From early on I've desired to have sounds coming from my engine to add to the joy of running it. While I wanted realistic sounding steam engine noises, for the first couple of years I had to satisfy myself with the occasional leaf getting caught between the wheels.  While it was pleasantly reminiscent of a baseball card in my bike spokes, I never really knew when it was going to start or end and it wasn't very prototypical. The Piko starter engine I have doesn't have a lot of room inside for add-ons. Looking around I learned that sound system, batteries, and other things too large to fit inside the engine are often held in converted box cars or the tender that comes with many smaller engines.  My engine has only a small little coal tank so I considered converting the starter kit box car, but I didn't really want to always have a box car on the tourist line. So I decided to buy my first rolling stock to convert and started searching for a tender on eBay. I found one that...

 A warm Thanksgiving message from all of us at the Coastal Titans Railroad to all of you. Enjoy this recent run around the tourist line and see some of the great sights here on Baja Fibiger.   Soon I'll be writing more about the new sounds you here and about the camera work. Until then: HAPPY THANKSGIVING

Now that the first line of Coastal Titans Railroads is operational, we'll share with you the fun and joy that awaits visitors. Right now, there is still limited tourist infrastructure but the train is running for those who can make it. Our journey begins at flower corner. Here in the coastal jungles, everything grows bigger. This Coreopsis titanii, endemic to Baja Fibiger but closely related to garden-variety coreopsis, towers over the rails. One of the biggest draws to the area are the dinosaurs that mysteriously survive here in these lowlands, cut off by mountain ranges and the sea, seen by only a few intrepid explorers, and now you. Part of the park's goal is to preserve these amazing creatures and enable the rest of the world to experience the thrill of encountering them. On a recent tour of the tracks, our chief engineer, Bartolome Thorvaldsen, leads a survey of the dinosaurs that can be seen from the rails today. Bartolome Thorvaldsen Anzu wy...

Previously I've talked about some of the challenges I faced once I settled on using a raised ladder railbed. I had to try several different approaches until I came up with a method that consistently gave me the desired curvature. This again came for a hint I got from Ron at O Scale Trains By Ron . Instead of trying to form the railbed and then attach the track to it, I would use the track to help form the shape. For someone trained as a theoretician, this was far from my wheelhouse. But as someone who wanted to run trains in the yard, it was a godsend. Finally, I was making progress with the railbed. It still took some time for me to get the technique down and there were times when it still didn't quite work out but I was definitely approaching success (asymptotically for those with a math bend). The idea is straightforward. Start with attaching a spacer to one of the girders several inches in from the end. The spacer should be aligned with one of the ties on the track, p...

One of the joys of having the railroad is taking time on a nice day to go out and play. You never know what you might encounter. I have a wonderful little track cleaner. The Piko Clean Machine . It is helping to improve the electric contact and let the train run smoother. Still not perfect but I'm working on it. It does allow me to do a little bit of two train running. It'll go better once I upgrade to a DCC system. Then at least the controls can move around with me. Hope you enjoy the video. I have more I've been working on over the winter.

The start of my garden railroad, its origin story if you will, traces back to a Barnes and Noble cafe. Back when my wife, Sharon, and I were starting to look for our first house, we would pass many an evening at the bookstore. It was like a library but with late night caffeine. After perusing the shelves, we would usually grab a couple of magazines to look through with our drinks. We collected ideas of what we wanted in our house. Beautiful light, brightly colored walls, hardwood floor. As we found pictures that we liked we would buy the magazine and save the pictures. Still have the scrapbook. And the house might have echoes of a few of those ideas. We also dreamed of gardens. Sharon, growing up in the big city, could count the plants she had on one hand. The plants, not the types. In response, she had the gardening bug. We looked at grand estates. And little porch gardens, Anything with color overlaying a lush green foundation. One evening while picking through the garden mag...

Vitus Emil Fibiger's dream has finally been realized. Today we fired up the first of our steam engines and ran around the completed track. After Vitus discovered Baja Fibiger, he wanted nothing more than to be able to share the unique beauty of the area with others. Due to the marshy lands, and some rather intimidating residents, a train is the best way to get visitors close to the amazing flora and fauna. Join us in celebrating this great milestone.  The rainy season is setting in so final work and opening to tourists will have to wait until next year. In the meantime, we will continue improving the rails, build a station, and restore our engine and rolling stock.  See you when we open.

This summer was particularly hot and busy at work so construction time was limited to small chunks here and there. But as fall approached I was able to give some focused time to the train and have been making good progress. A while ago I completed the initial sections so that I could  run the trains  a little. But trips were limited. The track didn't extend much beyond either switch and someone had to be at the controls all the time. Run time was about 20 seconds before the train had to stop and reverse. The train had to be short with only one or two cars besides the engine. Completed back segment That gave me plenty of incentive to complete more segments. I was able to add another segment in the back part that runs through the shrubs. And then in just a couple of days I was able to build the ladder railbed for four segments of the layout and was ready to install them in place. Due to the trouble we had getting pieces to line up (future post that's coming) my wife and I ...