Adventures in outdoor model railroadingNEWPRODUCT
REVIEWLoaded S
with LGB!p. 56Filled with 10 pages of family-friendly features!Tour a railroad
on the rise p. 34®TRBONUS
35 THTOAT^ VHEE L
CON^ VNAENTTIOIONANL
p. 24SUMMER 2019
GRADED ON A CURVEFocus on Camera CarsPlanting & Pruning
with the Rehab Crew p. 405 clever contraptionsfor great on-track video p. 44
Ta ke C o n t r o l! Track power demystified p. 13ALSO IN THIS ISSUEGardenRailways.com 11LETTERS
DISCONTINUED PART?
In the recent issue of GR (Summer 2019)
Gary Raymond wrote an article on how to
adapt Lego trains to 45mm track. I
attempted to order the axles he refer-
renced, but the Lego website stated the
part is a retired product. I am curious if he
has another source.
Thank you and keep filling us with
great articles and reviews. To m E i d e n,
[email protected]
[Indeed, some specialized Lego parts are
eventually phased out of production. In
these cases, you’ ll often find that an equiva-
lent part is still available in an alternative
color. If not, a Lego parts reseller (e.g., http://www.
bricklink.com) may also have the desired
component. –Ed.]
BETTER SAFE THAN SORRY
Regarding age-
appropriate
toys and tools
in “Greening
your railway,”
Summer 2019, I
must comment on the picture of Lake
using a power screwdriver (the caption
calls it a “cordless drill”) without wearing
any type of eye protection. Even a relative-
ly benign tool such as this offers many
opportunities to do harm, especially to a
young child’s still developing skills.
I’m certain that you must have heard all
of the arguments regarding this most basic
of safety cautions and it most definitely is
applicable to all ages. It would really be a
service to your readers to reinforce this
and could teach a lifelong work habit to
your and others grandchildren. A set of
safety glasses should be in everyone’s tool-
box. – Mark Hadler, via online comments
section in “Kid-friendly garden railroad-
ing,” GardenRailways.com
[Nancy Norris, GR Horticultural Editor
replies: Of course, you’re right, Mark.
Grandparents sometimes forget things like
this. Eye care is extremely important.
Thanks for this reminder. Possibly because
my parents were afraid for me I didn’t useLOVE THE LEGO COVERAGE
Thank you for the article in the Summer
2019 issue about Lego trains. I don’t nor-
mally think of mixing model scales, so
until I saw this article it had never
occurred to me how simple it would be to
modify Lego trains to run on my garden
railroad tracks. I immediately pulled out
a Lego locomotive and some washers and
had it ready to go in about five minutes.
Modifying a freight car took a little lon-
ger as the standard Lego trucks cannot be
widened, so I scratchbuilt a couple new trucks that would allow for a wider
gauge. Once done it was outside on the track for a test run. Regardless of the
scale, if it’s a railroad in a garden, it’s a garden railroad. Thanks for the
great issue! – Andrew Dillman, [email protected]a drill motor until my mid 20s. By starting
kids with a “relatively benign tool” such as
this under-powered screwdriver, “work”
can be fun, creative and educational. Tools
can do harm, but let kids start as early as
the parents can assess their readiness.]CLARIFYING STANDARDS
Thanks for publishing my article on “Lego
Trains for Large Scale.” One correction:
No. 1 Gauge for no. 1 scale (1:32 s t a nd a rd
gauge) is 1^49 ⁄ 64 " or 1.766" which equals 4'
8½" exactly in no. 1 scale.
continued on page 12A locomotive pulls a Lego plane fuselage on
its way to the final assembly plant.SPRUCE SPRUCE-UP
My outdoor garden train layout is now
six years old. I planted many dwarf
Alberta spruce trees on my railroad. I
read your article about trimming them
(“Rehab My Railroad,” Summer 2019).
Some of my trees are 3' tall and one is
nearly 4' tall. I’d like to trim them down
by a foot but am fearful that might dam-
age them. Would it be ok to do that
much trimming or should I buy new
trees? Thank you in advance for your
help. – Jerry Paladino, [email protected]
[It is truly hard to damage these trees.
They can tolerate quite a bit of pruning and still recover. Try cutting them down
a foot and then use a zip tie to re-train a new top branch as shown in the video:
MRVideoPlus.com/RMR02. If you still are hesitant, prune just one or two trees
and see what you think first. –R.S.]