As part of our education charter, the New Hampshire Garden Railway Society participates in about half a dozen train shows and events, displaying one or more of our portable large scale layouts, promoting the hobby of large scale model railroading and providing an opportunity to educate the general public on both the large scale garden railroading and an awareness of the history of railways. In 2024, these will include:
North East Large Scale Train Show
in Springfield, Mass. April 27-28, 2024, Big Green and Evergreen layouts. Our Evergreen layout will be used to teach the general public how to operate and maintain live steam locomotives.
July 12-14 2024- Raymond NH, Evergreen layout
Dracut MA Sept 6-7 Evergreen Layout
Greenberg Train and Toy Show – Wilmington MA, Nov – FRi 15- Sun 17 Little Green layout
The Hub Division New England Model Train Expo in Marlborough, Mass. in December Little Green Layout
NHGRS Layouts
Big Green
Our flagship layout, “Big Green” is a double-track modular layout featuring modules built by individual club members. Big Green also makes an annual trek to Springfield, MA in the spring for the North East Large Scale Train Show. Smaller setups using fewer modules have also been displayed at other shows, Trains run on Big Green are powered by Variable DC, DCC, Radio control with track power or Radio Control with battery powered. Each section of the layout depects different settings which facimitate discussions of the various histories sourounding railroading in the USA.
Little Green
NHGRS’ “Little Green” is used where a smaller display is appropriate. Little Green’s trains are usually powered by battery power or live steam. Live Steam trains are pulled by fully-functional miniature steam locomotives that operate much like their full-sized counterparts, except that they are fired by clean-burning butane gas instead of coal, allowing them to be run safely indoors.
Evergreen
“Evergreen” is a low-profile portable layout with adjustable legs, designed to be set up either indoors or outdoors. Trains run on Evergreen are powered by Variable DC, DCC, battery powered, or Live Steam.