Since 2012 we have had an open house every year on Halloween and Christmas Eve. More properly an “Open Yard”, we decorate the train garden for the appropriate holiday, run trains and hang out with anyone who happens to stop by. On Halloween we hand out candy to the kids and chat with the grown-ups.Continue reading “Open Houses”
Author Archives: dcrrsophie
County Fair
We ran our trains for a display at the county fair this week and had a wonderful time. Just kidding. We do not have a county fair. We do have a regional County Fair in Chowan County that encompasses the entire area. But, like everything else this year (2020), it was cancelled. As was theContinue reading “County Fair”
From Canal to Trolley
When we started construction on our layout back in 2016 Archie wanted it to include a water feature with a portion of it inspired by the Dismal Swamp Canal. So we ended up with a straight ditch with a small pond at one end and a larger one at the far end. The main pumpContinue reading “From Canal to Trolley”
White’s Nursery Spring 2020
This show is brought to you courteous of COVID-19. In other words, it was cancelled. Which was a big disappointment to us as it would have been our tenth consecutive show we did at White’s.
Holiday Show 2019
The annual Tidewater Big Train Operators (TBTO) Holiday train show is the largest and longest lasting display that our club sets up. We take over an entire gymnasium and the show runs for eight days. 2019 was our year of taking it easy with our holiday show layout. No tricky track work, no electronic wizardyContinue reading “Holiday Show 2019”
White’s Nursery Fall 2019
We went a bit minimalist this year. When we first got started with a garden railroad and did a few shows with the Tidewater Big Train Operators, the train club we are members of, we saw the large trailer the club brings to shows and watched others unloading their full size SUV’s and pickup trucks.Continue reading “White’s Nursery Fall 2019”
White’s Nursery Spring 2019
The best laid plans of mice…etc. The outside loop in the drawing ended up not actually fitting in to the area we had to work with. Track planning software is all well and good but it doesn’t always work out quite as intended. The Holy Mama train actually stayed running for the entire weekend plusContinue reading “White’s Nursery Spring 2019”
Holiday Show 2018
The annual Tidewater Big Train Operators (TBTO) Holiday train show is the largest and longest lasting display that our club sets up. We take over an entire gymnasium and the show runs for eight days. Our layout for this year was the “mini-Christmas tree and small vignettes” layout. It is also one of the mostContinue reading “Holiday Show 2018”
White’s Nursery Fall 2018
This is one of our (many) Christmas Tree layouts. Once you have been doing G scale layouts and doing frequent trains shows you tend to collect a lot of things to use, like miniature trees. And mostly small evergreen types that lend themselves well to a Christmas Tree village. Having a lot of the treesContinue reading “White’s Nursery Fall 2018”
White’s Nursery Spring 2018
The Dragons and Dinosaurs and Fairies show. We incorporated most of our favorite themes in this one show. This is also maybe one of best examples of using the flowers and greenery available being in a nursery and greenhouse. The staff at White’s Nursery and our train club have always had a good relationship andContinue reading “White’s Nursery Spring 2018”
Dismal Creek Railroad 