Ma & Pa in the Garden
I got bitten hard by the Garden Railroad bug this past winter.  I'd had an old Bachmann Big Hauler set I ran around the Christmas Tree for a few years, and really liked the looks of it.  Unfortunately, it ran like crap, and ended up disemboweling itself in front of a crowd of on-lookers at a set up I did at the church Christmas bazaar last year.  I went on line, and discovered that this was a common problem with the train set edition of the Bachmann 4-6-0.

  Determined to have it fixed, I headed to Star Hobby near Annapolis to see what could be done.  My first mistake was leaving the ailing locomotive at home.  I got to Star, which is like a candy store for the G scale enthusiast, and stumbled across the 10th Anniversary edition of the 10-wheeler, which includes all of the mechanical and cosmetic upgrades needed to make this Bachmann's best running G engine outside of the Spectrum line, which runs more than twice the price.


 
   Well, I bought the new 10-Wheeler, and enjoyed watching it chug around the Christmas Tree.  The idea of just packing it away for another year didn't sit well with me, so I began to spend a little bit more time out in the yard with the dogs....

Surveying for just the right spot...
  Within a few weeks I had purchased some Aristo Craft track and some Chicken Grit, and was out in the freezing cold of January laying out a railroad.  I started accumulating rocks and fill dirt from other areas of the yard, and by spring, I was in business.
    I'm using an old Aristo train set power pack, which works great, and is installed in a semi-weatherproof "phone box" on the side of the garage.  Everything is track powered and so far, works great.  I've converted an old Bachmann bobber into a track cleaning car by cutting a drywall sanding sponge to fit between the queen posts.  It's the most fun I've had since I got into model railroading at age 12.
   
We're located on the Eastern Shore of Maryland, so the weather is pretty good.  The rainy spring we've had has helped settle the right of way much faster than it would have under normal circumstances.
   Enjoy the tour!

  
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