8 Tips for Beginner Garden Railroad Installers

By Portia Stewart

Landscape and garden railroad specialists offered this advice to make installations easier for beginning garden railroad installers.

1. Start small. “You don’t have to do a portion of the Pennsylvania Railroad in your back yard,” said Mark Fuhrman, owner of Complete Landscape Services in Knoxville, Tenn. “Just a simple loop is all a beginner really needs.”

   Garden railroad installation specialists recommend keeping the radius of railroad track curves large. (Courtesy of Alternative Terrain)

   Adding a pond or water feature to a garden railroad setup adds interest to the landscape. (Courtesy of Complete Landscape Design)

2. Keep the railroad track level, with little or no grade. Fuhrman said the garden railroad trains run much better on flat surfaces.
3. Keep the radius of railroad track curves large. “The wider the curves the better off you are,” Fuhrman said.
4. Elevate the garden railroad track. “If you put the track ground level where your feet are, you don’t enjoy it near as much. It’s difficult to see, it’s difficult to work on and, the older you get, it’s harder to put the train on the track when you’re on your knees,” Fuhrman said. “It’s much easier to maintain if the track is elevated.”
5. Avoid switches. "These are a place for the trains to derail,” Fuhrman said.
6. Put in a pond or water feature. “Having a water feature is an asset, because you’ll enjoy your garden even if you’re not running a train,” Fuhrman said. “It adds a tremendous amount of interest to the landscape, and it’s a great excuse to have a bridge or two. Bridges add so much interest to a railroad. I’ve put a water feature in every railroad I’ve built.”
7. Consider drainage options. “My little town and the City Garden Western Railway has been flooded twice by heavy rains,” said Steve Lederman, owner of Wheaton Nurseries in Wheaton, Ill. “Thinking of these recent events, drainage should be considered when planning your layout. Water features with overflow exits would eliminate debris-ridden trackage homes and rolling stock.”
   8. Avoid wooded areas. “One of the most difficult things is to try to build a garden railroad in the woods,” Fuhrman said.  Leaves, acorns, flowers and pollen can all create debris on the track that must be cleared for the train to run smoothly.

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8 Tips for Beginner Garden Railroad Installers

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