GARDEN CITY RAILROAD

G-Scale Garden Railroad

‘Serving the little garden people since 1998’

The Garden City RR began in June 1998. It was originally built as one track around the entire perimeter of the backyard. A few years later it changed to the garden-style format of today. It consists of an inner and outer loop and an elevated point-to-point line. This line has automatic reversing. The smaller inside line was done in 2001, while the elevated line was done in 2005. It sees trolleys and eggliners. Total track length is approx. 385 feet. It is screwed down to small blocks of wood placed approx. every foot. There are regularly placed drainage pipes under it to drain higher areas inside the loops. The track is ballasted with stone dust. I don’t seem to have any problems with it shifting or moving. Both loops have a tunnel-the outer has a 10' and the inner an 8'.

There is a pond and waterfall. The pond contains approx. a dozen fish and 2 turtles. In the center sits ‘Turtle Island", a rock outcropping where the turtles can sun themselves.

There are approx. 3 dozen buildings. All are lighted with low-voltage garden light, controlled with a remote control switch. These buildings are all named after family members and pets. There are Shih Tzu dog figures placed at every structure as we always have ShihTzus for dogs. Currently we have a 13 year old named ‘Dakota’ and a 3 Year old named ‘Cricket".

We also have a small garden out front. It changes buildings, inhabitants, scenery and trains with the seasons. In spring, it becomes the Bunnyville RR with a special Easter-themed train, etc. In summer, it’s the Paradise Gap RR with an Amish theme. Fall brings the Haunted Hollow RR with graveyard and associated trimmings and Christmas is becomes the North Pole & Southern with Christmas trains, lighted trees, etc.

In 2010 I also built a tiny circle of track around a tree for an eggliner to run on.

I am the President and Chief Operating Officer, and my lovely wife, Judy, is the Chief Financial Officer (read budget control) and Company botanist. We welcome visits by appointment, which can be made via the RR’s e-mail. This may include our close neighbor’s railroad also, if available (Gold Dawg RR-see link). We also expect to have at least one open house per year in the future, which will be announced on the web sites in advance, so be sure to check back and look for updates and new photos/info. Thank-you for browsing.

Kurt & Judy Nelson