Re-building my railroad

[Matt_Hutson]

Hi guys,
Some of you may remember that we moved to a different house a few months ago. Our new place is 2.5 miles north of the old house as the crow flies, so the views are quite similar.

The new railroad will be roughly the same layout as I had at the old house, but with a twist. As this will be our “retirement home”, I decided to elevate my new railroad rather than build it on the ground. Someday I hope to be old!

During September I staked out the new alignment. This property is quite a bit flatter than the old, and I eyeballed the grade at around 2%. Late last week, one of our local contractors arrived onsite and work began in earnest.

The new layout is roughly 3’ above existing grade. Here’s a shot of the grading underway for the west loop:

Here’s some grading for the east loop:

After two days of earthwork and grading, a view from the east loop looking toward Mount Princeton last Friday night:

On Sunday I began grading and trackwork on the new mainline at Goodwin:

My goal is to have the layout completed before winter gets serious. Hope to have the mainline completed over the next couple of weeks, then go back and install the sidings.

Cheers,
Matt

[Cliff_Jennings]

Wow Matt, you don’t waste any time, very cool!

At first I interpreted “elevate” as wooden structure, but you clearly had a different approach. Very impressive!

Only question, you have a drain pipe of some sort in that ring, right? Or are you planning a water feature there? Just curious.

Looks like a lot of fun, slinging that dirt around!

I love the last shot, the first of many on the new layout, in the style you’re famous for.

[Eric_Mueller]

Huzzah! I cannot wait to see your amazing models gracing the rails once more!

Eric

[ctown2 (Craig Townsend)]

How much is that getting compacted as it’s built up? I’d imagine it will start to settle over the next year or two and be about half that height long term.

[Korm (Korm Kormsen)]

@ctown2

I’d imagine it will start to settle over the next year or two and be about half that height long term.

that shouldn’t be a problem.
chances are, that, getting older, he will shrink somewhat too.

what i envy - he doesn’t need to paint backgrounds.

[smcgill (Sean McGillicuddy)]

He is probably waiting for Mother Nature to show him where he needs drainage. That’s what I did

[Matt_Hutson]

Hi guys,
Thanks for the comments! I have spent my adult life in the engineering and construction fields. Drainage will not be a problem as we live in a pretty dry climate; also the ground around here “percs” very well, meaning water dissipates into the ground rapidly.

As to compaction, fill was placed in 12" lifts and compacted with the excavator bucket. I do not expect to see much settlement. if there is, well that’s what the section crew is for.

Got track built on the west loop a couple of days ago:

The fenced garden area in the background is going away someday - can’t have that in my pics!

Cheers,
Matt

Cheers,
Matt

[Matt_Hutson]

Got about a third of my track in service this afternoon. Here’s the first train going up the west loop. That’s 14,269’ Mount Antero in the distance:

The work train made it all the way to the west end of the Mosca yard:

Things are still looking pretty raw, but I’m making progress. May have to switch to the Fall Running page!

Cheers,
Matt

[Matt_Hutson]

Hi all,
Made some more progress today. Yesterday construction was rained out. Today’s goal was to get through the Mosca yard. The stringline shows proposed construction:

Track and ballast in place. I asked the contractor to put a few extra buckets of dirt on the alignment ahead so I could build a cut. For variety’s sake, don’tcha know:

First train to the east end of the Mosca yard:

Cheers,
Matt

[Matt_Hutson]

Okay, made a lot of progress since Sunday. On Tuesday evening I began to lay out the yard at Mirage:

Didn’t get much done (wind, cold, dark), but we DID have a most excellent sunset. The devastation at the bottom of the pic is from the railroad earthwork::

Got the siding at Goodwin back in service on Thursday afternoon:

And built a little track east from Mosca through the cut:

Yesterday I began laying track around the east loop:

For this project, I bought five tons of screenings from a local gravel pit. This is what I am using for ballast, and this much should last me the rest of my days. Historically I have brought this stuff home in 5 gallon buckets from various construction sites - this is much less labor intensive:

This morning I finished laying track around the east loop and began construction of the Mirage siding. Years ago somebody at LSC gave me a tip about making and using this little tool to lay out sidings, and I have used it many times since. Track center to center dimension is set per Rio Grande prototype distance, not Garden Railways magazine spacing:

Once Mirage was finished, the mainline was complete. here’s the first train through the cut:

First train around the east loop:

First train to do a complete lap of the mainline:

And now, the track crew is weary and looking to enjoy a cold lager or two.

Cheers,
Matt

[smcgill (Sean McGillicuddy)]

It must be nice not having to worry about plants
The layout looks fantastic

[Matt_Hutson]

Thanks Sean! I had two goals with the new layout. Goal one, have things at a more manageable level. One of my friends calls this my “stand-up railroad”.

The second was as you mentioned, plants. My goal was to have the railroad above the adjacent vegetation, mostly for the sake of more realistic photographs. I’ll still have to kill weeds, of course.

The layout still needs some refinement in terms of its vertical alignment. There are crests and sags that I will reduce. To do that, I plan to run a train with a long string of 40’ boxcars to see where those stand out. I’ll then use a digital level to adjust as necessary. As of now, most grades are 2% or less.

Cheers,
Matt

[Cliff_Jennings]

Wonderful progress Matt. All is looking even better than before with the elevated line, it makes the scenery blend in so well. Thanks for the photos, they’re excellent.

[Matt_Hutson]

Thank you Cliff!

Got the Mosca yard tracks built this afternoon, so track work is now done:

Cheers,
Matt

[smcgill (Sean McGillicuddy)]

Can you make some trestles over dry washes … Are there any in that area …

[Matt_Hutson]

Yes, I’m hoping to do a 35 scale foot trestle at some point. I’d also like to do a Plastruct truss bridge - anybody here ever built one of those? Always thought one would be cool:
https://plastruct.myshopify.com/collections/trackside-series-kits-2/products/4002-kit-4002

Cheers,
Matt

[ctown2 (Craig Townsend)]

Didn’t even know that was an option. Looks like an interesting kit but I’d be worried about how strong it is with just plastic. And the bridge opening dimensions.

[Korm (Korm Kormsen)]

i made a crude Howe Truss bridge once.
just cedar, nails, screws and bicycle spokes.

https://kormsen.info/bridges/trussbridge/

[smcgill (Sean McGillicuddy)]

I made mine out of trim pieces of PVC lattes found at the big box stores