You Are Invited to Our Garden Railroad Open House

[toddalin]

Clark, thanks for the kind words.

Rolf, the track, signals, and some of the structures stay out year round and get watered twice daily.

Our climate (coastal Southern California) is mild staying between 45-95 degrees year round, but, we get extremely high (60+ mph) Santa Ana winds and most of the structures are stored in my garage between November and April so they don't get ripped to shreds/blown away and have their wiring ripped out (all structures are lit).

The trains, some of the delicate vingette figures, and metal die-cast cars come in at the end of the day (the die-cast cars rust too quickly otherwise).

Many live in colder climates and continually post pics of their trains plowing real snow with both wedge plows and snow blowers.

Vandalism has not been a problem (even though this is in our front yard) because we live in a really good semi-rural neighborhood, and it is very hard to see the railroad from the street (about 100 feet away and 20 feet lower).

[Andyoz]

My 3yo would love to have you as a neighbor!

[hjames]

My 3yo would love to have you as a neighbor!

I have this vision of the model railroad system and a stiff legged 3yo towering over it all ... when giants walked the earth

[Hoerninger]

It is always a pleasure to look at your garden-railroad.

Did you ever think about combing two hobbies?
I mean JBL for your garden! There are some fine sounds,
http://www.danleysoundlabs.com/techn...downloads.html

1. Train starting up
2. Full coal train with helper
and for relaxing from work
3. Harley Davidson.
___________
Peter

[toddalin]

It is always a pleasure to look at your garden-railroad.

Did you ever think about combing two hobbies?
I mean JBL for your garden! There are some fine sounds,
http://www.danleysoundlabs.com/techn...downloads.html

1. Train starting up
2. Full coal train with helper
and for relaxing from work
3. Harley Davidson.
___________
Peter

Yes we use sounds! I am currently working with a designer who has created a way for the Picaxe microchip to control an MP3 player. This can then be activated in a number of ways, the simplest of which is a magnetic reed switch and a magnet attached to the engines. I am currently downloading sounds, a wealth of which are found on the 'net. Additionally, I'll use a digital recorder to do my own station call-outs/announcements. The controller can deal with as many as 80 sound samples of basicially any duration.

I've been compiling/modifing sounds with the Audacity software.

[toddalin]

Tortoise and Lizard Bash Railroad Open House

Saturday, July 19, 12:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Santa Ana (Orange County), CA 92705

Todd and Linda Brody are pleased to invite you and your guests to a run of the T&LB garden railroad. This layout incorporates features not seen on other garden railroad displays. The landscape covers over 1,200 square feet with over 600 feet of track and six bridges, including a 14-foot long trestle.

The layout is built around two ancient volcanic areas that were thought to be inactive; however; recent eruptions have been noted at two of the craters in one area. The volcanoes spew “lava” into upper, then lower, lakes through two waterfalls.

All vegetation is real and to scale. The entire layout is detailed with structures, over 300 people and animals, cars, motorcycles, etc. all at a scale of ½” per foot.

As many as seven trains now run simultaneously, pausing and waiting for each other as necessary. Don't miss Todd's own-design, fully automated signal and operations system. No more unexpected “corn field meets” at the crossing point! Also new are our ever-changing digital sound effects.

The major urban area is Tortoise Town and all structures are named for their reptilian counterparts. When sheriff “Chuck Walla” isn’t getting a soda at Dragon Lizard Drugs, he may be getting a haircut at Cooter’s Clip Joint or calling on Ms. Lizzie at Collard Lizard Clothiers. “The Lounge Lizards” jazz band is featured entertainment in the town circle. Brody's B&B (Booze and Babes) includes a "red light" district and is next to the Bear Whiz Beer Brewery and the hot air balloon launch facilities. Two farm/ranches operate in the area as well as a feed and grain facility for the chickens, cows, sheep, and horses. An active gold mine is continually conducting blasting - day and night. All buildings and major structures (about five dozen) have lighting for night operations.

To best see the myriad of details, the best viewing time begins well before sunset. However, the railroad has extensive specialized lighting using hundreds of bulbs and the two active volcanoes put on their most dramatic displays after the sun goes down. Be sure to bring your guests.

Hope to see you here.
Todd & Linda Brody

The following link will take you to our web site showing the railroad and its history.

http://tortoiseandlizardbash.com

[toddalin]

Tortoise and Lizard Bash Railroad (T&LBRR) OPEN HOUSE

Saturday, September 20, 4:00 p.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Sunday, September 21, Noon to 5:00 p.m.

Santa Ana, CA 92705

E-Mail for Address and Directions

Todd and Linda Brody are pleased to invite you and your guests to the last run for the 2008 season of the T&LB garden railroad. This layout is quite innovative and incorporates features not seen on other garden railroad displays. The landscape covers about 1,200 square feet with over 600 feet of track and six bridges, including a 14-foot long trestle.

The layout is built around two ancient volcanic areas that were thought to be inactive; however; recent eruptions have been noted at two of the craters in one area. The volcanoes spew “lava” into upper, then lower, lakes through two waterfalls.

All vegetation is real and to scale. The entire layout is detailed with structures, over 300 people and animals, cars, motorcycles, etc. all at a scale of ½” per foot.

As many as seven trains run simultaneously, pausing and waiting for each other as necessary. Don't miss Todd's own-design, fully automated signal and operations system. No more unexpected “corn field meets” at the crossing point! Brand new are the digital sounds produced at the station and service areas!

The major urban area is Tortoise Town and all structures are named for their reptilian counterparts. When sheriff “Chuck Walla” isn’t getting a soda at Dragon Lizard Drugs, he may be getting a haircut at Cooter’s Clip Joint or calling on Ms. Lizzie at Collard Lizard Clothiers. “The Lounge Lizards” jazz band is featured entertainment in the town circle. Brody's B&B (Booze and Babes) includes a "red light" district and is next to the Bear Whiz Beer Brewery and the hot air balloon launch facilities. Two farm/ranches operate in the area as well as a feed and grain facility for the chickens, cows, sheep, and horses. An active gold mine is continually conducting blasting - day and night. All buildings and major structures (about five dozen) have lighting for night operations. The best viewing time is just before dusk. Be sure to bring your guests.

Hope to see you here.

Todd & Linda Brody

The following link will take you to our web site showing the railroad and its history.
http://tortoiseandlizardbash.com

[Krunchy]

Hi Todd, That is some layout, if I ever make it to the west coast I'll be sure to pay a visit, my kids would absolutely go Ga Ga over your wonderful layout. Must be a lot of fun seeing the "Kids" of all ages with smiles on their faces when they see you handywork.

Thanks for sharing!

This is a small Rail Road museum out in Riverhead LI, I go by it everyday, they have a few locomotives, just a fun place to visit.

[Skywave-Rider]

Looking at your railroad really struck a responsive chord in me.
Wow.
I assume the sounds are great, too.

[toddalin]

Hi Todd, That is some layout, if I ever make it to the west coast I'll be sure to pay a visit, my kids would absolutely go Ga Ga over your wonderful layout. Must be a lot of fun seeing the "Kids" of all ages with smiles on their faces when they see you handywork.

Thanks for sharing!

This is a small Rail Road museum out in Riverhead LI, I go by it everyday, they have a few locomotives, just a fun place to visit.

Thanks.

That's a Cool Porter (as opposed to a Cole Porter) there.

[toddalin]

Looking at your railroad really struck a responsive chord in me.
Wow.
I assume the sounds are great, too.

Many of the engines have digital sound cards with samplings taken from the actual prototypes.

I'm notorious for ditching the cheap speakers they come with and hollowing out engines/tenders for the inclusion of more massive speakers (and internal enclosures) to enhance bass response as these amps only push 1 watt.

[Skywave-Rider]

Cool, like horn loaded coal carriers.
I assumed you might have external conventional speakers, but having the sound come from the thing itself is much better -- and I bet much better than what I remember as a kid.

1 watt is pretty good I think.

Wish I could make the trip.

[toddalin]

I assumed you might have external conventional speakers, but having the sound come from the thing itself is much better -- and I bet much better than what I remember as a kid.

1 watt is pretty good I think.

Wish I could make the trip.

Oh, we have those too!

Our jazz band, The Lounge Lizards, plays in town using a cassette recorder and the lead singer sounds EXACTLY like Aretha Franklin.



Also, we just incorporated an MP3 player that is activated by reed switches as the trains pass over. A speaker in the station produces the sounds of a station complete with dogs barking, people, kids, carts getting wheeled, etc.

Other reed switches placed near the coaling facility and water tank produce these sounds as trains automatically stop in for service. They also include the sounds you would expect to hear at such a facility including a steam donkey, bangs, clangs, pneumatic tools, grinders, etc. The speaker for these is in the water tower.





Finally, when trains pull in/out, a reed triggers station "call outs" (e.g., train number 2 now departing on track 1, All aboard).





I download sound bytes off the net and use Audacity to generate my own MP3 files. The player will do 88 separate files and they can be at random, taking the monotony out of it.

Other sounds are also scattered around the railroad. There are sheep, cows, and a working telegragh at one of the stations.

[Skywave-Rider]

Awesome.
That's Sound Design.
One more question, maybe one more.
Are your reed switches triggering control voltages? Or what's happening there? And are the mp3s coming from a standalone player or a computer based one?

The pics are great.

[toddalin]

Awesome.
That's Sound Design.
One more question, maybe one more.
Are your reed switches triggering control voltages? Or what's happening there? And are the mp3s coming from a standalone player or a computer based one?

The pics are great.

The reeds trigger a Picaxe microchip that is programmed to control a commercially available MP3 player that is accessable via the Picaxe microchip. The MP3 player plays sounds off of a flash drive.

The player is the grey box in the second pic. The sounds are arranged in eight banks of 10 sounds that are randomly accessable, or 8 banks of one sound that are directly selectable, or any combination thereof.

Note that I use a flash drive to store the sounds. A whole new set of sounds is as quick lifting off the building and plugging in another flash drive.