Waiting For The Weather To Get A Bit Warmer

All winter long I wait for the weather to change so I can get outside and run my garden train. I have two trains I like to run outside. One is a New York Central freight train with a box car, a reefer, a tank car, a 2 bay hopper, a log car, a gondola and a caboose. the other is my Salt Creek freight train with a 0-4-0 switcher 2 tank cars, a gondola, a flatcar, and a caboose. The snow has all melted off the tracks but the rainy season has begun. I still need to clean off the debris from around the layout. A few buildings need repair and I am still looking for an Aristo Craft ALCO FB unit to go with the New York Central Freight Train.

Mothers Day Brought Me Outside

The weather is great today so I went outside to run my garden train. Sandy is busy cutting the grass and enjoying the weather also. The day could not be nicer for watching my New York Central freight train run around an expanded track. The track is roughly twice the size it was last year. I'm having a few issues with the F unit locomotive running smoothly but it is running. I'm sure it is because it hasn't been run all winter. I am looking forward to an expanded season of running the train.

It turned out there was nothing wrong with the locomotive. There was a loose wire that went from the transformer to the track which is now fixed.

Outdoors is Calling Me

Since the weather has been so warm, I have been able to expand the outdoor track and double it's size. The track is now a large L shape. I have been killing off the grass and pulling weeds as well as putting down the new track. My efforts yesterday exposed a few of the buildings that need repair. My wife Sandy has dug in and did a lot of work cleaning up the overgrowth of the ground cover and sweeping up all the leaves and other dead fall in the area. She always works so hard to get the track ready for the season every year.

I ran the locomotive around the new track and it worked just fine except for a few spots along the track that it slowed down to a near stop. I need to look into that a bit further maybe the track connections or possible dirty track could be the cause, we will see. I plan to repair the broken structures today and check into the track as well.

I know I am running late this year getting the garden train up and running, but the weather has not been my friend.

Church and Gas Station Join the Layout

The church is set near the city park and the preacher is standing outside waiting for the Bride and Groom to start the wedding service. I plan to add a lot of benches and people on the grassy area in front of the preacher to observe the ceremony. they and the bride and groom are waiting for me to pick them up at Mountain Town Hobbies in Mt. Pleasant Michigan.

Every town needs a Standard Station to service the vehicles for the town. This one is a full service Gas Station on the edge of the downtown area. the gas pumps are for regular and ethel color coded for easy identification. All I need is a few vehicles and the station will be hopping with business.

Slowly the layout is coming to life.

When the weather clears up my attention turns outdoors. The garden railroad layout will undergo some changes this year. I plan to expand the track to include a larger area of the yard. before this I was running 2 tracks, but I think I will limit it to one large track area. I will start out by repairing the damage the weather has brought to the buildings and the track bed. I will, however, continue to work on my indoor layout through the summer as well.