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...

We decided early on that we wanted the track for our train to be raised. We wanted it off the ground because the yard occasionally floods (both from heavy rains and extremely high tidal events) and we didn't want to be digging through the existing garden plants to lay the railbed. But we wanted it low enough so it was easy to step over and get to the plants inside. About 6 to 12 inches off the ground would work. So I looked online for some ideas. One idea was to use PVC deck boards as the base. They would stand up to the weather and provide a nice firm base. I could even make trim pieces as rails on the edges with trim pieces and fill in with ballast. I got a couple of pieces to practice with and the first attempt looked good. A short straight piece with the rails separated from the board by a couple of washers so rain water could flow out. And then I tried the first curve.... Not so good.  The boards were only just slightly wider than the ties on the track. As soon as the track s...

Construction on the Coastal Titans Railroad started with a survey of the land. There were several obstacles to work around including a tree, several pokey Yucca plants and the existing garden border. After picking the approximate path we wanted it to take: follow the edge of the garden down one side, turn in onto an old path, skirt around the tree, split around a sunken pond (still to be dug) and emerge back out into the yard, we mapped it out. Being technical people we decided to do a little surveying. Two markers defined the origin and a reference point. We laid out pavers at regular intervals around the loop. Using tape measures, we measured the distance from each block to the two reference points. Then using some trigonometry, we turned all of those measurements into a map. Map of the layout as initially measured Now we could import that into our track design software, SCARM , as a background. This way, we could see the intended route while designing the track. W...