A Railroad in Middle Earth?

If you've read J.R.R. Tolkien's fantasy classics The Hobbit or The Lord of the Rings trilogy, you know that travel in Middle Earth could be both dangerous and difficult. Since Sauron the Necromancer and the goblins and orcs he commanded were destroyed, travel is much less dangerous. And since the Middle-Earthers began importing discarded steam locomotives from our world by magical means, travel has also become less difficult. One of the many railroads that have sprung up is the Lake Town & Shire connecting Hobbiton in the Shire with Dale and Esgaroth (Lake Town) on Long Lake. On magical days in spring, summer, and fall the Lake Town and Shire can be seen when Middle Earth crosse into our world in Athens, Geogia.
Donald and Jane Nute, shown here at Civitas de Bagnoreggio, Italy, are building the Lake Town & Shire in their garden in Athens, Georgia. This 1:20.3 scale narrow gauge railroad serves Mirkwood Lumber Company and the Mines of Moria as well as Hobbiton, Bree, Rivendell, Lake Town, and Dale. Don and Jane are members of the Georgia Garden Railway Society.

New on the LT&S Web Site

Our next operating session is scheduled for 8:00am - 10:30am on July 10, 2010. From 9:30am to 10:30am this will be an open house. Send email for directions if you want to attend an operating session or an open house.

Regular Tomas and vistor Trevor, April 3, 2010.

LT&S regulars Omar and Patrick take a break during a work session.

Use these links to jump to the latest changes in these web pages.

5/3/2009 - Operating Sessions in the Garden.
This is a PowerPoint presentation used in a clinic at the 2009 Southeast Garden Railroad Show, Dalton, Georgia, May 2, 2009.

4/28/2010 - Designing and Building Structures from Wood
This is a PowerPoint presentation used in a clinic at the 2010 Southeast Garden Railroad Show, Dalton, Georgia, May 1, 2010.

Also be sure to check Donald Nute's Steam Locomotive Photos.

And see the article on the Lake Town & Shire in the Athens Banner-Herald.

 

The Lake Town and Shire is one of 17 garden railroads featured on Garden Railways of Central Georgia. Check out the Creation Trek Productions Website and preview this exceptional video tape.

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Send email to donald@nute.ws.