Track on the ground...

Ok I'm ready to start laying track outside but here's where my questions start. The garden area that I'm going to run in is brand new... as in I just removed the sod and added black dirt last month. After tilling up the ground and mixing in the new dirt should I water it down to compact it BEFORE I lay track or just lay the track and hope for the best? I plan on laying down landscape fabric to TRY and stop weeds, plants, ect... from growing up in my right-of-way and putting the track on that then adding balast. Anything else I should look out for or do?