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Here I started to lay out all of boards where they were going to go in the layout.

Since the straight sections were cut to exact length, I put them in place first. I made sure they were level and added more crusher fines where needed. Wiggling the boards back and forth help the rock settle into place. Once it was good, I fastened the straight track to the wood using a staple gun:

I set out the rough cut curved sections:

To get the curves to exact length I connected the curved tracks for a moment to make sure the straights were exactly in the right spot, then removed the curved tracks. I tucked the curved boards under the straights and marked them for cutting. After cutting I added more crusher fines to the curved plywood sections since those boards are 1/2″ thick (instead of 3/4″ thick like the 1″x4″s). Once it was level I stapled the curves to the board the same way as the straights.

I cut a few turnout sections out of plywood as well and followed the same process.

When it was done, I took a locomotive for a spin to make sure no tracks were coupled incorrectly.

Costs

• (2) 14′ 1″x4″ Cedar board – $34
• 16′ 1″x4″ Cedar board – $20 (another was purchased earlier)
• (2) 2’x4’x1/2″ Pressure Treated Plywood – $30

With the other costs from design, bed install, track-work part 1 ($644) we’re up to $728.

The post Garden Railway Track Work Part 2 – Decking appeared first on Meatball Racing.

In garden railroad modeling books I’ve read, people will lay tracks and then cover them with white sand to mark where the tracks go on the ground. I needed to paint a base coat of primer to the tracks for UV protection. I just used spray paint primer on them in place and used the over spray on the ground as the indicator of where the tracks would be.

I used a silvery-gray since this color will be the color of the rails. Later I’ll add brown to the ties.

Then my son and I removed the tracks in sections and dug a 2″x6″ trench where the over spray was. I bought a 4′ wide roll of landscape fabric and cut a 12-foot length into four 12″ strips. These strips would go into the trench and have an inch of crusher fines added to fill the bottom of the trench.

The idea is that the fabric will contain the roadbed and keep out weeds. The crusher fines have sharp edges and will interlock to provide a nice level surface which will also drain well.

Later, on top of the 1″ bed of crusher fines, we’ll add a 1″x4″ cedar board that the tracks will be mounted to for smooth operation. For the curves, 1/2″ treated plywood will be used on top of a slightly thicker layer of crusher fines. Later, we’ll top the tracks and wood off with more crusher fines as ballast.

Side note about crusher fines: think about how much you’ll need and where you’re going to put it.

With my 2″x6″ trench and roughly 80ft. of track, I estimated I’d need about .25 cubic yards of material. My local landscape supply store sells them in 1/3 cubic yard amounts. I opted for 2/3 yard so I could have some extra, in retrospect 1/3 would have been more than enough (and less work).

Think about where you’ll put it because the delivery driver will likely have to put it in your driveway. For me, this blocked one side of our garage from being accessible. To move the rock to the backyard takes work and time – and I was rushing to move it to beat the snow.

Costs

• (2) Spray Paint Primer – $12
• (1) 4’x80′ Weed Barrier – $17
• 2/3 Cubic yard of Crusher Fines / Driveway Trap – $109 delivered

With the previous costs from design and bed install ($506), we’re now up to $644.

The post Garden Railway Track Work Part 1 – Base appeared first on Meatball Racing.

Leveling the Bed Walls

The goal was to put the part of the wall that’s at the highest point flush with the ground so the lowest point only needs to be raised a little to make it all level. To do this I started digging out the perimeter of the area where the walls would go.

To give the Vita walls an anchor, I followed the suggestion in the instructions by adding a 2-foot stake to the center of the connector sections. At my local hardware store I found these aluminum “U” channels.

They fit perfectly into the center of the connecting section.

I used a small square with a bubble level to make sure it’s going straight down and not at an angle. Then I used a rubber mallet and a chunk of wood to drive it into the ground.

Here it is with the back side leveled, but not the front:

Leveling all sides is tricky. To make sure I was level across long distances, I zip-tied a level to a looong 16′ 1″x4″ cedar board (which I’ll use for track work later). This allowed me to make sure the sides were level across the 12-foot width and almost all the way down the 20-foot length.

I did have to cut 2 roots from the maple tree. They weren’t huge, so I’m sure the tree will be fine. I liken it to trimming two sucker branches from the bottom of the tree. It’s not going to affect it long term.

Leveling the center

With all sides level, it was time to level the center. This started with a lot of shoveling from the high side of the slope to the low side. Once it was somewhat close I used a rake to loosen the dirt. I used a 10-foot 2×4 with a level to act as a screed tool. I drug it across the entire area, bit by bit – leveling the dirt along the way.

Costs

This step didn’t cost a lot in materials, but it took quite a bit of time and effort.

• (4) 8′ Aluminum Channel – $50
• (1) 16′ 1″x4″ Cedar Board – $20
• (1) 10′ 2″x4″ Board – $6

Along with cost of the materials from the design ($430), we’re up to $506. That cost has been spread out over time because it took me a long time to work the ground to get it to this point.

The post Garden Railway Bed Installation appeared first on Meatball Racing.

For the trains, I decided to stick with Lionel Ready-To-Play (RTP) sets. They’re basically the same size as Lionel’s G-scale lineup but they run on a slightly wider (proprietary) track system as Lionel does They are powered by batteries instead of power through the track, and have individual RC remotes. They’re more toy grade than true model trains – cemented by the fact that you can’t order additional rolling stock for these sets. But there are opportunities for modding them and other G-scale trains through 3D printing – something that interests me more than just wasting investing my money in endless train cars.

One look at the cost of “real” G-scale locomotives made me realize that for $100 I can buy another RTP set that will include a locomotive, remote control, rolling stock and track.

Layout

Speaking of track, you can buy extra RTP track and switches from the Lionel store. For my layout, which has almost 80 feet of track, it cost a little over $100.

For the layout, I wanted something that would

1. Follow a modeling mantra of sincere design
2. Effectively use the available space
3. Make the manual RTP switches easy to access (near one edge)
4. Leave plenty of space in the center for a suitable 1:24 off-road vehicle recreation area.

I started with some books at the library on layouts – there are plenty available and you don’t always need to concern yourself with scale & gauge to get good ideas. The book 45 Original Track Plans had a lumber railroad that struck me because even with the switching yard out front, it was at an angle to the perimeter of the layout, which added some interest.

Doing something similar I’d be able to make psuedo tri-oval to fit inside my oddly-shaped area. To make sure everything would fit, I downloaded SCARM to create some layouts. It didn’t have any Lionel RTP tracks in the library, so I submitted the standard measurements to the software author and they’re now included in version 1.8.0 and above.

I settled on this layout:

You can see I in the lower left of this schematic (and the picture above) that there’s a maple tree that prevents me from making a regular 12’x20′ rectangle – so I inverted that corner and included it in my layout design for reference. I used that constraint to make the layout like a right-triangle, with a switching yard in the extra space.

The tracks don’t fully connect in this schematic – because I’m using several 3D printed track sections to fill the gaps which aren’t (yet) part of the SCARM library.

I kept the entire center area open to build a scale off-highway vehicle recreation area. The plan will be to keep that area flexible (not permanent), and have it be mostly rocks and hills to traverse up and down.

Costs

I want to be clear about the costs along the way with this project. Garden railroads are never cheap, and mine is likely no exception, but I’d like to think it will be cheap and cheerful compared to the many others out there. I’ll be sure to include the cost of materials at the end of every post that is part of this project.

• (2) Vita 4’x4’x11″ Vinyl Garden Beds from Costco – $150
• Lionel Ready-To-Play Tracks – (4) 2 Switches, (7) 12 Straight – $140 shipped
• Lionel Santa Fe Ready-To-Play Set – $100
• SCARM license – $40

Stay tuned for more!

The post Crawler Course & Garden Railway Design appeared first on Meatball Racing.