# First photos of new Sacramento area garden railroad



## benshell (Oct 1, 2008)

Hi Everyone,

I've been on MLS for two or three years, but this is my first post about my layout! I wanted to get far enough along that I'd have something to show and be able to post regular updates. My wife and I just bought our house 14 months ago--the same week our son was born--so last year from pretty crazy although we did start planning and groundwork for the railroad right away. We bought the house with the railroad in mind, and actually made an initial trackplan sketch on top of a satellite view of our house before we even made an offer on the house!

Over the weekend I drew up a more detailed trackplan (click the image for a large PDF):


I think the track plan is pretty solid, although suggestions are welcome (there are a lot of limiting factors though because of existing trees and hardscape). It might need to have more sidings but I figure that opportunities for them may present themselves during construction. My track plan requirements are 2% max grade, minimum mainline radius of 10', and 3' transitions between S-curves. Rail is Aristo-Craft stainless steel, and power will be DCC.

Here are pictures of the vegetable garden area. This is just about all the track that is laid so far (about 80'), but the 150' phase 1 loop (labeled branch line on the track plan) should be running later this month.


























A few more pictures can be seen on my Flickr account.


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Very nice layout diagram. Looking good...


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## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

Ben, 
You have a note in your plans that says you're unsure how to cross the small section of grass in the upper right corner return loop. Maybe you could build something that you can weed-eat right up against like form a curved concrete trestle like some I've seen in garden RR books or maybe build a layered treated wood bed that resembles cribbing and fill. You'd probably be able run the string trimmer right up against either of those things.


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## kormsen (Oct 27, 2009)

everything so neat and orderly...


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

Thats great, think outside of the box.


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## benshell (Oct 1, 2008)

Thanks for your comments guys. 

Scott, that's a good idea for crossing the lawn. When you say a concrete trestle I assume you mean a viaduct of some sort? That would look really nice, although if it went right over the grass it'd be hard to mow underneath. Rock underneath would solve that though. Cribbing would work well too, and would also look really nice. I hadn't considered that, but I'll think about this some more. After I finish the "phase 1" loop I'm going to start working over there next. I want to get the track and pathway in before winter, because that area is going to turn into a muddy mess otherwise!


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## ddevoto (Jan 22, 2008)

Ben, 
Nice job! Looks like you have a great plan, very organized. I like the Black Widow, I used to see them as a youngster in Palo Alto Calif. Keep posting your progress!


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## Michael Glavin (Jan 2, 2009)

Ben, 

Very nice effort, your railroad is off to a great start..... Excellent use of space and RR integration in to your yard and I like the vegatable garden too! 

Michael


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## Steve Stockham (Jan 2, 2008)

Ben,
Nice layout! I'm going to echo the other comments. Your layout is well designed and looks great!


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## alecescolme (Dec 20, 2010)

Great start and a excellent plan! 

We look forward to seeing your progress. 

Alec.


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## fred j (Jan 12, 2011)

The RR looking great Ben.









More pictures, More pictures please.


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## Dave Meashey (Jan 2, 2008)

Ben; 

Very nice! Are you getting some flatcars and gondolas ready to haul in those ears of corn at harvest time? 

Best, 
David Meashey


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## rsmproductions (Jan 5, 2008)

Ben, your RR is looking great. I love the integration of it within all the wonderful looking garden space. I look forward to seeing more pictures.

Richard


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## SRW (Jan 13, 2010)

Posted By benshell on 06 Jul 2011 08:48 PM 
Thanks for your comments guys. 

Scott, that's a good idea for crossing the lawn. When you say a concrete trestle I assume you mean a viaduct of some sort? That would look really nice, although if it went right over the grass it'd be hard to mow underneath. Rock underneath would solve that though. Cribbing would work well too, and would also look really nice. I hadn't considered that, but I'll think about this some more. Yeah Ben, I was looking at your blueprint for the layout and it appeared you needed to cross an area of lawn with a radius, yet keep lawn grass on both sides of the radius. I'm kicking the same things around myself for my project of a garden layout I can build for a few years, yet easily remove when I sell the home later. A concrete viaduct, something made out of treated lumber, stacked with fill gravel glued inside to look like cribbing, or even just keystone blocks or bricks with gravel dust filled in between it. I don't know, something you could easily run the weedeater up against when you mow.


Scott


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## benshell (Oct 1, 2008)

Thanks for all your comments everyone. I'm going to be working on the layout a lot over the next couple weeks so I'll definitely share more pictures. 

Scott, I think something like that is going to be best--something that I can use a weedeater right up to. I saw a concrete viaduct on Sunday while touring West Coast Region Meet layouts. I talked to the owner about it and he said it was concrete covered with tiles that you buy on a sheet from any home improvement store. He cut them to vary the size a little to look more like stone, and the result was amazing. I'm definitely leaning more and more towards something like this. The only downside is that it'd be tempting to step over it, which could be a tripping hazard. The only real way to solve that is to make something big but removable, like a removable truss bridge or something. But the downside of that is it makes the railroad more visible from the driveway. I was trying to go for something low profile to not attract attention, although not many people even come down the driveway so this probably isn't a big deal. Obviously with these conflicting goals I will have to make a compromise! 

Anyway, here are a couple pictures of this area from a few months ago. I had PVC pipe in place, and you can still see the stakes where the track will cross the lawn, but the pipe is disconnected so just ignore it and look at the wooden stakes (or just compare to the track plan). I keep meaning to take new pictures, but since I haven't this is better than nothing:


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## wigginsn (Jan 9, 2008)

Wow, you did all that in a few months. Looks great, good work! 

Cheers 
Neil


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## benshell (Oct 1, 2008)

I may have said something confusing in my last post... the pictures in my last post are of the top-right area of my yard where I'm trying to figure out how to cross the lawn with track. The area that is "finished" (with the vegetable garden in the middle) is the bottom-left area of my yard. But if you'd like to see pictures of the vegetable garden area from April (same day as the pictures in my last post) then here they are: 

















Yes, it was a lot of progress in less than two months! I had a few days of help though from three Sacramento club members.


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## wigginsn (Jan 9, 2008)

Gotcha. Still looks good.


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## benshell (Oct 1, 2008)

This week was a huge milestone: my first 150' loop is connected! (I hesitate to use the word completed--there is still some grading and ballasting work needed). Here are pictures of my new Aristo-Craft Mallet running the loop:


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## Rich Muth (Jan 2, 2008)

Ben: I like the stone you used for the short wall. What are the particulars of it? 

Rich Muth


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## benshell (Oct 1, 2008)

Thanks Rich, the rocks around the garden area are called "Tumbled Three Rivers" from http://valleyredwood.com/products/natural-stone-a-deco-rock. That's about all I know. I bought one pallet of them (4000 lbs) for $400 on a clearance sale (normally they are $.40/lb).


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## noelw (Jan 2, 2008)

Really looking good... Ya... Valley redwood has some neat stuff. 
I guessing it's the one on Auburn Blvd?


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## John J (Dec 29, 2007)

That really looks great. The cinder block curve is going to give you a real solid base. 

JJ


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## Dick Friedman (Aug 19, 2008)

Nice job and pix, Ben. It might be simpler in the front yard to simply reduce the size of the lawn. Move the mowing strip in front of the track. Then you can mow the lawn without resorting to a weed whacker or stepping over the viaduct. A viaduct (like a Roman aquaduct) would look very nice. I've been working on one made of foam. Don't know how it will hold up. but it's really cheap!


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