Building model train layouts outdoors may seem like kid stuff to some, but those who have turned it into a business are finding nothing juvenile about their profits. In fact, sales of large-scale, outdoor model train equipment have grown by nearly 6 percent in the past two years.
These entrepreneurs are tapping into the enthusiasm for a hobby that continues to grow in popularity across the country. Garden railroading has taken the old-fashioned image of a small train chugging around a Christmas tree and moved it outdoors -- but with bigger, more rugged trains plowing down the tracks. They serve as model trains for grown ups who never completely grew up.
The trains and their layouts come with some rather grown up price tags, too. G-scale trains generally average between $350-$500 for a locomotive and $65 for a rail car. Locomotives, however, reach as high as $5,000 for limited-edition models. The going rate for garden layout construction runs from $5,000 gross to easily twice that much or higher, depending on the size.
Enthusiasm for the bread loaf-sized trains appears to be growing steadily. Subscriptions to Garden Railways magazine, the primary publication dedicated to the hobby, have surged over the last three years to 35,000 from 18,000.
Instead of the artificial trees and hills typically associated with indoor train sets, the G-scale layouts outside the home offer their owners the chance to incorporate the real things along the tracks. It is that sort of realism afforded by the great outdoors that allows people like Jack Verducci the opportunity to transform simple yards into magical, miniature train wonderlands.
Verducci, a licensed landscape contractor, has been building garden railroads professionally for about seven years, but he never considered this venture without already knowing something about the hobby. He lovingly maintains his own garden layout that encompasses both the frontyard and backyard of his San Mateo, Calif., home.
Verducci stressed he turned to garden railway building at first "as a hobby."
"I just like to do it," he said. "People have seen my work, so I kind of had a built-in clientele."
The phrase, "love at first sight," best summarizes how Peter Oelschlaeger jumped into the garden railroad construction business. Visitors to Oelschlaeger's home often became entranced by his yard layout.
"A lot of people wanted them but didn't have any idea how to start and finish," the Baton Rouge, La., resident said. "They'd come over to my place and say, 'Wow, I'd like to really have one.'"
Enough people were clamoring for the garden layouts that Oelschlaeger, an industrial arts teacher by trade, decided in 1997 to create a small railway-building business. He admitted the workload has not grown as fast as he originally hoped.
"It's real small, a real niche thing which is why it's not self-supporting as a business," Oelschlaeger said, pointing out he does about four layouts annually.
Verducci estimated he works on three or four a year as well, adding his waiting list is long enough to keep him busy for the next few years. His clients come from varying economic backgrounds.
"It runs the gamut -- I've done work for retired school teachers and owners of large computer companies, doctors, dentists, airline pilots. It's pretty diverse. Most I'd say are either professional or business people, but I've also done work for some blue-collar guys," he said.
According to a 1998 survey taken by Kalmbach Publishing Co., the leading publisher of model train magazines, those interested in G-scale trains generally have a median household income ranging from $55,000 to $65,000.
Verducci specializes in constructing garden layouts that come with hand-crafted buildings and realistic scenery. He often sculpts his railroad creations by borrowing from existing yard features, transforming for example small hills into mountains that tower over the layout. Verducci may employ up to five or six workers to help him with the earth works, depending on the site development stage. A typical job, including the associated low-voltage electrical work that powers the trains and accessories, can be completed in roughly six weeks, he said.
Oelschlaeger has finished projects in as short as one month or as long as three, depending on the layout's size and detail.
Even after a garden railway's completion, it is still considered a work in progress, he said, since the hobby usually involves some electrical and mechanical "tweaking" during the initial stages.
"You better plan on going back for three months -- depending on the expertise of the owner."
Garden railroad builders may continue servicing their clients even after fine tuning the track. Verducci said if the hobbyist prefers to pay someone to maintain the layout's scenery, the landscaper/garden railroad contractor may reap significant after-sale profits in such labor as weeding the layout and trimming the miniature trees along the tracks.
As for the costs involved in developing garden railroads, the amount varies as much as the layout. Verducci said time and materials determine how much he charges a customer.
"With garden railroads, you never really know when you're finished, so you try to be flexible and go until the customer says, 'That's enough,'" he said.
According to Verducci, a small layout typically covers a 20-by-10 foot area and consists of 100 feet of track. To develop something that size costs around $5,000 gross, he said, adding that structures such as trackside buildings and bridges, along with running water features, may significantly boost the price tag. Mass-produced buildings often cost between $50-$60 while the construction of water features like ponds, streams and waterfalls range from several hundred dollars to several thousand, depending on their size and complexity.
Oelschlaeger described the layouts he builds as averaging between $5,000-$8,000 gross.
While word-of-mouth advertising has been effective for Verducci and Oelschlaeger, employees of the Garden Craft nursery and garden center in Hanover, Mass., used direct mail, radio and even Internet advertising to promote their garden railway business.
Verducci and Oelschlaeger both suggested that landscapers contemplating garden railroad construction as an addition to their business should consider contracting out the actual train layout work to those who already know something about the hobby. Simply buying the wrong track and materials can lead to serious functioning problems in a layout, Verducci said.
Joshua Wright of Garden Craft advised any landscapers new to garden railroad building to interact with the trains before building any layouts for them.
"If you're going to get into it, you really need to get into it -- don't dabble in it," he said. "Buy a starter kit and play with it and see what (the train) can do first. There's just so much using it will tell you that no book can."
Kalmbach Publishing and the five largest manufacturers of large-scale equipment -- AristoCraft/Polk, Bachmann Industries, Hartland Locomotive Works, LGB of America and Märklin -- comprise the Large Scale Model Railroad Association.
For further information about garden railroads, how to make a business in this hobby, or how to build them, call the association toll free at 877/LGS-CALE.
The author is with Motivators®, Inc., Houston, Texas.
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