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4 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. | |
Joe Fotschky: Buying garden trains is not a wise investment if you plan to retire on the profits you make. Buy what you like and play with them. If some one gives you the line about collectors item, won't be around long etc etc. run like the wind a way from that person and spend your money else where.
Scot Osterweil: My biggest mistake was with what I planted near the right of way. I like the garden trains running close to the plants, but in some cases I chose plants that either: a. flop across the rails as the season wears on (e.g. Irises); or b. constantly send up new shoots that intrude on the right of way (Coreopsis).
Joe Slimak: My biggest mistake was not having a track plan before installing the falls and pond. Had I moved both of them 6” more towards the center of the layout, I would have been able to run 2 tracks around the outer edge. Haste makes waste.
Updated every 5 minutes
Important Topics
Bridges
Buildings
Couplers
Getting Started
Grades
How Garden Trains Work
Live Steam
Wheels
Robert Grimsley: I use metal wheels because of the added weight, the sound, and it just makes them look nicer. It seems that I don't have to clean the track as often and that is a plus. I bought Bachmann wheels to start but soon started to replace with Aristo. Some packages of Bachmann had "Chips and pits" in the flanges and that was when I changed over to Aristo. Give me "Metal Wheels" anytime.
John Heath: I've been switching to metal wheels lately and found they track better than plastic. On a tight S curve into a switch I was getting a derailment almost every time the train got to that point. Not so with metal wheels though. They also look better when colored with a brown marking pen.
Richard Alan: Railroading outdoors with garden trains requires a better quality wheel to withstand the elements like the extremely hot rails that I have seen melt plastic wheels in the Texas sun. The noise a metal wheel produces, is like having a free sound system in ever car.
Mike Evans: Metal wheels are extremely easy to install. I found several plastic wheels were out of round. Zero derailments is a plus and no residue on the track when the rail gets hot in the sun. Many cars roll better with the heavier weight that metal wheels provide.
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.
