G scale backyard railroad

[Chester Whipplefilter]

Hi Everyone what a great forum! I am building a backyard miniature railroad. this railroad is loosely based off of the CaseyJr. ride at Disneyland. I have experience with railroad building but no experience with waterfalls and controlling water flow.

My plan is mostly concrete construction with latex or pool deck paint. There will be no waterlife. Needless to say there will be several water features as well as a river that has to flow water or make a current for model boats to transverse. My main question is should i get a large pump and create a series of valves to different areas? or 1 pump for the waterfall and several pumps for the river? thank you all!! any other ideas are welcomed

 

[cas]

Can't wait to see pictures of your build!
Thought I would show you some pictures of a model railroad that was on a pond tour this year.

 

[addy1]

Welcome to our group! That will be a neat build!

 

[MoonShadows]

Yes, that sounds really interesting. Someone with more experience will have to offer advice about your water feature questions.

We are picture-addicts here, so don't hold back!

 

[sissy]

.Welcome and we had one ponder on here that had a railroad around his pond area and all around the yard .

 

[j.w]

@Chester Whipplefilter and the guy who had the amazing train set up on here was @SE18 and here is a link to his train set up https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/marine-railway-completed.15374/#post-236523
and https://www.gardenpondforum.com/threads/muck-question.6425/#post-69450
and all of his train posts to choose from https://www.gardenpondforum.com/search/18154848/?q=Trains&t=post&o=date&c[user][0]=3299

 

[Gemma]

Hi Everyone what a great forum! I am building a backyard miniature railroad. this railroad is loosely based off of the CaseyJr. ride at Disneyland. I have experience with railroad building but no experience with waterfalls and controlling water flow.

My plan is mostly concrete construction with latex or pool deck paint. There will be no waterlife. Needless to say there will be several water features as well as a river that has to flow water or make a current for model boats to transverse. My main question is should i get a large pump and create a series of valves to different areas? or 1 pump for the waterfall and several pumps for the river? thank you all!! any other ideas are welcomed

Welcome to GPF

 

[Stephen T.]

I've had many indoor model railroads over the years, but never had the chance to build a garden railway. I debated on this with my present stream and ponds, but it would have interfered with my other hobby/business, wildlife photography. I use the stream as a great photo backdrop for birds, dragonflies and frogs!

 

[CometKeith]

Hi Chester. Welcome! Here is a picture from our pond tour. The owner of the property has one of the routes of the railroad go directly into his garage where he can store them in the winter with his other "toys". When we go there he also invites railroad enthusiasts there who are running the trains.

 

[sissy]

That is really one impressive pond on that pond tour

 

[Chester Whipplefilter]

Thank you all for your warm welcome! Anyone have experience creating a controlled directional current? Please weigh in about one big master pump with valves or multiple pumps for each feature? thx.

 

[Lisak1]

@CometKeith - we’ve visited that same pond with railroad. It’s pretty impressive!