Ongoing improvement requirements on the WESL along with the advent of an upcoming garden celebration have dictated the necessity of incorporating lineside flora to accompany WESL’s mechanical fauna. Care in floral selection is key; plantings should remain in scale appropriate for nearby structures and other railway accoutrements. Above: toward the rear of this raised bed,…

The engineer of the WESL has entered into an annual model building contest called “The Mik”. Mik was the screen name of a gentleman named Alan Bupp, who posted on a web forum called largescalecentral.com. Mik is unfortunately no longer around; since 2009 his friends on the forum have held a contest each year in…

WESL needs some maintenance -of-way gear, including a motorized sweeper to help clear leaves, acorns, sticks, and errant ballast from fouling the line. The above video is the first iteration of the motor brush car. It started as an attachment made for a Dyson vacuum. The attachment wasn’t too wide, was inexpensive, and already had…

Mabel is a live steam locomotive assembled from a kit manufactured by Accucraft Trains. The model is a freelance design, not based on a prototype locomotive. This Mabel has been modified slightly by the addition of about 3 pounds of weight, which allows the locomotive to pull more cars.

After recently completing the main line of the new railroad, local operations dictated the need for the longest ever assembly of box, tank, and other freight-bearing rolling stock. Mainly used as a proof of concept, this giant 16-car assembly was led by an A-B-B-A engine team of F7 A & B units, from the New…

This elevated mainline was part of a complete garden line renovation, due to the necessity of having a level line for live steam trains. The curves on the mainline are all at least 8 foot diameter (LGB R3) for the ease of running larger trains that will not navigate tighter turns. Over 20 tons of…

Shay locomotives were often used by logging industries. Because Shay locomotives are geared and have articulating trucks, these locomotives are better suited for steeper grades and curvier tracks that maybe were only laid temporarily for logging purposes. The Shay shown below was assembled from an Accucraft kit. The first video is the initial firing of…

One of the most enjoyable aspects of a garden railroad is the prospect of operating real locomotives, just on a very small scale compared to the prototype equipment. Many garden trains run on electricity, whether it is provided via a battery on the train or through the tracks. These trains are convenient and simple to…