| DIY People: Homemade Railroad |
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Beneath the moss covered oak in Lloyd Crouthamel's backyard a trolley rides on homemade rails that are periodically cleaned by a homemade rail cleaner. The cleaner sits on a homemade bridge that traverses a homemade pond on Lloyd's garden railroad layout. Possibly the only thing in Lloyd's backyard that Lloyd hasn't made is the live oak. "I spent 45 years in a metal shop, so I know my way around a tool bench," Lloyd says. "I've had a few hobbies like photography and HO railroads. The thing about having more than one hobby is that you do them all lousy, so I gave them up to do this. It's the construction I love. The challenge of making something from nothing." Lloyd makes just about everything from scratch -- not unusual in model railroading -- but he takes it further than most. For example, he built his own track by creating a machine that bends rails. "Nothing special there, I just used three ball bearings to do it," Lloyd explains in his typically understated way. "Bending your own rails allows you the freedom of taking the layout in any direction you want to go." His layout (figure A) gracefully winds around trees and over the pond in his backyard, which resides next to a golf course. Players will often stop to admire Lloyd's handiwork and ask about the strange contraption that circles the rails. "This is my homemade rail cleaner," Lloyd explains. "You can buy them, but it's more fun to make one. They're used to clean the residue that builds up on brass rails. If the rails get too dirty, the electrical connection between the track and the engine begins to fail, so you need to clean them ever so often." The device consists of two DC motors attached to a flat car. The motors turn two shafts that have pads for steel wool. As the flat car is pulled by one of Lloyd's engines, the pads scrub the residue from the rails. In just a few roundtrips on the layout the rails are shining brass again. Lloyd has also made most of his own rolling stock -- or rail cars -- from his wood of preference: cedar. Most everything in his layout is made of cedar, except the bridge that is made of pressure treated wood, and his plastic foam house (figure B). "The house was an experiment just to see how it would hold up in the weather. A good wind and off it goes! But it does hold up well. I gave it a cedar roof and sides, but the body of it is still plastic foam." Lloyd explains: "I get my building ideas from magazines. I'll see something that I would like to build and go to it. There are kits, and I've built kits, but doing something from scratch is a challenge I enjoy. The water tower (figure C ) is made from scratch -- and scrap. Stuff I had around the place. I don't know where I found the chain for the water spout, but I suspect it was once a ladies necklace. Don't mention that to my wife, okay?" Lloyd has advice for those who think about getting into garden railroading: "Think twice -- the hobby is addictive! It really is. Start out small and plan. Do a lot of planning, otherwise the experience will be frustrating rather than fun. And join a club, that's where you will find all the help and encouragement you'll ever need. Before you buy one foot of rail, join a club."
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