Let me begin by apologizing to those of you on the left coast – both for what hasn’t happened for a while, and for what is going to happen this year. I’m talking about moisture … first, a lack of it … and soon, a lot of it … an unbelievable amount of it. The weather folks say this year is going to be a Godzilla El Niño.
I lived at various locations in southern California for decades before moving to Oklahoma. I know what an El Niño can do. I watched half of my back yard slide away in Rancho Palos Verdes. I’ve driven through two feet of water in the Antelope Valley. I’ve been stuck in mudslides in Santa Barbara. I’ve spent nights in Mojave motels because the road into Tehachapi was buried under three feet of snow.
I have four kids and ten grandkids still living in California. They know what’s coming. My two oldest sons are both Amtrak engineers working the commuter lines around the Los Angeles area. They already have contingency plans in place for when the tracks wash out.
And the wet weather will not be limited to Southern California. My wife grew up in Tucson. She can tell horror stories about what happens when heavy monsoon rains hit the high desert. Even here in Oklahoma, the build-up in precipitation during the baby El Niño has been record breaking. It definitely broke our drought. And you folks down in Baha Oklahoma (aka Texas) – do you remember how wet it was last winter and spring? This year could be worse. In case you haven’t noticed, it seems that the rains are a lot more frequent now and a lot heavier than in the past.
Which brings me to the point of this post – if prototype tracks can wash out, what chance do garden railroad tracks have? The simple answer is drainage. Just give the water an easy way to drain away. If you don’t, it will make its own path. And usually it’s not very pretty.
Good drainage provides many other benefits besides keeping your track from washing away. Track frost heaving is due to moisture trapped under the roadbed. If there is proper drainage under the roadbed, then the underground moisture will drain away before it freezes. No freezing – no frost heave.
Good drainage also allows the soil along your right-of-way to support many different varieties of miniature plants. Very few varieties, other than a few bog plants, can handle wet feet. Thriving plants have strong root systems that help hold soil in place. Good drainage will help keep your track ballast in place allowing longer intervals between top dressing.
You may think that putting in drainage involves a lot of work that goes unseen, and you would be correct. However, it is critical step in the construction of any layout. If you do it correctly, no one will ever know but you. If you do it incorrectly, or omit it altogether, then everyone will know. And you will end up doing it anyway or else tolerate wash-outs and soggy spots forever. Trust me, it’s a lot easier to do it right the first time than trying to retrofit it in later.
I generally run “French drains” along perimeter walls of the layout and at areas where water tends to collect. A French drain is a ditch filled with gravel or rock or containing a perforated pipe that redirects surface water and groundwater away from an area. I line the ditch with landscape fabric and place a 4” diameter perforated plastic pipe at the bottom. I enclose the pipe in a protective sleeve to keep dirt from clogging the pipe. I fill the ditch with clean ¾” rock and cover it with another sheet of landscape fabric before covering it with soil. For more information of French drains, see the Wikipedia article at
Here are photos of one of my original French drain installations at Red Rock Canyon taken back in 2010:
I am currently adding a few more similar to this one at other vulnerable areas.
The choice is yours. You can move your layout into an ark. You can buy hip waders to wear while operating outdoors and add pontoons to your rolling stock. Or you can add a French drain and show Godzilla who is the boss.
You have been forewarned,
Bob
