More Coming Soon

Yes, I know that it has been almost 2 months since the last post, but their will be a new post soon with a lot of pictures! Check back in the next week or two for some exciting new photos of the layout and surrounding areas!

Nothing Much for Now...

Well, nothing really new since the last post... I am currently at a stand-still with the project as I need more track before I can really continue on with anything major. But I was able to get the train outside and test it on the section of track I have laid currently. Here are some pictures of the trains:

I also found a few minutes to finish laying the ballast (4th bag) I had. You might be able to see the rocks past the end of the track in the next 2 pictures; those are a general idea of where the remaining track will lay. I am planning on getting some more track around the end of the month/beginning of June. The guy who gave me the track a few weeks ago just bought some more and is going to cut me a deal on it, but he is on vacation the rest of the month!

A quick plant update: They just keep on growing! This is the far left curve and the baby pine tree and Japanese Spurge. I am interested to see how big it will grow and what the track will look like after it has grown some more.

Stay tuned for what will happen next... Just not sure when "next" is!

Pictures of Gravel

So far, this is what 3, 40 lb bags of river pebbles has gotten me... Almost all of the track I have laid so far is now on top of the river pebbles! And look at how much the Japanese Spurge has grown since the first time I go the pictures of it!

In other plant news, I transplanted a baby pine tree from one part of our yard back to the where the tracks are.

As you can probably guess, this is the section of the track that didn't make it through the 3 bags of river pebbles... This section of track looks kind of lonely since it doesn't have any pebbles under it yet and it blends in really good with the ground.

Gravel Down

Today was such a nice day to be outside enjoying the weather and working on a garden railroad... To keep things short, I was able to put down all of the gravel I had (only 4 bags), but I was able to gravel around almost all of the track I have in place. Based on this, I will most likely need about 15 bags total, a bit less than my original prediction. But, as always, you end up needing more than you though, so I keep an open mind about it! I will post pictures of the completed gravel work in a day or two, when I find some time!

First Pictures

These are some pictures from around the layout of the area in which the track has been laid... A few days ago I put down some gravel around the curve in the top picture, but the weather hasn't been so good so I haven't got any pictures of that (next update). For the curious, it is LGB 1500 curves.

I also got around to planting a few ground cover items... It is the 2 little green plants on either side of the track in the picture. They are Japanese Spurge which are supposed to grow well in a shady area, so I'll see how they work this time around and maybe try some more depending on how these do!

Track Design/Layout

I feel it is time for another update... A lot has happened since the last post. I was given some track by a very gracious person whom I am actually helping him finish construction of his garden railroad. I will see if I can get some pictures of his to post so you can see his layout. It is quite a large set-up!

So with his track and my track I was able to construct a small loop on my back porch just to test the track. As I figured, it all worked. Today, I put it out in the yard and started working on a design. I had a design in my head, but now having track, both straight and curve, it makes it a lot easier to figure out how much track you will really need.

Look for some pictures in the coming days of what is going on and another post sometime later this week into early next week!

First Looks

I'm a beginner at this whole garden railroad thing but I've done a fair amount of research, helped/am helping a person with their garden railroad, and I think I'm off the a great start on what will be an awesome garden railroad... Check for updates about once a week (usually to include some pictures) and feel free to comment and give any suggestions/tips you might have!