My brother and I have had HO trains since we were kids. He has an HO layout in his basement. I gave him my HO collection around 2016.

I have been collecting G scale trains since 1985. I started with LGB (Mogul, F7). In 2012 I started collecting USA trains (F3, SD 70 MAC, GP38, Big Boy and FEF).

My layout does not model any protype railroads and is total freelance. There are two mainline tracks configured with the outer track to run counterclockwise and the inner track to run clockwise (Mostly because the signals are setup for this operational mode). There is also another set of loops that use part of the mainline. There is a branch line that takes the trestle route which replaces part of the outer mainline path. There are seventeen switches in the main layout and eleven in the yard.

The outer and inner tracks are independent of each other only when using the most outer loop. If using the trestle route, it crosses the inner track thus requiring coordination. When using the trestle route, the smaller inner loop can be used without coordination.

In November 2016, I started construction of my garden railroad in the backyard. My goal is to be able to run eight trains at the same time; the final goal is to use AI with video cameras to run the trains automatically.

The ground was not level, and I did not want any grass that needed mowing around the track (Also there wasn’t and easy method of getting a mower to the layout). I did not want any dirt since we can get 2-to-4-inch rains in a couple of hours. I had built a gravel box (i.e., like a large sandbox but with gravel) using retaining walls on the perimeter. Additional dirt was added to raise the ground level, then a membrane was placed over the entire area. Three water drains were added in the ground. Finally, 4 to 6 inches of CLASS I sand (miniature gravel about ¼ inch in size) was placed and leveled.

There are three sets of PVC pipes in the ground for AC, track power, switches, signals, network hubs, and Raspberry Pi3 computers. The junction boxes were in the ground, and I was unable to make them watertight. It turns out that the gravel acts like a tub (2” or greater rains) letting the water level build up under the surface. This was a setback number one; I had to pull the wires out of the PVC runs and re-work the junction boxes above the ground.

I had built a train shed for storing the trains outside which is 24 feet long by 7 feet wide by one and half feet tall. There were three hatches in the roof. It had four entry points where eight tracks entered with three additional switches inside. This provided eleven track sidings about twenty-three feet long for storing trains.

After three years in the elements with rain fall for the year above 71 inches, the roof started leaking and dripping glue from the plywood on top of the train cars. Stringy mold formed on the underside of the roof. This led to setback number two. I decided to rip off the leaking roof and build a new roof. In addition to the leaking roof the humidity was extremely high in the train shed.

It took four months before I decided on a new roof design. I knew I did not want any openings in the roof, so I designed the roof to be raised in its entirety using four hydraulic cylinders. To keep the humidity out, the gravel was dug out in the interior, plastic was put down and concrete was poured to make solid floor in the train shed.

I had a steel frame (24 ft long by 58” wide and 8 inches tall) constructed out of 4” by 8” steel tubes. A welder welded them together with five cross members. After the steel frame was delivered and placed on top of the bottom of the train shed the two dual hydraulic trailer jacks were welded to the steel frame onsite. The jacks can lift 24,000 lbs. I had a new roof structure built on top of the steel frame.

In May of 2020, we started building our water feature which consists of a mountain, waterfall, and a river. By the end of September, we had the river area dug out and lining installed. We had access to round rocks and installed about twelve feet. This took longer than expect due to the virus. We did not like the look and found a new landscaping supplier in 2021 which had flat stones and we bought three pallets. By September 2021 we had the water feature completed.

During the summer of 2022 we completed the track loop which goes under the waterfall.

We decided to re-work the retaining wall for the trestle track section. The oak wood slats (1/2” wide by 1/8” thick) did not survive the outdoor elements. I stripped the slats off the oak backing board. My wife applied stack stone kitchen backsplash tile using construction adhesive. We will see how long this last!

We had open house in the summer of 2021 and 2022.

During 2023, I will be working on derailment issues and track power.