These pages are intended for anyone who is interested in running operations on a garden railroad, particularly operations involving children. Here I discuss how to design a layout for efficient operation, how to route cars from one location to another, different jobs that need to be filled during an operating session, the need to train your operators, maintnance, and a special topic - a company store. This material is based on twenty years running the Lake Town & Shire, especially the last sixteen years when we held regular operating sessions with young operators. Much of what we have learned is the result discovering over and over that there was a better way to do something than the way we had been doing it. We are still learning.
The Lake Town and Shire was built in 1999-2000 and expanded in 2004. There have been many smaller changes since the 2004 expansion. The original layout was a single-track loop-to-loop design with one passing siding between the loops and three industrial sidings. In 2019 the mainline is still a loop-to-loop design, but now the layout includes double mainline in the busiest areas and thirteen industrial sidings. There is also a separate loop serving as a mountain branch line, and and a separate straight section with two siding serving as a mining branch line.
Before the 2004 expansion, we hosted one or two local garden clubs and other groups each year. Beginning in 2005, we began to host irregular operating sessions. This evolved into a monthly schedule of operating sessions from March through October or Novermer each year. Our operating sessions are open to the public, and our operators are between 6 and about 14 years of age. Each operating session is also an open house, and both adults and children younger than 6 come to look at the layout and watch the trains run.
These operating sessions/open houses have turned the garden railroad into a major part of our lives. We spend the off-season repairing structures and building new structures. During the operating season, we spend many hours maintaining the garden and the layout and preparing for and hosting the sessions themselves. I don't think many people will want to open their layout to the public each month, but many garden railroaders, whether they have large or small layouts, can add to the enjoyment of their hobby by adding occasional operating sessions to their activities. These sessions are particularly attractive to children. Two or three people can easily keep themselves entertained for an hour or two picking up and dropping off cars on the railroad.