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4 minute web site video tour
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 Jon DeKeles Editor in Chief | He may seem like big bad Jon, but that’s because he’s a man of steel – born with trains and technology in his blood. No surprise he engineered the gene splice that gave birth to LSOL.com. | |
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 JD Miller Reviews Editor | The original tinkerer, JD took apart his first watch in 4th grade and now he’s having the time of his life taking apart trains to show you what’s inside. | |
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 Rick Henderson Associate Editor | Rick has more model train experience than Jon has years. He's LSOL.com's jack-of-all-trades from almost day one. He's reviewed, sold retail, and built trains, too. He's not grumpy, just focused. | |
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 Noel Widdifield Managing Editor | Since he’s a card-carrying member of the NMRA and TCA, we all yield right-of-way to Noel’s expertise when it comes to model railroading. | |
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 David Bodnar Electronics Editor | When you’re ready to “Bodnarize” your railroad, David’s the guy who puts the pedal to the metal. Our resident power ranger is all about automation and remote control. | |
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 Jo Anne Sales Manager | What’s a nice lady like her, doing with a crew like this? Joanne is the grand dame of discounts. Better yet, she’ll keep your large-scale spending on the QT from spousal units if you ask politely. | |
Tom Calvert: Operation was and still is my passion. Just watching garden trains going round and round does nothing for me at all. They must do something. Deliver goods, pick up products, switch and generally be a railroad.
Tim Blagg: Somewhere down the road (for me) I think that running garden trains is going to be secondary to building the structures. I do like watching garden trains run but there needs to be a mix of capabilities with a railroad so that it lends itself to whatever you want to do with it at any given time.
Dave Gill: I like building more than running garden trains. I make all types of structures from photos or magazines etc., also like to modify engines and rolling stock. I really like to have something different than any one else. I have a knack for making things from sketchy ideas.
Brad Bennett: I'm a builder. As an artist I found the construction of a garden trains layout in the garden to be an extension of my interest and ability to be creative. Although I work professionally in 2-D, I found the challenge of the 3-D of the railroad enormously entertaining. The side benefits thus far received are the joyful looks of appreciation on the faces of all who come to our home. The railroad seems to draw everyone in, regardless of age or gender, and then perhaps to a defined time in their childhoods when life was simpler.
Rick Henderson: Myself, I prefer branch line operations and switching. My garden train designs include a lot of industrial sidings where engineers have to pickup and deliver cars. I also like to put my structures clustered together around sidings and yards and not spread out over the entire railroad. This draws the focus of attention to the areas with the most operation.
Important Topics
Bridges
Buildings
Couplers
Getting Started
Grades
How Garden Trains Work
Live Steam
Wheels
John Damkier: Most of my structures are plastic but I do have some wood buildings also. Most are lit with 12v bulbs tied into my Malibu light system. Most of the garden train buildings are heavy enough that they don't blow away. I glued the buildings (that are prone to blowing away) to floor tiles to keep them down.
Gary Lane: I have left buildings out all winter only to regret it spring time. Glues come undone on plastic. Small parts break with the building standing still. Mostly the amount of mud and dirt and bugs to remove is what motivates me to move the buildings into the unheated garage or under the covered deck for the winter.
Bill Waddell: Most of my buildings are made from kits (Pola or Piko) however, all have added detail which makes each more like a creation of my own. It could be a kit bash, color change, store bought details items or ones I hand made. Likewise, lighting is always added for interest at dusk or nighttime. It is be added to platforms, outside work areas as well as the interior of buildings. This allows more detail to be seen inside these buildings and something as little as a porch light makes the town come alive. It should be said however, that highly detailed buildings do require greater care and storage during certain seasons or when bad weather becomes a concern. For this I made boxes to size and bubble wrap.
There is no better way to share your railroad than with a GRBLOGS. Garden Railroad Builder's Logs is a new blog service of LSOL.com. You can post information in an easy-to-use blog format as often as you like to keep people updated on the developments of your Garden Railroad. Keep your projects organized online in individual projects and show your photos, videos and more online for the whole world to see. Plus you can read other blogs and comment on all the exciting GRBLOGS that others have posted at the site.
Come see the first, the original and the best web blog dedicated to Garden Railroads. Remember: Some people talk about what they are going to do, and others actually do it. Come show people what you have done.
