Where Do I Begin?

First the research is key so get a comfort level. The main magazine that carries ads and articles about ride on trains is Live Steam and Outdoor Railroading. Their web site is www.livesteam.net Another magazine that is just being developed is The Home Railway Journal focused mainly on ride on layouts around homes. Their web site is www.homerailwayjournal.com . You might also consider reading Garden Railways magazine which is geared more to smaller non-riding scales, but it has a lot of information about the actual gardening techniques, and thoughts on doing scenes and scenery designed to be left outside. Their web site is www.gardenrailways.com .

Once you have done the research, be sure to go over our website and get comfortable with all of the information, then consider ordering our DVD called 'Intro to 1" Ride-on Railways'. This DVD shows most of our products, but also discusses techniques for laying track and how to lay the roadbed for the track.

You can purchase the rail by itself, and make your own ties and use screws to hold the track to the ties, or you can order our prefab track which comes in 9 ft sections. It is slightly more expensive, but requires far less time to put together.

Once you have digested the DVD, the next logical step would be to order our starter set which includes our four- wheel locomotive kit and two riding gondolas, as well as 126 ft of pre-fab track. This is enough to make a 40 ft diameter circle, or an oval of track with 25 ft diameter ends.

If your budget allows, you can actually make up your dream starter set with some of our larger locomotives, and other kits, and we will offer you the same 5% discount on the whole order just as we do with the starter set.

Once you have this set up in your back yard, you will have to decide on what types of social events you want to host. We leave you to your own devices, but we can tell you that everyone will be smiling and asking for more rides, young and old!

If you decide you want to start with a passenger car train, you need a large engine to start off with, and your curves should be a minimum of 25 ft radius. Once started, you can just keep on adding switches, buildings, and of course more track!