New Bypass to Reduce Steepest Grade

The first section of new trackage
(curved track section indicates original route)

After a lengthy (15 minute) deliberation with Linda and her Dad earlier today, track crews (me) decided to undertake a new main-line track project that would involve shutting down the PLR for a few days to a week. Although Twin Pines is one of the more intriguing places on the railroad, where the railroad cuts between two young trees, it involves the steepest grade on the line from both directions. A new bypass was thus planned, followed by an evening of new construction Sunday evening. Not only should the grades be reduced, but the main line itself will be lengthened as the route is expanded to parallel the track in the back corner of the yard (not my first choice, but it should allow the advantage of watching trains pass each other). Photos included here show the progress as of the last daylight. Some rock "dynamiting" and "cut and fill" will be necessary projects in the next few nights, as well as a run to Dewey to secure some new track.


 

The Road to Paradise: Expansion to the Side Yard

More "March Madness" has occurred off the basketball court and in our back yard lately. After months of deliberating about how to engineer fly-overs, a PVC ladder for a raised roadbed, and other options, I acquired some used track which motivated me to make a choice.

Trackage finally reached the deck landing, the first "island".

The goal is to access the much lower side yard for the eventual town of Paradise, since I unceremoniously relegated that place away from Boulder Point (see previous post). The creativity of this is half the fun, I've determined. Two trips to Home Despot (as a friend lovingly calls the place) have provided several lengths of pressure-treated lumber, some pre-formed concrete piers, and various retaining wall blocks and paving stones. Basically I decided to use 2-by-6 pressure-treated lumber placed atop partially buried concrete piers, just to get the main line over to the side yard fence. Instead of messing around with (very tempting) PVC ladders or even poured concrete piers (overkill, I think), I decided to go the simple route. Ask me next year if this was wise. There are three "chasms" to cross, the first one of which is pictured here, essentially hidding under the deck. The second is not photographed yet, but takes the track some 12 feet from the deck landing (pictured here) to a raised garden area.

The "Road to Paradise" (thanks, Strasburg Railroad!)
seen here disappearing under the deck.

The third chasm might be built tomorrow (no promises), and will take it the final few feet to the fence posts. In an "ah-ha moment" last week, I determined that the fence posts are already cemented into the ground! Why not use those to attach a shelf for a couple of tracks? No messing with the ground at all that way! And, as the ground slopes to the west (closer to the front of the house), the track can remain level along the fence and serve as a raised shelf to "fiddle" with trains and to ease the addition of trains coming in from other local railroads. The final phase of construction (if not this year, next year?) is a "Y" track that leads from the fence trackage directly into the crawl space of the house, with a drop-in piece to connect an under-house yard. As for the side yard expansion, it is tempting to call the town "Key West" instead of Paradise, given the numerous chasms and "islands" that need to be bridged to reach it!

Back to Work! Here comes the 2012 Edition

Following a lengthy break for teaching abroad in the fall and early winter, it's back to work (or fun) on the Ponderosa Lines. This post provides a brief update on progress at Boulder Point as of mid-March, 2012. First, the revised track plan for the back yard:

Boulder Point is getting an "extreme makeover," initially conceived as the end-of-the-line destination, and finally designed to be just that. No more sharing trackage with the other end of the line at Paradise, and the Viterbo siding has moved over to a separate location at a small wayside town of that name. All of this should be visible in the map and images here. Boulder Point now has a freight siding, a house track, a passing siding with two tracks in front of the station (recently acquired), an extended reverse loop, and a "tail track" to allow for switching the sidings. The tail track doubles as the "continuous loop" connector allowing trains to run in show-off circles if desired.

Thanks to wonderful weather and using part of spring break, the Boulder Point track plan is now in place, with four new Piko switches (8-foot diameter) and fresh ballast.

The "New" Boulder Point, with paving blocks for platform for station area.

An early March snowstorm suspended work on Boulder Point.

We've got a railroad! Preparing the First Stretch

I naturally chose the hottest day of the year to lay the first track on the Ponderosa Lines. It topped 90 degrees today, a rare occasion for our 7,000-foot elevation. And the reverse loop materialized as the sun blistered down in the early afternoon. I knew this wasn't logical, except this was the next step that I couldn't resist! The raised dirt "shelf" was ready, I had track sitting in the house, and a pile of ballast (quarter-minus stone) was sitting in the driveway. Of course I was going to try my hand at some track work. We had more "screened fill" dumped in our front yard yesterday, along with the aforementioned track ballast, technically referred to as "Apache-pink quarter minus". This is what we have in Flagstaff - pink ballast. Who would have thought? Oh well, the stuff will make for a unique right-of-way. Now that I've seen it in "true color" with track embedded into it, however, it seems to fit in well with our subtle gray and brown soil tones around here. The truck driver tried not to stir it up much in the delivery, as I asked to have the fill dirt and ballast placed in the same load. Less expensive that way, considering the delivery charge surpassed the cost of the actual dirt and stone. Once I convinced the company that I wouldn't sue if the dirt mixed a bit with the stone, they said "ok, we'll try it". Overall it sorted out pretty well - the dirt is less dense and is therfore lighter than the quarter minus, which I believe is crushed granite. Being the talented driver he is, Joe gently nudged his truck and arked the load just right so that the ballast "waited" to exit the truck until the dirt was already on the ground (at least it seemed that way). That made up for his thorough crushing of our retaining rock wall with the back two axles of the truck. Oops. Some work to do out front, I suppose. For now, the twin tire tracks up and over the wall are amusing at best.

I digress. Here is the story of laying the first G-scale track of our lives, along with the process I used. Around noon time, the whole track-laying approach was nothing more than theory in my head. I had read instructions, arguments, web sites, forums, and spied on three or four G-scale railroads myself in the past year. I had decided how to do it, and to take my chances with the chosen method. By early afternoon, to our delight, we had an operating railroad (see next post please). After that it was nap time, satisfied that the magic ballast had actually performed well and turned to veritable cement. I hadn't believed it, but it happened. Throw a little water on that stuff, and "poof"! That track isn't going anywhere. Time will tell how amazing it really is, our wonderful Apache Pink.

Frost Heaving in northern Arizona?
My biggest concern was with the potential for washouts and, especially, frost heaving. Forum posts and blogs have clearly revealed the horrors of frost heaving in colder climates, for those of us not forutnate enough to be in southern California or equivalent. Track torn up, ballast washed away, annual efforts to reset the entire railway as previously buried rocks shoved the track upward religiously every spring. No thanks. Is this worth it? I asked a local meteorologist friend last week about whether we could expect heaving problems, as part of me suspected that we don't. Because of our extreme diurnal (daily) temperature fluctuations, it generally warms up each day to prevent the continuous buildup of soil ice. Even in January, it can be 5 degrees F. at 6:30am but warm up to 50 by 3pm if the sun is out. Snow storms are rare, and so are deep freezes. The answer, by the way, to the question about frost heaving in Flagstaff was "it depends". Lately, our drought conditions and general warming trend have prevented much frost, though it can occur in localized pockets of cool, poorly drained soils. One more definitive answer came with an email from a local friend who is about a year ahead of me with his own G-scale railroad, in a similar forested environment here in town. The news was stunning. He "went outside, cleaned off the track, and ran trains". No problems whatsoever, and the railroad survived our above-average snowfall this winter. I was overjoyed to learn this, as I was about to embark on my own adventure with "floating" my own track in ballast, without much trenching due to the packed "hard-pan" ground. Even more assured now, it was time to lay track and "git-er-done".

The Railroad Building Process
To recall, I have chosen to "float" my track in ballast, using quarter-minus roadbed and ballast material. The blazing sun and heat did hold an advantage for this method - the rail certainly was expanded to the maximum extent due to the sun, to the point where I could not touch the rails without burning my fragile fingers! I hadn't counted on that, but this stuff gets hot! Had to wear gloves just to handle it. With the track expanded like this, I could join the track as tight as possible (like HO-scale, I imagine) and it would only shrink when it cooled down. In the HO world, this is important, as it is common to find your well-laid track totally crumpled up on itself after the rails expand too much in a heated building. Not fun. Tried to prevent it here. The most significant potential problem here at 7,000 feet is not necessarily the driving rains (rare), snow (it just sits there), or frost heaving (hopefully). It's the diurnal temperature cycle and the remarkable freeze-thaw process that we get here for 10 months out of the year. The track will need to expand and contract daily and hourly, so Linda and I vowed to not cement in ANYTHING in our yard. Everything needs to remain flexible to account for freeze-thaw. Thus, floating the track in uncemented ballast made the most sense. We'll see how it goes.

STEP 1: Testing the track layout for placement

I was starting with the most difficult track-laying project of the railroad - the reverse loop with multiple turnouts. If I could "make it here," as the song goes, I could "make (railroad) anywhere". The main line would certainly be less complicated. It was therefore necessary to lay out the track pieces and try to fit them together like a puzzle. This required a good half hour and some patience - and numerous trips to the garage to find yet another curved or straight piece of a specific length or radius. G-scale track is fortunately forgiving, however, so it is possible to "bend" pieces around to make things fit if it's not too far out of whack (such as allowing for slight kinks at joints). The photo above was the "test fit" stage, hoping the reality would play out ok (it did).

Step 2: Mark the right-of-way and drop some ballast (quarter-minus crushed granite).

I decided not to "trench" because we really don't get much rain here, which is the typical concern with ballast washing away in wetter climates. Instead of trenching, I laid a 1-2 inch layer of ballast on top of the packed fill dirt, and will later add another layer of fill dirt around the right-of-way, to help contain the ballast. I don't need my track to be elevated much anyway, as one would not expect to see that much on the narrow-gauge routes of the Southwest. I prefer the appearance of having the track blend in with the surroundings rather than the "highly manicured" approach.

Step 3: Place the track and level it (or, "Fuss" with it until you're happy)

This process was easier than I had anticipated. Once I had the track joined together in an acceptable fashion, it was time to level it out. I used a 2-foot long plastic level that can be bought at any hardward outlet to make sure there were no major dips or elevation changes from one piece to the next. If part of the track was too high, I simply shook it gently back and forth until it naturally dug further down into the roadbed. If track was too low, as was much of the reverse loop curve, I added more ballast on top, pulled the track upward an inch or so, and let the ballast fall underneath. This "fussing with the track" process took some patience but not a lot of time until I was satisfied with the final placement.

Step 4: Add more ballast on top and smooth it out. (No photo, sorry!)

After dumping more ballast onto the track itself (looks like a mess, no doubt), I took a stiff broom (about a foot wide, in my case) and gently moved down the track to even out the ballast and fill in any remaining holes. This was basically a grander version of HO scale when using a toothbrush to smooth the ballast before gluing. The process went very quickly, though I was careful not to get ballast too close to the turnout points, while removing larger pebbles from inside the flangeways. Dirt occasionally caked up (the "minus" part of the quarter minus) inside the rails, so I loosened that as well. It really started to appear like a real railroad after this!

Step 5: Just add water!

 Because I didn't want the railroad to turn into a source for blowing dust (plenty of that around here in the spring), the final ingredient to the process was water. I grabbed the hose and gently gave the entire railroad a good soaking. I used the "shower" option on the nozzle, allowing for a gentle "rain" to fall evenly across the tracks, moving back and forth and being careful not to drown it. This is the key to the entire process. The smaller particles lodge down into the larger ones, creating a veritable cement, though not as strong. I was amazed myself. Only 10 minutes after watering, the track would not move without a lot of force. I kept testing it through the afternoon because part of me still didn't believe it. This track wasn't going anywhere, and neither was the ballast. My final step, sometime before we get rains in July, is to place a layer of fill dirt (and eventually mulch) on either side of the right-of-way to help contain the ballast to help prevent runoff. For me, this is the opposite of trenching, which is not an easy option for most of this layout. (Thanks to Linda for helping to capture the action today in the form of photos, some of which are shared within this posting.)

At the risk of burning my fingers, I occasionally tried gently to move the track after the ballast was nearly dry. The track was locked in tight, and I kept mumbling to Linda that what I had read was actually true! Sometimes it works that way. I will be curious to determine the level of maintenance and upkeep as the year progresses.

First Test Run on a Grade

I have been laboring off and on for the past several weeks, including through a sudden snow squall, to "cut and fill" various parts of our side yard for the right-of-way. Having finally determined the final plan for "Phase 1" construction, there is one rather steep grade on a curve that I have been wary about. I lessened the grade by building a small dirt ramp (I will add photos eventually), and I have read plenty of horror stories about steep grades and G-scale. The two don't mix, apparently, unless you want to run very short trains. So today it was time to put my two locos to the test. I laid some track temporarily on the dirt right-of-way and smoothed it out enough to get a train over it. I really have no place convenient yet to store my rolling stock and locos, so I make numerous trips upstairs to retrieve a few cars, both locos, batteries, and remote controller before the fun can begin. Linda has convinced me to purchase a Rubbermaid shed for the side yard eventually, which after today is looking much more inviting.

First the yard switcher, #3. First two cars, then three. No problem, this little engine certainly "could" and "did," taking the hill without a concern. Thinking the Baldwin steamer would do similarly, it was time to "pour on the coal". I started with all three cars (a boxcar and two D&RG coaches) and it made it half way up the hill before the drive wheels started spinning (reminded me of certain Amtrak trips). The engine's a bit light and could -- after a few tries -- only take the hill with a running start. Looks like I have some work to do with grade reduction before laying track. Fortunately the latest plan will allow for a longer ramp leading out of the staging area. And the writing may be on the wall: It may be worth the money to hire Barry from Barry's Big Trains (how many sleepless nights were required to invent that business name, I wonder...) in Phoenix to retrofit some "bionic" motor and wheels to the Baldwin. Apparently the thing will pull out stumps after Barry gets done with it. At least now I know what my little engines can and can't do. Funny thing, though, it was the little LGB switcher that won the veritable pulling contest up to Twin Pines today.

Grading the Right-of-Way: Taking Shape

(NOTE: Photos embedded within the story to reduce boredom.)

Here it is early April, and the past week has been the first time that our outdoor "template" for a future railroad has been visible or accessible. Flagstaff was pummelled by several major snow storms this winter, the most impressive a 5-foot, three-storm series over a few days, followed by one- and two-foot followups. Only yesterday did the final bit of ice melt off our back deck, and a small glacier still exists on the north side of the house. This is the same place where the snow lasted the longest for the last two winters -- no surprise given the lack of sun and warming. The micro-climate is entirely different on that side, and it raises the question of how sane it would be to build the second G-scale town at that location. It might be fun to dig out the roadbed when the full route of the Ponderosa Lines is complete, but regardless, a railroad through that part of the yard will be analogous to the White Pass train heading up toward the Klondike. This is still a dream, however, as this part of the Ponderosa Lines is likely two or three years away.

Two things have been accomplished over the past several months: 1) planning, and 2) buying. The latter effort has been aided recently from my first stint as a seller on EBay (or Evil-Bay as some model railroaders have lovingly called the online marketplace). Having participated in the typical overconsumption of HO-scale railroad equipment over the past decade, it was time to sell off some of the collection. A swap meet in Phoenix and a few locomotives on EBay gave me a shot at playing "retailer," with overall positive results. Moving out that HO equipment has enabled some guilt-free purchasing for the Ponderosa Lines, still in progress. I have acquired probably 70 percent of the track that will be necessary for the first loop and switching area (staging?), and am now targeting specific pieces of track of certain diameter, turnout length, etc.

Which brings us to yesterday and today, when the urge to grab a shovel and dig was just too irresistable. Though winter is doing its best to hang on around here, it was possible yesterday (Friday) evening to survive with merely a sweatshirt and some minor labor with shoveling dirt from one part of the yard to another. Given the master plan that I have come to like, I pretty much knew where the track is going to be laid on the south side of the house, and how it will connect into the "shelf" area I built for the station tracks and reverse loop in front of the deck. So, at that point, it made sense to grab a shovel and start digging. How much dirt could I move to support a raised right-of-way without having to call Landscape Connections across town for a truckload of fill dirt? I was curious. As the sun set last night, I already had a raised ramp materializing for the grand curve that would lead the tracks up to the highest part of the yard (see photos below). My goal was to reduce the grade as much as possible, as every G-scale forum post has made it clear that hills are evil and tend to rip apart unsuspecting locomotives.

I was eager this morning, though on the eave of heading for Italy next week (still need to pack and clean), to get out and continue the effort. A road bed was emerging from the otherwise bland side yard, and there was a new bridge to install! I didn't want the Ponderosa Lines to be entirely bridge-free, so I had my first opportunity today. Having found a homemade, 2-foot wood trestle on Ebay, I was looking forward to the creative engineering required to install it. No, it's not the Brooklyn Bridge, but it is my first G-scale attempt, so it's pretty exciting. I decided to run up to Home Depot (or Home Despot as some lovingly refer to the Big-box store) this morning to get some of those pre-fab retaining wall blocks -- not sure of the name of them, and I didn't know what to call them in the store -- but the greeter is clearly used to answering stupid questions from people who don't know how to refer to their products, so I was quickly directed to the back of the garden section. Some people may view those store shelves as holding potential retaining wall material, but I was envisioning bridge piers. Those things are nasty! Just handling them with my bare hands ultimately drew blood and scraped off skin, an easy thing to do in our dry climate. Like cactus, I gingerly carried them to the car and looked forward to wearing gloves.

The bridge construction required some time and patience, but it was not difficult. First I laid the track out on the ground to be sure the bridge alignment was appropriate for the rest of the right-of-way. Then I dug out more of the fill material to insert the paving blocks that would serve as the bridge piers. I bought a bag of sand as well, used for leveling at the base. I used a level to make sure the piers were, yes, level, a process which required several attempts until I was satisfied. Then the dirt got filled in around it with the bridge in place, and there it is! Eventually a dry stream channel will flow under it, I imagine, and Linda has been asked to assist with designs for the actual landscaping around the track area. For now, the grade is rough but complete, and perhaps the next phase will be the purchase of the "quarter-minus" or "crusher fines" for the sub-roadbed and the ballast. This will have to wait until May or June, and will likely take some time to level and lay just right.

Wall Complete

The first retaining wall for the Ponderosa Lines is now in place. I managed one hour of working the dirt and rock pile last night (Friday), fighting the daylight which is now in short supply after coming home from school. This morning (Saturday) I continued for 2.5 more hours and scrounged for enough malpais stones to finish the wall. Much of the fill is in place behind the wall, a bit muddy now after hosing it down to encourage packing. I still have a sizeable pile in the front yard to tackle, but Linda says that I'm making a good dent in it. Perhaps another round Sunday, and my weekend exercise will be fulfilled.

Bill of materials for this project:

• 1.5 tons of thin malpais stone (for front retaining wall of shelf)
• 1.0 tons of malpais boulders (for back-side retaining wall under deck)
• 4 yards of screened fill (will likely only need 3 for the fill.)

First Day on the Job

I was curious about what I could accomplish in a two-hour period of shoveling rock and hauling stone. Not to be intimidated by a pile of dirt and rocks, I began to uncover and sort the malpais flat rocks from the boulders. Of course, they were buried in the dirt pile (see previous post), so I occasionally filled up the wheel barrow and made some trips to the back yard. I was starting to feel drained after about two hours, so I wisely called it quits and vowed to fight another day (tomorrow).

Though I am in pretty good shape due to semi-regular jogging and step-aerobics classes, this task clearly brought forth muscles I rarely use. I was mildly sore in the legs, knees, arms -- pretty much everywhere by Sunday morning. I will plan on spreading out this earthen project over a week or two. The photo here shows what I accomplished on the raised bed and wall after two hours. The wall got higher on Sunday. Stay tuned for stories about this past summer's railroad planning and design process! The photo here shows one of the two planned termini for the railroad, this one with a 4-foot diameter reverse loop and station tracks to match the shape of the raised bed.

Groundbreaking for the Ponderosa Lines!

The deed is done. I am commited to our backyard garden railroad of the future. The young driver from Landscape Connections backed up his truck and unceremoniously deposited 2.5 tons of malpais (dark volcanic) rock and 4 yards of fill dirt (technically referred to as screened fill), all of which now decorates part of our front yard next to the driveway. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but there seems to be something slightly bizarre about paying good money for dirt and rocks. But we do, mainly because most people don’t have the equipment to trudge through the forest and dig the stuff out themselves. So we pay for earth.

When I visited the company on Tuesday morning to confirm what I wanted, I was told that the driver would likely bring a forklift on a trailer to drop off the pallet of stone, separated from the load of fill dirt. No forklift arrived this afternoon, however, and with amusement I spied the dump truck that did show up. They had saved me some money (for which I genuinely thanked the driver) by not hauling in the forklift. Instead, the driver had stratified the load with dirt on the bottom, flat stones in the middle, and boulders on the top. Can you guess what happened as it spewed onto the ground? The result reminded me of the so-called American “melting pot”. It really didn’t matter, except it will provide me with yet more exercise – something I have been lacking this week. Each stone and grain of dirt needs to find its way to the site of the future railroad’s terminus, approximately 70 feet away from its current location. A small rail yard at one end of the railroad will be placed on a slightly raised, level bed of earth, for which this delivery is destined. I had hoped that the truck could back up our rather steep driveway and dump the load near our side fence gate, but no luck. The driver was visibly skeptical about crushing our driveway and, perhaps more importantly, not tipping the truck over with a precarious, angled ascent. The good news is that I need not shovel out Linda’s side of the driveway, which may have provided a mountainous obstacle between her car and the garage. Underneath the existing pile, however, is a buried stone retaining wall, the condition of which will remain a mystery until it is excavated once again.

Future posts will provide a conceptual overview of the emerging Ponderosa Lines. Up until today, the thinking and planning phase has been free of charge. One exception was the small purchase price for some basic track planning software, which I would highly recommend – called AnyRail. With all of the competing brands, it required the time of a small geologic epoch to just choose one. I promise to provide readers with a history of this relatively inexpensive phase of the project. Now it’s time to shovel and haul. Who needs weight lifting when you have a 5-ton pile of earth in the front yard? My creativity was also stimulated, particularly with devising a variety of ways to move this stuff. Why not invite members of the Flagstaff Model Railroad Club to help haul it in, and in exchange I would donate some HO-scale equipment to the club? How about if I disassemble the fence to allow the now-absent forklift to take it back there for me? In the end, it will be me and my will power that will accomplish the task. We’ll see how long it takes for the neighbors to notice. I’ll have to take a break tomorrow, of course, for the Penn State game against Northwestern.