# BAGRS Western Regional Report No. SIX



## Gary Woolard (Jan 2, 2008)

Okay, with a bit of brute force and the application of three drops of Mabel's Magic Steam Oil[/i], we've managed to kick the Wayback machine forward to Thursday, July 14th. We'll start the day by visiting [Dave] Dan & Molly DeVoto's *P-Town & Westside Railroad*.


The P-T&W (I presume the "P" stands for Pleasanton) is fully integrated into a relaxing & verdant patio garden. Logging is the predominant industry of the road, and two Shays were running when we visited. Its 120 foot mainline and 70 feet of sidings are controlled by Massoth DCC. (Dave let me handle the controller -- I like it!)












I was immediately attracted to that engine house you see in the foreground. Here's a closer look --












As you can see, this two-stall engine house is home to a Mallet and a Climax. It looks so realistic because it's stick-built -- I think from a Garden Textures kit.












Here's another angle, showing the switch yard.












The logging train crosses over a beautiful koi pond and curves around the patio. (That's a looong[/i] trestle the train is coming off of -- you can see it's beginning in the background of Pic #2.)












This is the kind of layout where there's no need to disguise or camouflage the gardening aspect -- trains and planters work in harmony.












I really liked this little switch engine -- I believe it's based on an older Hartland 0-4-0.









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Now we're going to switch to a completely different approach to garden railroading -- So I'll start it with a digression. (I dunno? Can you start with a digression?) Our smaller-scaled brethren have, for many decades now, been preoccupied with a sort of jack-leg carpentry they call benchwork: the creation of flat, girdered tables upon which they build their empires of hydrocal mountains, latex rivers and lots and lots (it seems) of wiring. Then, about five years ago, an MLS member named Rick Smith began building the "Port Orford Coast Railway," an outdoor layout... on benchwork! He presented some very good reasons to do it this way, and got many of us re-thinking our premises. He's documented his efforts in a PDF titled Evolution of the Port Orford Railroad: An Experiment in Raised Platform Garden Railroading. I found a copy of it here, compliments of moderator SteveC -- 


But over the years, benchwork in the smaller scales has evolved as designers realized that they could build to follow their planned terrain. Frames became open, with different levels, and right angled rectangles are replaced with triangles and trapezoids to support the scenery.


What if you wanted to build a garden layout this way? What would it look like?


Like this -->































This is an un-named layout being constructed by Jim Anthony and Rosita Fabian-Anthony. That big silver apparatus that looks like the prow of an icebreaker is actually the framework for a mountain. And did you notice the evergreens in the first picture? Each one is pre-placed, in a planter box, and being fed by a drip system.Here's a more conventional 'establishing' shot. The layout actually turns the corner and continues past us to our left. And all the way along it, this wide path of d.g. has already been built!










Coming in a little closer. A planter for every plant, and buildings already placed on their foundations.










A reverse angle, following a train around the corner. Sloping boards will support mountains, and naked portals are waiting for their tunnels.










Clearly this layout is being very carefully 'built' from the infrastructure up! Yet it also illustrates one of the advantages of this kind of construction -- whether your roadbed is sitting on ballast or chicken wire, you can start running trains early on.










The Anthony's aren't giving their scenery short shrift, though. Look at the detail and weathering on this freight warehouse.










I'm looking forward to seeing more of this layout as construction proceeds. I told Mr. Anthony that he should start a blog about it, but he does seem sorta' busy with other things. Russ, can you shake his tree and ask him to send us pictures of his progress?

We'll finish this report with Joe Ragni's *Diablo Creek Railroad*. It runs about 300 ft of track -- in 4 loops! Here's a shot of the sunlit end of the raised layout.










Going into the shadows of the tall trees; I think they're coastal redwoods?










There are plenty of characters in the town of Baxter. From washing a window to fixing a roof, to playing a game of horseshoes, they all tell a story and establish a sense of place.





































There's a yard with an engine house. Here a crew of five is working on the front truck of the Shay with an oxy-acetylene torch. 












On the other side of the tracks is the fairgrounds. Again, there are a lot of details -- a clown is holding open a tent flap for a trainer and her elephants, while a couple of monkeys climb up the tent rigging.












There are lots of other little detail vignettes scattered throughout the layout, but you have to keep your eyes open. F'rinstance, here's a survey crew at work alongside the Right of Way --












And a logging crew appears to be hard at work decimating Joe's Alberta Spruces!












A major focal point is an area near the middle of the layout which I'll call "Two-Bridge Gap". (I have no idea what Joe Ragni calls it!). It seems like just about every train goes through here, at different times and different levels.






















If you find the right angle, you can look back towards the side of the canyon and find the small waterfall that feeds "Diablo Creek."












_Still More to Come.._


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## Gary Woolard (Jan 2, 2008)

(BTW, I just wanted to say "thanks" to the moderator who cleaned up my links for me!)@import url(http://www.mylargescale.com/Provide...ad.ashx?type=style&file=SyntaxHighlighter.css);@import url(/providers/htmleditorproviders/cehtmleditorprovider/dnngeneral.css);


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## Ron Hill (Sep 25, 2008)

I wish Railroad Avenue was still selling their kits. Good looking pictures. I also use drip irrigation to water all of my plants. It is the only way to go. 
Ron


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## Gary Woolard (Jan 2, 2008)

We'll start the day by visiting Dave & Molly DeVoto's *P-Town & Westside Railroad*.



I just learned that it's DAN DeVoto, not Dave. My apologies! (Also, that engine house is scratch-built from Garden-Texture plans!) 
@import url(/providers/htmleditorproviders/cehtmleditorprovider/dnngeneral.css);


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