Feb 13 2009
Planning Your Outdoor Garden Railroad - Part 1
Planning Your Outdoor Garden Railroad - Part 1
Outdoor garden railroads are very popular. They combine landscape with real railroad operations outdoors using large scale trains. You are about to experience railroad design, construction, and operation in the real world. This is a more demanding level of construction and railroading than most indoor model railroads. However, it is possible for it to be more realistic for the train enthusiast and more rewarding for the entire family.
Late winter is a very good time to plan your outdoor garden railroad. It’s too cold to operate for long outdoors, and quiet enough to concentrate on design, planning, and shopping. You may have noticed that this is the time of year that the seed and plant catalogs start to fill your mail box.
Here’s a few steps to get you started -
Measure Your Outdoor Garden Railroad Space
The mind plays funny tricks. You think that some parts of your yard are larger or smaller than they really are. The tree in the corner is actually only one third of the way back. You remembered the yard was perfectly flat but it seems the soil takes a dip and water and ice has filled it in.
Get a long steel tape measure. A 25 foot tape measure or longer is better. It will save you from making simple addition errors or errors from moving the tape measure from one place to the next. Use a string and a few stakes or sharpened wooden pegs. The string can be kite string. It’s sturdy, long, and inexpensive. It is not necessary to use mason’s or surveyor’s string for this phase of your project. You will need a sturdy hammer or mallet to drive the stakes into the cold hard soil. You can buy a few 12 inch spikes (for joining landscape ties) at the lumber yard, if you don’t have stakes or wooden pegs.
Measure the entire area. The full back yard or whatever. As your planning progresses you may move your entire railroad (on paper) from one area of the yard to another. You can avoid a second measuring excursion. This is also useful because the garden railroad may be a feature of your yard and it needs to fit into the overall yard. Continue to measure the remaining outside dimensions of your yard. Locate tree, rises, and dips and measure them.
Locate Obstacles and Fixtures
Make sure to accurately measure trees, boulders, the house and deck, and other items that are not likely to be moved for the railroad. You will need to plan around these items later.
If you already have some heirloom plants, favorite flowers, or shrubs, make sure to measure them. If they are not going to be moved you need to know how much space they use and where they are located. If they are going to be moved you need to know how much space they take and where you can move them to. If you are thinking of moving plants or garden remember their particular needs such as soil quality, drainage, and sunlight.
Learn Your Terrain - Contour Matters
Pay particular attention to the areas where you want to run trains. Make notes as to relative amount of cuts (digging) and fills (dips). You can use a yard stick laid vertically next to your strings to help you measure cuts and fills. If you are reasonably sure of where you want your track to run, you can lay out strings in those areas and take these measurements.
Stake the string to one corner in the yard. Then stretch the string, along one of the edges of the yard, to the opposite corner. Drive the stake in and tie the end of the string. If you are using a shorter measuring tape save at least one stake to mark interim measurements.
This will instantly provide valuable information about slope, rises, and dips. As you build the railroad, these cuts and fills be major factors in your construction process. They will be more important than you can imagine (unless you’ve built an outdoor railroad before). Pay very close attention, lock them in your mind and in your notes.
Write it Down - Make a Preliminary Sketch - Take Pictures
Now measure along the string. The stake at one end can hold the end of the tape measure. Write your measurements down. Make a thumb-nail sketch to place the measurement information. This will be the key document in your early planning process. Label things well.Use several pieces of paper if it helps to write figures and mark locations (such as trees).
Take pictures. Shoot your photos from more than one location. Create sweeping, panorama shots by shooting several pictures in succession and turning slightly after each one. In addition, take photos from locations where you are most likely to be viewing or operating your railroad. Will you be sitting on the deck? Sit there and take some pictures. Will you be standing in the yard, operating trains next to the shed? Stand there, and take some more pictures. These views will improve your plan and your eventual enjoyment of your outdoor garden railroad. Have someone take a few pictures of you stretching out string and measuring. Take a few pictures of any helpers.
TIP
When you think you are done measuring and writing. Walk around the yard with your measurements and sketches in hand. Imagine trying to draw plans. Fill in missing items. Add more measurements that will make things clear. This step will save you an extra trip out to the yard for more data.
Clean Up and Storage
The job is not done until you have cleaned up and properly stored your items. Plan cleanup and storage into every phase and every day of your project. You will be rewarded many times over if you do.
When you are all done, clean your tape measure. Extend it to its full length. Wipe it clean with a warm damp cloth and remove dirt and dust. Go back and get especially stubborn areas. Dirt and moisture will ruin and rust your tools very quickly. Put a small amount of machine oil on a cloth or paper towel. Gently hold the tape in the oiled cloth and retract the tape back into its’ case. This should leave a very thin film of machine oil to protect and lubricate the tape. Do NOT use too much oil or the tape will be slick and the oil can become gummy in storage. Cleaning is the most important of these two steps. The lifetime of your tape measure can be doubled if you care for it properly every day that you use it. Store the tape measure in a case or tool box.
Remove the stakes from the ground and scrape or wash off the dirt. You will use them later in your project.Put the stakes in a plastic bag and seal it.
Roll up the string on a cardboard tube or wooden stick. Place the rolled string in a plastic bag and seal it. String will soak up humidity and moisture. It can go moldy even if it is made of plastic fibers. Store the bagged string. You will use it again on your project.
Store all of these items in a dry space for later.
Make a “Build Journal”
Start your “Build Journal”. Whether it’s online, a scrap book, or a blank book/ diary. Make a Build Journal and document every single step and day. Add photos, scan notes, and comment on how you felt and who helped along the way. Some of the most common questions when you are done is “How’d you do that?” and “What’d it look like before?”. Looking back on the process yourself you’ll be amazed. Years from now it will be almost impossible to describe.
I recommend that you post some photos or comments online, but make your main Build Journal a scrap book or book on paper. I’m familiar with historical archives. Buy a book or a scrap book that says “acid-free” paper. They are readily available (in book stores, and craft stores) and do NOT cost much more. Use an “acid-free” or archival ink pen or common pencil for your notes. Paper journals last 10 times longer than any computer system, operating system, or computer storage medium. Start today and make your Build Journal. When your not working on your Build Journal you can protect it. Keep it in an acid-free cardboard storage box in a cool, dark, dry place. Boxes are available in a variety of sizes. They protect your Build Journal from handling and contact with acid from nearby items, and they keep things neat and organized. Photos and and other paper bits can be put into archival plastic sleeves (like baseball cards).This protects them from being damaged by handling.
There’s More - Watch for Part 2
Have fun!
Trainguy
