The Gopher Light Railway

[Pendo Pilot]

Thats looking rather good. I would certainly try to curve some rails around the proposed route before building up anymore earthworks though. May well come as a surprise how much space a reasonable tight curve can take up..

[Dwayne]

Thats looking rather good. I would certainly try to curve some rails around the proposed route before building up anymore earthworks though. May well come as a surprise how much space a reasonable tight curve can take up..

The earthworks are complete. We had a couple of inches of rain the other night and there was very little settling as I tamped the dirt as it was put in place. A few minutes of maintanence and those areas were worked. The remaining balance of the railway will be at ground level.

Work on the layout is taking a back seat to getting our bathroom back in complete working order.

[Dwayne]

It's been some time since the last update. Work on the Gopher has pretty much come to a halt as my latest job keeps me away from the homestead much of the time. When I am home what little time I have is spent catching up on lawn maintenance and honey-do errands for the wife.

Which probably has been a good thing. Over the past few weeks I've been disenchanted with the current rendition of the layout. After some thought I've decided to head off in a different direction with it. The plan now is to build the railway as a point-to-point line. The starting point will likely be at the patio that I'll be installing soon at the insistence of the wife. This will be where the line's engine servicing facilities will be located. From there, the line will simply head off into the wild wilderness that is my 1/2 acre property. A few directions are lurking in the dark recesses of my mind but as of the moment nothing is definite.

My thinking with the entire change is to keep the thing as simple as possible because of my lack of time at home. Starting at Point A with a few feet of track will at least get me going and allow for the addition of more trackage as my time permits. Unlike the previous loop-to-loop plan, finding a starting point was something I wasn't able to resolve... thus the delay in putting any track down.

So with the new idea in mind I began to remove the dirt this morning that constituted the layout up to now. It'll be piled out of the way and allow me to also get on with some landscaping that has come to mind unrelated to the railroad. Once I get that dirt out of the way I'll begin work on the patio and then the layout. Hopefully I'll have something to report back about soon.

[MDLR]

It would perhaps be worth considering putting a return loop in at the "far end" of your line, wherever that ends up - at least then you could set a train off and wait for it to come back to you!

[IrishPeter]

Dear Dwayne - I would second the return loop/out and back idea suggested by Brian, it does stop one having to the 100 yards freestyle obstacle dodge before something ends up in the dirt. Cleaning a locomotive after it has gone to ground is a tedious business at best!

My line has the loco servicing facilities by the house, and away from prying eyes in the street, and then wanders its way through the rocks down. It will eventually go down onto the "Arizona Lawn" where there will be a station and a return loop, so I have to option of end to end running, or letting it loop back.

Peter in AZ

[Dwayne]

Depending on where the line meanders there may be a possible connecting spur which would add a loop to the design. Yet for now I'll proceed with the point-to-point concept. I'm more of an "operator" than a "runner". Motive power is of the small, battery/rc variety and foresee trains servicing lineside customers for a sense of purpose and reason.

[Dwayne]

Started a new post for the new Gopher Mining Company...

http://gardenrails.myfreeforum.org/sutra72738.php#72738