Planning and Construction of the Original Layout
The original layout was constructed in 2019 after spending the prior winter planning out exactly what I wanted to do.
2nd Year Addition
3rd Year Addition
Unfortunately, I wasn’t able to find any useable photos of the 3rd year addition under construction. By building the line back towards the rear property line, I increased running time on the loop slightly while providing three tracks for staging cars or other trains than the one being run.
2023 – The Fence Line Layout and Landscaping
With my interest in live steam growing, I ended up acquiring an Accucraft Mogul but since it required at least R3 curves, I had no place to run it. The simplest solution was to build a second layout with larger curves into the landscaping I was installing along the neighbor’s fence. It took much of 2023 to complete it and the landscaping along the picket fence, but in the end, it turned out to be a nice visual addition to the railroad and by the spring of 2024 the sedums were already creating a visually lush landscape. Even so, running the locomotives there instead of on the main layout was a bit disappointing, so it got me thinking about the need to expand and upgrade the original with a loop of wider R3 curves. The construction techniques for this addition were to dig a simple trench, line it with landscape fabric, and pour in the ballast – same as with the original layout. I’m not sure what the future holds for this addition since it’s now obsolete. I may find a way to connect it to the main layout, or I may remove the track and add more plants as a backdrop.
2024 – The New Bridge from MVL Bridges
In the fall of 2023, I randomly decided that what the railroad really needed was an arch bridge and a canyon. I had looked into trying to find an old LGB one but instead settled on having one custom built by MVL Bridges in the UK. It arrived in the spring, and it was late summer before I had the chance to start digging a very large hole in the yard. Building bridge abutments out of PVC board, it took me a good while to figure out exactly where I wanted it to be and how large the expansion should be, but in the end, I think things came out perfect. This new section ended up with a custom little mountain, and will mostly be very lush and covered with sedum when it grows in. The steppingstones are all concrete ones from the Menards garden center. As part of this expansion, I used R3 curves and replaced some of the R2 curves on the existing layout in order to enable me to operate my Accucraft live steam locomotives on the main layout instead of just along the fence line layout.
B&MG Railroad 