwell, flight of stairs, or simply stairs are names for a construction designed to bridge a large vertical distance by dividing it into smaller vertical distances, called steps...

s. Tunnels can be a particular challenge, because everything from cat

Cat

The cat , also known as the domestic cat or housecat to distinguish it from other felids and felines, is a small, usually furry, domesticated, carnivorous mammal that is valued by humans for its companionship and for its ability to hunt vermin and household pests...

s to raccoon

Raccoon

Procyon is a genus of nocturnal mammals, comprising three species commonly known as raccoons, in the family Procyonidae. The most familiar species, the common raccoon , is often known simply as "the" raccoon, as the two other raccoon species in the genus are native only to the tropics and are...

s and more like to hide in them, particularly to get out of the rain

Rain

Rain is liquid precipitation, as opposed to non-liquid kinds of precipitation such as snow, hail and sleet. Rain requires the presence of a thick layer of the atmosphere to have temperatures above the melting point of water near and above the Earth's surface...

or heat

Heat

In physics and thermodynamics, heat is energy transferred from one body, region, or thermodynamic system to another due to thermal contact or thermal radiation when the systems are at different temperatures. It is often described as one of the fundamental processes of energy transfer between...

, sometimes even to sleep

Sleep

Sleep is a naturally recurring state characterized by reduced or absent consciousness, relatively suspended sensory activity, and inactivity of nearly all voluntary muscles. It is distinguished from quiet wakefulness by a decreased ability to react to stimuli, and is more easily reversible than...

, nest

Nesting

Nesting refers to the process of efficiently manufacturing parts from flat raw material.Companies manufacturing parts from flat raw material such as sheet metal use a variety of technologies to perform this task. The sheet metal nesting for flat sheets and nesting for coils are different algorithms...

, or hibernate

Hibernation

Hibernation is a state of inactivity and metabolic depression in animals, characterized by lower body temperature, slower breathing, and lower metabolic rate. Hibernating animals conserve food, especially during winter when food supplies are limited, tapping energy reserves, body fat, at a slow rate...

. A derailment

Derailment

A derailment is an accident on a railway or tramway in which a rail vehicle, or part or all of a train, leaves the tracks on which it is travelling, with consequent damage and in many cases injury and/or death....

inside a tunnel can also be permanent if careful planning is not done to ensure that it can be reached by access panels (trapdoor

Trapdoor

A trapdoor is a door set into a floor or ceiling .Originally, trapdoors were sack traps in mills, and allowed the sacks to pass up through the mill while naturally falling back to a closed position....

s) or at arm's length from either end.

A frequent theme is the railway in an idealised urban or rural environment, so it is often found in the context of a model village

Miniature park

A miniature park is an open space that displays miniature buildings and models, and is usually open to the public. A miniature park may contain a model of a single city or town, often called a miniature city or model village, or it can contain a number of different sets of models...

. Some Garden Railways work opposite to the model village style and opt more for a railway in the garden, where the railways runs amongst normal plants, not in scale with the railway. These sort of railway designs allow for large scale planting and many gardeners have the railway as a secondary hobby to gardening

Gardening

Gardening is the practice of growing and cultivating plants. Ornamental plants are normally grown for their flowers, foliage, or overall appearance; useful plants are grown for consumption , for their dyes, or for medicinal or cosmetic use...

Display

Because these layouts are often so unique, they are frequently given names by their owners, just like a real railroad. Some are very natural-sounding, as if they were real. Other names are playful or even silly.

Numerous garden rail societies have been formed around the world. Members often invite others over for social gatherings, as well as rotating club meeting

Meeting

In a meeting, two or more people come together to discuss one or more topics, often in a formal setting.- Definitions :An act or process of coming together as an assembly for a common purpose....

s around each month. A large setup is even on public display at the Atlanta Botanical Garden

Atlanta Botanical Garden

The Atlanta Botanical Garden is a botanical garden located adjacent to Piedmont Park in Midtown Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Incorporated in 1976, the garden's mission is to "develop and maintain plant collections for the purposes of display, education, conservation, research and...

during the summer of 2005 (through early October

October 2005

-Portal:Current events:...

), including replica

Replica

A replica is a copy closely resembling the original concerning its shape and appearance. An inverted replica complements the original by filling its gaps. It can be a copy used for historical purposes, such as being placed in a museum. Sometimes the original never existed. For example, Difference...

s of downtown

Downtown

Downtown is a term primarily used in North America by English speakers to refer to a city's core or central business district ....

Atlanta skyscraper

Skyscraper

A skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...

s made from wood

Wood

Wood is a hard, fibrous tissue found in many trees. It has been used for hundreds of thousands of years for both fuel and as a construction material. It is an organic material, a natural composite of cellulose fibers embedded in a matrix of lignin which resists compression...

, bark

Bark

Bark is the outermost layers of stems and roots of woody plants. Plants with bark include trees, woody vines and shrubs. Bark refers to all the tissues outside of the vascular cambium and is a nontechnical term. It overlays the wood and consists of the inner bark and the outer bark. The inner...

, and other natural materials.

In Milwaukee, Wisconsin, the Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory

Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory

Mitchell Park Horticultural Conservatory is a conservatory located at Mitchell Park in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, U.S.. It is owned and operated by the Milwaukee County Park System, and replaced the original Milwaukee Conservatory which stood from 1898 to 1955...

features an extensive Garden Railway display put on with the cooperation of many Wisconsin Model Railroad club members. The "Domes" as they are know locally, schedules the indoor Garden Railway Show during the cold winter months. It has become one of the most popular displays each year and one of the largest temporary Garden Railway displays in the Midwest.

A notable example in England is Bekonscot

Bekonscot

Bekonscot in Beaconsfield, Buckinghamshire, is the oldest original model village in the world.It portrays aspects of England mostly dating from the 1930s. Bekonscot has been run by the Church Army since 1978 and donates large amounts of money to charity...

which is the oldest model village

Miniature park

in the world and has an extensive railway running through a mythical 1930s England. This is well known to be one of the largest, and oldest, garden railways in the UK open to the public.

Scales

For historical reasons, the situation is complex.

'G' track width is . If used to represent standard gauge

Standard gauge

The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge...

track, this corresponds to a scale of 1:32.

Same track of , if used to represent a narrow (metre gauge

Metre gauge

Metre gauge refers to narrow gauge railways and tramways with a track gauge of . In some African, American and Asian countries it is the main gauge. In Europe it has been used for local railways in France, Germany, and Belgium, most of which were closed down in mid 20th century. Only in Switzerland...

) track, corresponds to a scale of 1:22.5 (IIm).

Same track of 45 mm, if used to represent a track, corresponds to a scale of 1:20.3 .

Same track of 45 mm, if used to represent a track, corresponds to a scale of 1:13.5 SE scale

SE scale

SE scale is a designation used by a growing number of modellers to describe miniature trains which run on either Gauge 1 track or O gauge track. In SE scale, 7/8ths of an inch equals one foot, which is a ratio of 1:13.7...

, near 1:12 or 1 inch to the foot. This much larger scale is increasing in popularity.

The track of , if used to represent a track of , drive to a scale of 1:19. Though the 1:19 equipment, often live steam locomotive is frequently equipped for a track of 45 mm ('G' track). This scale is also called 16 mm

16 mm scale model trains

A popular scale of model railway in the UK which represents narrow gauge prototypes at a scale of 16 mm:1 foot or 1:19.05. The most common gauge for such railways is , representing gauge prototypes...

in UK, because it represent 16 mm for 1 ft. This scale is mainly developed in UK.

Same track of 32 mm, if used to represent a track, corresponds to a scale of 1:13.5, this much larger scale is increasing in popularity.

Same track of 32 mm, if used to represent a track, corresponds to a scale of 1:12. This combination is not common but has a small number of dedicated followers.

A US manufacturer decided to creates its own scale of 1:29 for standard gauge trains, on a 'G' track instead of the 49 mm (1.93 in) track driven by such scale. As its material, mainly built in China is relatively inexpensive, this scale is relatively successful but is limited to representation of US trains.

If one will represent a modern epoch, there is need for road cars and trucks which are only offered in 1:18, 1:24 and 1:32 scale. Modellers are making compromises and 1:22.5 trains are commonly associated with 1:24 accessories (figures, animals, cars, etc.)

There is a conflict on the designation of 'G' scale (created by LGB), the NMRA was initially willing to use it only for scale 1:22.5 but manufacturers hoping to benefit from the notoriety of the 'G' naming continue using this reference for scales 1:20.3, 1:24, 1:29 et 1:32

In short:
(width while on scale -> width effectively used) 1:18> 1:24> 1:32>

Scale	1:19	1:20.3	1:22.5	1:24	1:29	1:32
NMRA reference		F	1:22	1:24	1:29	#1
MOROP MOROP MOROP is a European association that federates national associations of railroad and model railroad enthusiasts. MOROP was founded in Genoa in 1954 and now has its headquarters in Bern . In 2006, MOROP federated 22 national associations from 17 European countries, with a total of more than 30,000... reference			II			I
Track,	32 mm	30->32 mm
Track,	48->45 mm	45 mm
29->32 mm
Track, (metre gauge Metre gauge Metre gauge refers to narrow gauge railways and tramways with a track gauge of . In some African, American and Asian countries it is the main gauge. In Europe it has been used for local railways in France, Germany, and Belgium, most of which were closed down in mid 20th century. Only in Switzerland... )
49->45 mm	45 mm	42->45 mm	34->32 mm	32 mm
Track, (standard gauge Standard gauge The standard gauge is a widely-used track gauge . Approximately 60% of the world's existing railway lines are built to this gauge... )
64 mm
49->45 mm	45 mm
Road cars & trucks
1:24
1:32

Scale 1:22.5 is mainly used for narrow gauge equipment and propose a large choice of trains, buildings and accessories (American or European) and allow low radiuses curves, locomotives and cars being shorts.

Scale G64 , which is the proper width for standard gauge trains at scale 1:22.5 began to develop in UK, but only with UK trains. Large radiuses are required due to the length of cars.

American or European quality equipment can be found at scale 1:32, at a cost.

It exists a few garden trains at a smaller scale but maintenance is more difficult.
And the scale '0' with standard gauge run on a track of and is actually at scale of 1:43.5 in France & UK, 1:45 in Germany and 1:48 in the USA...

Common radio control methods

Common switches and accessories control methods

Reference Material

These will be used to provide citation links:

Steam trains in your garden, Brian Wilson, Australian Model Engineering Pty Ltd. (No ISBN)
Practical Garden Railways, Peter Jones, The Crowood Press (ISBN 1861268335)
The Garden Railway Manual, C.J.Freezer, Patrick Stephens Ltd (ISBN 1852604654)

Garden railroads

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