South Jersey Garden Railway Society Member Layouts: Jim Holt

My railroad is called the Paul F. Price Memorial Railroad, named after my neighbors Dad who passed away a little over 2 years ago. He got me interested in outdoor railroading.

How my railroad started was, I had a ‘G’ gauge Bachmann I bought many years ago for under the Christmas tree. I used to run it there for years. One day, while walking the dog around the block, I spied an Aristo Jack Daniels ‘G’ gauge sitting in the trash at somebody’s house that was moving. I took it home with me and discovered it was a complete set, brass track, train, transformer, all in the original box. It was only missing 2 curves. I bought the curves and it ran beautifully.

I got invited over to my neighbors 4^th of July party and met Mister Price and we talked that whole afternoon about setting up a train outdoors. So, now that I had 2 trains (1 that was free), I thought I’d give it a shot. Since my Bachmann had already been upgraded to brass track, I already had all the curves, so I bought enough straights to make a 40’ loop. That was in 2017. I was hooked. Over the Winter of 2017 I decided to lengthen the track. Now the track is an ‘L’ shaped affair of about 90’ and I’m in the process of buying more cars, sound and landscaping.

I joined the SJGRRS to see other layouts and pick a few brains for suggestions on how to run my railroad and I can tell you that in the short time I’ve been a member, I’ve met some good people and learned a lot. I still am having a few problems with the jargon and the pricing, but, for me there is not too much better than sitting in my backyard listening to my fountain, waterwheel, wind chimes, and TRAIN!

I drive my wife a little nuts with my ramblings of what I want to do next, but I think she enjoys it too. And it keeps me busy puttering on weekends.

Below is what my layout looked like in 2017 and what it looks like now.

The original layout, with the Bachmann