Note:
The numbers refer to the
whereabouts of the railroad on the interactive locator map.
The railroads are presented here according to what city they are in.
photo by Lottie Flowers
no high
res press photo
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11) The F & S Railroad
The F&S Railroad, begun in 1998, is a detailed layout of over 450 feet of track consisting of three ground level tracks and two elevated tracks. Added attractions include a freight section and a busy town with a passenger station, hotel, basketball court and a metro park. The natural park has a lookout tower and some wild animals. Chickens, cows, pigs and horses inhabit the farm and stable.
In the midst of it all is a carpeted sitting area with a wooden frame and shingled roof covering. Inside are two benches, ceramic creatures, a working wishing well and other decorations, including a wind chime. Nearby is a small fish pond with cascading fountain.
Giving definition to the layout as a garden railroad are a variety of bushes, trees, and flowers such as yews, pines, daylilies, mums, clematis, dianthus, and sedum.
#
7) The Carp
Lake & Northern Railroad
The Carp Lake & Northern Railroad, begun in 1997, has 430 feet of track arranged in a modified dogbone shaped loop. The railroad is modeled as a freelance subsidiary of the Pennsylvania Railroad. Prototypical operations are the owners' main focus. The complex trackage features two
rail yards, one of which has five tracks with a long lead for switching.
Other features include a reversing loop and mainline right-angle track crossing. The layout is capable of running four trains and a
rail yard switch locomotive simultaneously. Scenery, plants, and landscaping have filled in nicely in the past years.
#
12) The
Squirrel Valley Railroad
The Squirrel Valley Railroad is strictly a whimsical railroad modeled after absolutely
nothing. The Lotts are having fun running toy trains outside. The main line with its siding is approximately 116 feet long. It has an
over-and-under design with a bridge crossing over a pond which has a
waterfall.
The pond contains Japanese Koi, Comets, water lilies and a
fountain. Occasionally frogs stop by for a visit. Inside one loop of the
figure-8 is a kidney-shaped layout with about 55 feet of track. The
railroad passes by a town and a farm which has barnyard sounds emitting from the barn. Also, there is a stop at the brewery if the product is ready for shipment.
The railroad has numerous other structures located throughout It also contains numerous annuals, perennials, rocks, rock garden plants, several thymes, miniature roses, dwarf conifers, herbs,
miniature tomatoes and miniature hot peppers.
Then there is the corn that gets planted by the squirrels, resulting in giant "secornia" plants which gives our railroad a distinctive look by late summer.
Beside the Squirrel Valley Railroad is "Birdville", which has more than 50 feet of track in a
rectangular figure-8 pattern. Once you see Birdville you'll understand where the name came from. On the patio is
"Frogtown", a four foot square pond with a circle of track on top. It
also has a fountain and water lily along with gold fish.
# 5) The Ohio
River and Western Railroad
Our garden railroad represents the original Ohio River & Western Narrow Gauge Railroad as it meandered through the forested hills of southeastern Ohio in the early 20th century.
This 250-foot plus railway is centered around a rock lined pond fed from a waterfall and stream. Details abound with structures, horse-drawn wagon; autos, bridges, and a curved tunnel.
A two-story railroad storage building, walkway, and patio border the dense miniature garden.
The
Crawford Valley Railroad meanders around a waterfall, stream, and a
large pond.
At the turn of the century, fashionably dressed folk go about their
daily lives waiting for the train at the depot, shopping in the general
store, listening to the banjo pickers in the town gazebo, and tending to
their farm animals. The blacksmith is forging spikes in the service car,
as the work crew is repairing track near the 2-bay engine shed.
There are four loops sporting 500 feet of stainless steel track. The
mature landscaping has a wide variety of sedum, thyme, dwarf conifers
and perennial favorites. New this year is the overshot water wheel and
grist mill.
Step back in time and enjoy a peaceful afternoon with us.
#
8) The
Sunburst, Minneapolis & Southern Railroad The Sunburst, Minneapolis & Southern now has three major loops and four smaller ones with over 600 feet of track.
There are three small ponds and a stream. One of the loops goes around and under a deck. Plantings include many Dwarf Alberta Spruce trimmed to look more open as well as moss, Irish moss and varieties of thymes.
Dominant road name of the rolling stock is Great Northern/BNSF (only in the Green/Orange colors) with a fair amount of Texaco cars for decoration.
#
1) The Iron Mountain & Columbus Railroad
The Iron Mountain & Columbus Railroad is designed to maximize the fun in a very small space. The design features two loops and a back-and-forth line.
The inner loop, in the form of a three-leaf clover, turns and climbs passing over itself passing around a small village setting. The outer loop features a double reversing loop passing over the inner loop of track and rises to pass over a water falls cascading to a small pond.
The layout is designed to offer a balance between railroading fun and a perennial rock garden. The railroad has a variety of plants including dwarf conifers, several flowering plants and thymes for ground cover. The goal is to achieve an ever-changing appearance in size, texture and color.
The Duggan’s railroad has a 100-ft mainline with a 50-ft branch off of it. The mainline is a bent figure-eight with a trestle and a bridge, both scratch built.
The railroad has many structures which run the gamut from scratch built to kit structures. There is a pond with fish and a waterfall. There are many different types of plants, herbs, and miniature trees in the layout. The track is laid on treated 2x6 lumber. The railroad and garden go around the back deck. The railroad is being built in stages and is never quite finished.
#
14 ) The Runaway Railroad
Runaway Railroad, founded
in 2001, has over a quarter mile of track spread over a quarter acre of
layout, and contains eight separate areas. Deadwood and Route 66 are
reached by the longest length of track which crosses six steel bridges,
replicas of real US railroad bridges.
The
longest bridge is 10 feet long. Three trains use these tracks
simultaneously. Deadwood, a wild west town, has a an action filled main
street, a burned out ghost town, and a mountain top Indian village;
Route 66 has a working carnival reached by a street car,
The
Wigwam Motel, a hunt club, its own garden railroad, and dockside
businesses set beside a large lake. Five other tracks intertwine,
rambling through six towns, four tunnels, two graffiti laden concrete
bridges, and across a long wooden trestle. Jeffersonville is a city
supported by a brewery, while German Village boasts a biergarten. Olde
Town is an 1850’s town with a log cabin suburb.
Lakeside,
a 1950’s town, has its own stocked lake. Rancho Alto sits on a mesa
where sheep, pigs, horses, and cows graze beside a cabbage patch and a
Christmas tree farm. A small Indian village, with braves in canoes, sits
beside another small lake. Bonsai trees, ground covers, herbs, and
flowering plants define areas, as do walking paths for train watching.
MacKay Mills Railroad began
in 1996 as two loops totaling 200 feet, which were soon interconnected
and a reversing wye with lay-up spur added. Numerous additions
since then have brought the total length to some 630 feet, comprised of
ten separate layouts.
These additions include two
small loops, a point-to-point layout with reversing loops, and six
different back-and-forth reversing lines. The reversing lines
include both steam and catenary electric cog railways; the latter is
entirely overhead, as is one of the small loops. There are three
tunnels, two bridges (one is 16 feet long), two viaducts, and one
trestle in the layouts; plus 50 buildings and over 150 people to add
character.
Four pools with water lilies
and other aquatic plants include a mill with an operating water wheel
and a waterfall. The railroad is heavily planted with many dwarf
conifers and rock garden plants. There are collections of several
different types of sempervivums and hostas, also micro-mini roses, plus
numerous varieties of other perennial and annual plants.
The garden is handicapped
accessible from the rear alley.
Starting with this railroad
Grandview
Heights
photo by Mike Walls
no high res press photo
#
9) The
Cat's Meow Railroad
Three loops of trains traverse the Cats Meow Railroad - a farming loop, a lumber mill loop, and the mainline Disney World loop. In the farming loop Cats Meow Village is the center hub of activity in this mostly rural part of the garden railroad.
In the lumber mill loop the trains travel through a tunnel and fir trees before crossing over a wood-truss bridge just before the lumber mill itself. The function of the mill is to produce utility poles for the surrounding communities.
A highlight of the Disney World loop is the monorail which passes through the various vignettes such as the Grand Floridian, the Contemporary Hotel, the Tree of Life located at Wild Kingdom, Space Ship Earth located at Epcot, Mickey Mouse Water Tower located at MGM Studios, and of course Cinderella's Castle with the main street electrical parade located at the Magic Kingdom.
The C, S, J & T II garden railroad was
begun in 2005.
The 1200 feet of track cling to the sides of a
sloped garden. Modern Santa Fe Diesel locomotives pull trains over long
trestles, bridges, and through tunnels. A big waterfall and pond are
focal points. A long two-track tunnel has a viewing port at the
center.
Wooden walkways enable visitors to meander
through the railroad amidst hundreds of plants. Some viewing areas are
shaded. The railroad is partially accessible by wheelchair.
The Ybrew Express was started in December 2005 and currently has about 700 feet of track. There are 47 track switches; planning is underway to control the switches by compressed air.
There are seven bridges which were scratch built - with some assistance: two steel bridges, two cedar trestles, one covered cedar bridge, one plastic bridge, and one bridge of treated lumber.
There are many plants in the railroad. The railroad is track-powered by the MTH System using two Crest 10-amp power sources.
Starting with this railroad
Pataskala
photo by Jim Shell
no high
res press photo
#
4) The Recycled
Odds Ends & Leftovers Railroad
The Odds Ends & Leftovers Railroad has been relocated and expanded. It is now the Recycled Odds Ends
& Leftovers Railroad. The trestle and waterfall have been relocated with the addition of another waterfall
creating a moving stream running through part of the layout. The railroad will cross the stream three
times.
The fictitious railroad will head south out of Xenia servicing the towns of Russellville and Cherry
Fork. Many new buildings are in the planning stage to support the railroad and the towns.
The ROE&LRR will eventually have about 300 feet of track operating on two levels. Come, see a work in progress.
The
Puddlefort & Patio Railroad (P&P RR) - The Abler's garden railroad is modeled after central Wisconsin farmland.
"Puddlefort" is the nickname of the village near Richard's hometown which was served by the Chicago & North Western RR. The garden contains numerous dwarf, miniature and small-scale plants, including dwarf conifers, shrubs and deciduous trees, herbs, ferns, ground covers, sedum, sempervivum, annuals, rock-garden plants, and other perennials, as well as some Norway spruce being trained unwillingly to be bonsai trees.
A trolley line serves Puddlefort village.
Starting with this railroad
Worthington
Hills
Click on the box next to description
of the railroad you'll start with,
and fill out this form to get directions. (Generally, we start sending
directions the Thursday before the tour.)
Access Code:
(The access code lets us know which Garden Railway
Society you're part of. You don't need one to get directions, but you may
get the directions early.)
Name:
Email:
Address:
City:
State:
Zip Code:
Phone:
How did you learn of this year's Garden
Railroad tour?
(Please check or fill in as many as are appropriate)
Went on last
year's tour Friend/Neighbor
Columbus
Parks Dept. Notice
If you experience technical
problems, send a note to the webmaster!
Let us know the Internet Service Provider (ISP - like AOL or Earthlink) you use,
how you connect (dial-up, DSL, cable modem,) which browser you're using (like Internet Explorer 5.01,) and what
operating system (like Windows 98. There have been
reports of a "NO REFERRER" message, but this doesn't have to do with
the access code. This may be caused by Internet congestion, so we suggest
you try submitting the info again in a few minutes. (It hasn't been reported often enough to get
an idea of what may be causing i, but it may also be caused by a setting in your
anti-virus program.)
Permission
is granted for the media to use any of the garden railroad pictures on this
page,
provided
photographer credit is given (photo credit is under
each thumbnail.)
Click
here, or on the
map to
see the 2008 interactive locator map, complete with
pictures and descriptions.
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