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G scale model trains are the workhorses of garden railways around the world. Running on 1 gauge track, 1:22.5 G scale trains have been around since 1969. That’s when the German company Ernst Paul Lehmann Patentwerk released its new line of brightly colored, highly durable, plastic LGB (for Lehmann Gross Bahn, or "Lehmann Big Train") locomotives and railcars to the world.

Despite its relatively recent association with LGB, garden railways were popularized in En...

Garden railways did not catch on in the U.S. until the 1920s. In 1924, at the Los Angeles Fair, the Fairplex Garden Railroad was erected under a tent. In 1935, the layout moved outdoors where it has remained ever since, the largest and longest running railway of its kind in the world. In 1997, the tracks and trains were swapped out from their original scale, which was ½-inch to 1-foot or 1:24, to proper G scale.

Despite this early success and acceptance, garden railways remained a novelty in the U.S. before World War II—American Flyer promoted "Backyard Railroading" in its advertising, but never sold many trains designed for outdoor use. After the war, with the smaller O scale and HO scale trains firmly entrenched among model railroaders, the notion that big trains would ever again gain acceptance must have seemed fanciful. Which is why the introduction of the LGB G scale in 1969 was such a gutsy move.

LGB did not help its cause in the U.S. by initially offering only European trains—there’s probably only so much fun a boy in Iowa is going to have with a model train labeled "Austrian Federal" or "Rhaetian Railway." The new scale did not fare much better in England, where traditions were even more firmly established.

But in 1972, Model Railroader magazine published an article about LGB. From then on, the G scale began its rise in acceptance among an increasing number of model train enthusiasts. Today, LGB makes G scale trains for all the popular U.S. road names—from B&O to Santa Fe—all of which run on brass tracks that are designed to weather the elements.

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Recent News: G Scale Trains

Source: Google News

Riding the rails makes the trip extra special
The Southern, May 19th

It's known as G Scale model railroading (G stands for garden) and there are a growing number of rail fans who can watch trains clattering past perennials and petunias. But wait, there's still more in this issue. Take a closer look at the fantastic new...Read more

All aboard
The Southern, May 19th

“It's a growing hobby and is becoming extremely popular,” Jim Kirk, owner of LGB Train Shop in Carterville, says of G-scale model railroading. Officially, G-scale trains, also known as garden trains, run on tracks that are 45 millimeters (about 1 ¾...Read more

Swingin' Blues Soloing
Acoustic Guitar, May 18th

But we can also take that original lick and modify it, playing it down at the third fret and beginning the lick (bar 5) on the flatted third of the G scale (Bb), which is the flatted seventh of the C chord. Ultimately, you'll see that a mixture of...Read more

Father day Train Show
phillyBurbs.com (blog), May 14th

The South Eastern Pennsylvania Garden Railway Society (SEPGRS) is a nonprofit organization whose members own and operate G-Scale trains in their own homes and garden settings as well as setting up displays for various train shows in the Southeastern...Read more

Summertime in Tucson doesn't mean you have to be a hermit
Inside Tucson Business, May 11th

Train enthusiasts won't want to miss the exhibit Brass Tracks and Railroad Facts: G Scale Model Railroading, open through June 17. • Tucson Museum of Art, 140 N. Main Ave. downtown, features a photography exhibit by Scott T. Baster titled “100 Years,...Read more

5 places on West Coast for train buffs
San Francisco Chronicle, May 4th

The train theme continues in the Main Station, where a G-scale train layout runs through the lobby and dining room. 2870 Lakeshore Blvd., (800) 966-6322, www.featherbedrailroad.com. - Jill K. Robinson, travel@sfchronicle.com This article appeared on...Read more

Lake Metroparks Farmpark's to host annual Railroads in the Parks event
Plain Dealer (blog), May 2nd

For over a decade, the Railroads in the Parks event has included layouts of HO and N Scale operating model trains, as well as exhibits of G Scale trains, Lionel O gauge trains, Lego trains and G Scale trains. There's also a wooden train interactive...Read more

Fernwood adds to railway garden
South Bend Tribune, April 29th

The railway exhibit and buildings were designed especially for Fernwood by botanical architect and naturalist Paul Busse and his artists at Applied Imagination in Alexandria, Ky. Fernwood's railway garden contains four G-scale trains that run on a...Read more

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