Plant Pot Railway Update from Paul Smith

Railway with F-7 Locomotive

Railway with Penny for Scale

Top View

                                                                                                                                       March  5, 2015

I just thought I would send a couple updated photos of the plant pot garden railway and report on how it is operating. The Kato N scale Unitrak system with nickel silver track is working well. However, with the humidity and warm temps down here in SW FLorida, I do get a bit of green mold that forms on the track periodically which affects the conductivity from the track to the wheels of the locomotives. I found that using a paper towel moistened with isopropyl alcohol does a nice job of cleaning the track. I just run it over the length of the track for a couple of laps and then everything works fine. I also occasionally use a bright boy to clean the rails as I do with my indoor railway back in Maine.

The tiny plants that I put in the pot have begun to take off, so I keep them pruned so that they don't interfere with the right of way of the track, and also to keep them within an appropriate scale for the N scale train.

I originally bought a Bachmann NW2 locomotive back in January, but after some continuous running (sometimes several hours at a time), the gears started sounding funny. I took it back to the local train shop (Metro Trains and Hobbies here in Fort Myers) and they are having it serviced by their N scale specialist (I'm not sticking my fat fingers in there!). While I was at the shop, I found a 5 car set (including an F-7A locomotive in Union Pacific colors as well as a matching caboose) by Kato. Kato locomotives, from what I hear and read, are the most reliable and durable of all N scale units. After some traditional Maine haggling, I came home with the set.

So that I can avoid excessive wear and tear on the locomotives in the future, I installed a manual timer (from Lowes) on the low voltage side of the power pack which can run from 1 to 60 minutes depending on how far the knob on the timer is rotated. It is installed in an outdoor receptacle box to keep it dry, and I attached it on the exterior wall near our front door so I can turn the train on for operating/demo by simply walking out onto our front door step. Once I get the Bachmann locomotive back from the shop, I'll be able to rotate the locomotives. I'll also bring one of my Atlas GP-7's back from Maine next fall so I'll then have three to operate.

I'll say one thing: dealing with N scale couplers and wheel sets, which vary in size and style (axles vary in length from some manufacturers to others), really makes one appreciate large scale trains!

A friend just sent me some photos of our home in Maine that he took a couple of days ago. You can see the house and shed under the snow, but the garden railway and its' plants are well insulated by probably 3 feet of the white stuff!