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2 minute informational video
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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
Bud Steinhoff: I use Aristo knuckle couplers on all my various brand 135 cars and 25 engines. I started with the Aristo coupler and stayed with them because to me they are reliable and inexpensive for my garden trains, especially that the Aristo equipment come with that coupler. I modify the couplers so they do not look so clumsy. Kadee's are great, but expensive and even if I wanted to change, it is too late now and I am satisfied with what I have.
James Scofield: I use Kadee's as a holdover from HO. I like to operate and there is nothing better than the knuckle coupler with delayed coupler action. The delayed action is great in Garden Trains and eliminates a lot of uncoupler magnets on every track. Kadee is also very helpful in answering questions when I have had a problem in the past with installation. They have always been the premiere coupler for many, many years.
Walter C. Bringsauf: Granted, KD couplers are a bit more expensive then other Garden Train couplers, but the reliability and ease of use more than makes up for the higher price. Also the wide variety of shanks offered by Kadee makes it easy to custom fit any type car or Loco. I have used Kadee's since they first came out in HO and have never considered using any other coupler, and I have used quite a few in the past 50 years.
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.
