Backyard Garden Railroad

A small advertisement in our local newspaper about a Saturday Garden Railroad exhibit in Livermore caught Frank's eye. The event was local and fairly low key. Proceeds were to benefit the Make-a-Wish Foundation. It had been on our calendar for a couple weeks. We had planned on going with Alex but then life got busy.

Frank had flown back from Southern California late Thursday night and I'd had a medical procedure Friday, so that Saturday we were feeling kind of sluggish and lazy. Rather than skipping the event entirely, we guiltily compromised by not taking Alex. Picking up Alex would have lengthened the excursion by roughly two hours due to the two roundtrips to get and return him. By going just the two of us, we were able to get an earlier start before it got super hot and we gained the flexibility to leave whenever we tired. This turned out to be a good decision after all, and allowed Frank and me to take in a lot more detail at a slower pace without distraction.

When we walked into the backyard we were impressed with the extent of the layout, traversing the entire perimeter of the backyard. Here are thumbnail photos of what I considered six key areas...

... and a not-to-scale diagram of the track pathway loop I drew from recollection. The simplistic diagram does not show parallel paths or side track storage areas. There were groupings of two to three chairs near each area to relax in while taking in all the detail in the layout. I spent some time in each area.

Entering the first section we came to ① the corp yard, called Terry Town. The variety of building and trains in this holding area was extensive and extremely detailed. There were houses, gazebos, store fronts, water towers, etc.  Small scale people figurines were posed doing all sorts of activities.

The back yard of one of the houses even had a garden model railway setup of its own.

As we rounded the bend going clockwise we passed the ② storage and control shed. Frank spent a fair amount of time in there talking the the layout designers and builders. He learned this entire display is taken down and reassembled annually. A huge storage pod is stationed in the side yard driveway. In the dormant season the pod houses all the trains, track, trestles, buildings, signs, people and animal figurines, trees and lakes landscape features, and electronics to run the display. I learned that while the layout is set up and running, a constant effort is required to keep the tracks clean and to cope with the leaf fall down from the trees and the demolition fallout from the cavorting squirrels.

On the ③ back wall, a train of boxcars is in the foreground track. The boxcars sport a sugary theme with Fudgsicles, Popsicles, Sugar Daddy Bars, and Milk Duds. In the background, train trestles run adjacent to a coconut rum factory, detailed with chimneys that belched smoke periodically.

Looking closely, there is King Kong scaling one of the smoke stacks. I guess he needed a change of venue from the Empire State Building.

Multiple railroad tracks meandered along the back wall, extending to the corner and negotiating hilly terrain around the tree there.

The series of railway posters along the fence wall reminded that during the period when trains were at their peak of popularity, the feminist movement was not. There were other posters similar to Santa Fe's Cute Caboose.

The train traveled through farmlands along ④ side wall that raises awareness for Make a Wish...

... and continues on to the ⑤ inlet curve. The inlet of Sharonville is home to some flamingos, which the layout designers tongue in cheek point out are "Not To Scale".

It appears than the marital pairing of model railroad enthusiasts and quilters is not at all uncommon.

  
As the train rounds the bend toward the ⑥ house jutout loop it passes Camp Snake-O. I spotted four snakes there. Note the detail of the alligator attack on the girl.

His amputation of her leg amused me in a macabre kind of way.

Rounding the final bend, the train passed a coal processing plant before starting its return journey to ① the corp yard, Terry Town.

The event also had a raffle. We did not win. One of the prizes was some popcorn and a collection of train movies. I do not think I could even name twelve train movies so I snapped a photo to remember them. I daresay that watching them all will be an entertainment goal for Frank and me. We enjoyed this outing for sure but sitting at home on the couch is fun, too. We may add The Lone Ranger 2013 movie with Johnny Depp to this mix.  It is not a train movie but it sure does have a grand finale train sequence that everyone should watch at some point. Ever seen a horse running on top of a boxcar and through a passenger car? And the music during that train sequence is absolutely fantastic!