Large Scale Central

Piney Creek & Goat Hill Junction Railroad

Track and Trestles
#1

Hello everyone, New guy here and I’d like to introduce myself and my railroad to this incredible site. Been lurking for a while and learning much from you all. It’s amazing to see such creativity generated from such a great group of individuals. I am a bit intimidated in jumping in like this, but here goes. My name is Rick and I live in a great community of Costa Mesa, CA US with my wonderful wife and adopted little 3 year old boy Joey. I have had an interest in trains for much of my life and a desire to try model railroading. HO being very popular and relatively inexpensive, I built a 4’x8’ table in the garage and proceeded to plan and build my dream layout. Time and priorities resulted in a heavily cluttered table. You know how any horizontal surface can soon become covered with stuff other than what was initially intended. I soon needed that space and commenced to dismantling the railroad. Much sadness. With Joey turning three last year and his interest in trains (Thomas), we headed over to the train show in Anaheim and saw some fun trains, including some large scale trains. Having little knowledge of them other than their price tags, we left for home where I started researching G scale and found this site, among others. The wife and I were wondering what to do with a small part of the garden in our front yard and I suggested a garden railroad. Something small mind you. She thought that sounded fun and that’s all I need to hear. I’m an old west fan and wanted something from the steam era, so off I went to order an AristoCraft Santa Fe 0-4-0 starter set and some extra track. Small circles are so boring so I left the 4 foot dia track in the box and got some 6.5 footers. Here is where it all started.

A few trees, a homemade bridge, some rocks and a cabin kit later, things were starting to take shape.

But it needed more…

During the following year I built up the fleet and attracted all the neighborhood kids. Joey is very popular. Recently I got approval to acquire additional land.

I of course had to come up with a name for my new railroad. My wife’s parents own some land in Northwest Arkansas on Piney Creek, which I am in love with. Odd, me being a native Southern Californian and all, but I am a country boy at heart I guess. The city of Costa Mesa was and still is known as Goat Hill. There is a local 7 1/2” scale train club in the area that opens up once a month with free rides around their 5 miles of track. The kids, including Joey really love it. Their railroad is called Mackerel Flats & Goat Hill Junction Railroad. So I combined the two and came up with Piney Creek & Goat Hill Junction Railroad. More to come soon.

#2

Looks great. The true sign that the madness has kicked in is a dumptruck load of dirt. Congratulations, you’ve arrived!

#3

nice looking set up you have there.
the help looks a little young tho. I guess that is good you can pay them in popcicles I guess.

Welcome and keep up the good work.

#4

Heck, I can still pay my 16 year old son in popcicles!

#5

Yeah, I get by dirt cheap. :slight_smile:

#6

Welcome to the Madness, similar situ with wanting trains as a kid, then finally getting them for mine. My first 2 are adopted, 2nd two were surprises… :slight_smile:

Nice looking roadbed there to boot!

Thanks for posting, and again; welcome!

Cale

#7

Welcome Rick,
Nice to see another GRR that isn’t hidden out in the back yard.
Your RR is looking good. And it’s always a good year when the boss gives you permission to expand :wink:
Ralph

#8

Welcome aboard Rick. Nice looking start and thanks for all the pics

#9

Nice addition to your railroad…

#10

Rick,

You have alrelady achieved a great railroad and joineed in with a whole lot of people here and you’ve got the right idea going with getting Joey involved. Thanks for the pictures and stepping forward to introduce yourself. Welcome aboard.

#11

Welcome Rick. I followed a similar path, started with a small loop eventually tearing that up and building bigger. Railroads seem to keep growing, so long as there is space to occupy:) Your railroad looks great, and the picture of the kids playing in the dirt made me smile. I look forward to seeing your progress.

#12

Good to see you posting. You have a great start and a very nice RR. I also started small and little by little expanded. Keep us updated and hope to see you post more.

#13

Thanks for the warm welcome and encouragement. I wasn’t really going to expand as much as I did, but I had the track and had already torn up most of the garden and thought, why not. I’m not sure if I miscalculated the amount of fill dirt I needed or they over delivered, but I have about 2 or more yards left over. All the neighbors think it’s great except one who called the city on me and I had to move it all out of the street and up onto the driveway. Better for the kids anyways. It has become quite the conversation piece.

#14

Welcome aboard Rick. Nice looking railroad and it’s always good to get the kids going when their young or young at heart. Sorry to hear you have one of “Those Neighbors” who always thinks they have to stick their nose in other people’s business. Of course he’s probably jealous that he doesn’t have a train in his front yard to play with.

Keep up the good work.
Chuck

#15

Actually, I don’t know for sure who made the call. The code enforcement officer told us that the call was anonymous. Some think it might have been a woman on an adjacent street. She’s known for causing problems for others. All my immediate neighbors are still shocked that someone would complain about a little dirt pile. Everybody loves what I’m doing. They all stop to check out the progress.

#16

Rick don’t feel bad. I had someone call on me when I strated my railroad in the front yard. Told the city it was unsightly looking and how could they let me do that. I still love the answer the officer gave the person. “I sorry but we have nothing on the books about railroads” I guess I got lucky in that the code officer likes trains.

Your doing a great job.

#17

Gee - I guess I’m pretty lucky. Even with that big trench (Deep Cut) in my front yard, none of my neighbors have complained and many stop to talk and ask about the railroad.

At the moment. my small mess (dirt piles & concrete block stock pile) in the front yard pales in comparison to the on-going remodel across the street. All the neighborhood lookers are looking across the street and don’t even notice my latest construction.

#18

Jon, You said - “pales in comparison to the on-going remodel across the street.”

Is this where the old man lived that gave you the books? A new generation moving in?

#19

Talk about derailing a thread :slight_smile: It’s only page TWO!!!

Yes. The house was sold. New owner is a young married. He and his dad are contractors, so it’s DYI on a grand scale. They gutted the house, tore off the summer room, tore off the roof, raised the 1st floor ceiling framing by a foot and added a second floor with a higher roof and dormers. They have plans for an addition where the summer room was, but I think they are having trouble getting that by the town.

In the mean time there are pallets of materials, dirt piles, tree root piles and a huge 4WD high-boom fork lift, and a falling-down silt fence in the front yard. It’s been this was for just under a year. Natives are getting restless :slight_smile:

I don’t mind the mess, because what is finished really looks nice. They are doing a first-class job. My biggest problem is dealing with my RV this season. We are at the end of a cul-de-sac. I used to be able to use his driveway to get turned around to back into mine, but since the machine and materials have showed up, that’s not possible. I’m sure that once they move in, there will be cars in the driveway, so I need a new plan. I can back down the street, but it’s a long way to back up with just mirrors. May need to invest in a back-up camera, or have the wife hang off the ladder :slight_smile:

#20

Ah yes, a layout that grows! We don’t know what that is like! Ya right.
Nice work.It’s a passion!