G Scale Model Railroad Layouts
So now you’ve found a way for you and the whole family can be together out in the back yard while you get into your model training obsession? These g gauge model locomotives are definitely the trains for your family! You get to have fun in the sun while planning your own personal toy locomotive curiosity. Now it’s just a question of how to do it? Your backyard will have a big say in the kind of design you opt for. That said, there are some simple considerations when you are creating your g scale train setup.
Let your hobby space have some say over your g gauge track: Weather and terrain should play into the decisions you make about your g scale track design. If you live in a wet, frigid climate and have snow and precipitation as a fairly constant cover for your yard, consider having a covered track. If your yard is filled with bushes and shrubs you’ll have fun dreaming up ways that you can whirl your track through it. Climate and terrain are just as important as spatial problems for g gauge trains. Try to harness climate and terrain to aid your train configurations.
Use the natural features of your outdoor area and garden to enhance the visual interest of your design: One of the best ways of [adding|maximizing|increasing] interest to our g [scale|gauge] model railroad [layouts|designs|setups] is to use the [flora|bushes and trees|hedges and plants] of our back yards to enhance the visual [interest|excitement|enjoyment] of our track [plan|design|layout].
Snaking a track behind a column of bushes or shrubs can add visual complexity to our tracks by obscuring our view of the train and track. The simple way is to run your track through a bush, but if you’re really ambitious you might build a desert pass or rough gorge right in your back yard. There is something really thrilling too about seeing the g scale locomotive make its way obscurely through the dark shadows behind a hedge of bushes.
Don’t fight with the big stuff: If you have a completely empty yard then this is not a consideration, but since most of us have things other than trains and grass in your back yards, your best bet is to take these backyard landmarks and work with them. Got statues, let them play a role in your design. A train track looped around a trickling stone fountain or past a spitting stone cherub can make for a particularly eye catching feature.
Don’t forget landscape accessories; they’re not just for the little trains anymore: Add scaled trees, little towns, train roundhouses, peaks and streams and all the same sorts of details and features both mimicking nature and culture, just as you would to any other train gauge. Enlist the expertise of one of the more creative members of the family and the whole experience can really become a cherished family memory. It is much more rewarding to spend in rainy Sunday afternoon detailing and coloring a model train whistle stop than watching reruns of I Love Lucy.
G gauge model trains are so in demand right now, you shouldn’t be surprised if you neighbors are willing to shell out cold hard cash to come over and see your setup. But the best reason to take part in this wonderful pastime is that it is just good old fashioned fun!
Here is more information on G Scale Model Trains. Here is a website with a free mini-course dedicated to Model Trains.