[SailorDon]

Posted By RickV on 17 Jun 2012 08:31 PM I thought I would start a thread about the construction of my garden layout 'down under' here in Brisbane, Australia.
.......


Thank you RickV. You have motivated me to get back to work on my layout. I started with a "flash" of activity 4 months ago, and then it sat like this for 4 months.



One problem is the scope of my project got out of hand. Getting the track level on the curves where the natural grade of the lot slopes about 1 foot for the 20 foot diameter of the curve, that is way more difficult than I anticipated. And the amount of fill to level the garden that will be enclosed by the track I estimate at 10 cu. yards. That's a lot of wheelbarrows of yard sand to be hauled.


Because the layout is intended mostly for live steam running, level track is one of my design parameters.

 

[SailorDon]

After another flurry of activity, it started to rain. This is a good thing. I have to pace myself.

Here it is when I stopped due to rain.






With any luck, it will rain all day.

Then 4 months of rest until the next "workin' on the railroad" happens.

 

[SailorDon]

Posted By RickV on 12 Jul 2012 03:47 AM

You could reduce the amount of fill needed by cutting into the hill on the high side and lowering the level of the entire track. You could angle the dirt down on the sides to reduce erosion or you could retain the sides with rocks or bricks or even concrete. The added benefit of doing this is that you then create fill and from a nearby source, reducing the wheelbarrows of yard sand to be hauled across your yard.


Because the natural slope of my lot is 12 feet down from the road surface to the bulkhead at the lake 110 feet away, I don't want to be moving any dirt "downhill". The soil under the house has already shifted where the previous owner had to spend $15,000 on foundation repairs.
Where I am building my model railroad, the soil is hard as a rock when dry, and a gooey mess of clay and swamp gumbo when wet. It would be more work to level the existing area by cutting into the slope than to fill what I have with 10 or 15 cu. yds. of yard fill soil that I would have delivered and dumped in my driveway. To ease the pain of transporting the fill dirt by making 1,000 trips with the wheelbarrow, I have made a deal on a brand new tractor. I pick it up this weekend.




It's also good for mowing the yard.

 

[SailorDon]

So as not to put my railroad build stuff into your topic, I started a new topic to detail my efforts, mistakes and successes.

http://www.mylargescale.com/Communi...fault.aspx

I'm hoping to get the track complete this weekend and maybe get some train pictures (and videos).

I will try to avoid MWI (that's Mowing While Intoxicated) when I get my tractor.