Step 1:
Get Informed High quality information will be the most critical to understand the special requirements for running trains outdoors. There are a lot of so called "experts" out there hanging out their web site shingle. The best way to say informed is to get signed up for the top two professional publications in the Garden Train industry: Garden Railways Magazine with over 20 years experience and Large Scale Online with over 10 years. The first is a traditional printed publication that comes out every other month, six times a year. LSOL.com is a web based magazine that sends you a weekly email alert with over 500 how-to articles online for you to read and lots of photos and videos. A one year subscription to both services will cost you around $60 and will be well worth the money you spend for both publications. (That is about the cost of one Garden Trains box car.)
Step 2:
Get a Theme So what is your railroad going to be all about? Are you going to model a specific period in time? Are you looking at modeling a specific area of the country? If you can figure out early what you want your railroad to represent it will save you time and money. If you want your railroad to represent the 1860's, then a modern diesel engine will look out of place.
Looking for a Theme? Think about the railroad that was around you when you grew-up. Do you like old steam engines or modern diesels? You could spend hours researching the differences between a branch line or mainline railroading if that is what makes your train run. Gee, maybe you have a favorite color; that is OK too. My son likes blue engines so we have a lot of Conrail stuff.
Step 3:
Get Stated One mistake that a lot of new people make is to over think the problem. I have heard of people that take three years figuring out what to do and never get any track down. They dream about running a train for three years and miss all the fun of actually running a train.
Plan big and start small. The best way to get started is to make a master plan, one that can expand with you as your experience grows. Trust me you will have more fun getting an oval of track out in the garden or on the basement floor and watch the trains run, than by collecting them in the box while you wait to build your railroad empire. Some of the best experince you can get is with the actual experience of running trains. Like to Plan? Then join a local club, you could buy some trains and run them on one of the members railroad while you plan your own.
