After completing the 80 foot second year expansion last year, this year left
us with a dilemma. No longer is there any place easy left to go with more
track that doesn't involve some considerable problems. Moving further west
is not a viable option, as we extended last year's expansion as close to the
Siletz Bay as is possible. A few more feet west or south would put us in the
tidal flood waters. We have an open area due north of the easterly expansion,
but it would involve taking over about 400 square feet of our grassy lawn. I
figured it was hopeless to even approach my wife about doing such, as in the
past she had put a big frown on her face when I broached the topic in jest.
Now with a new dog in the family, I knew she would not want to relinquish
that prime real estate that is used several times a day by Cody.
Our neighbors were similarly constrained. The only viable place to the
south of the layout on their side of the property line is directly along side
their house, which is the only area they have left to expand their home as
they hope to do in the future.
A sliver of land exists between the walkway surrounding the north side
of our home, but it really doesn't offer any room for a proper expansion,
except in its length. We could run the track out maybe another hundred
feet or so, but it would just be one very long run with no width to make it
interesting.
The only other area available is to the due west of the exiting track. This
offers a fair amount of ground space in both length and width, but the
elevation is a major problem....it is in a hole. That is, it actually drops down
about 15 feet or so, and is even lower than our neighbors' driveway.
After much discussion and debating the effort required to make it suitable,
we decided to give it a go earlier this summer rather than end our layout
in its present configuration.
During the month of June, we discussed many options and possibilities. In
order to make it work, one thing was obviously apparent....we needed to
change a hole into a mountain! Even doing so, the engines would still have
to deal with an excessive incline to climb back to the original mainline track.
After celebrating the 4th of July this year, we made the decision on the
morning of the 5th to go for it. This was the point of no return, as it meant
the next step was to order out the fill dirt. Two dump trucks of dirt, and a
dump truck of rock later we were up to our neck in sweat and dust. In just
a couple days we amazingly had put a mountain where there had been a hole
and then built rock retaining wall to keep it from washing away by the water
of the first rain storm.
That first day was our toughest though. At the end of the day, we were
pretty well worn out, but we'd accomplished far more than was anticipated.
Not only did we get the wall up, and the basic shape of the mountains, we
also had the outline of the nature trail and canyon. As primitive as it was
at this point, it looked pretty darned good for our first day's labor!
Then we needed to order another truck load of dirt and rocks to complete
building the mountain (actually...two of them) and filling the depressions and
covering the tunnels. Before distributing that last load though, we had to
build the tunnels and begin the process of locating the exact place the track
would lay. To do that, we placed a switch at the west end of our original
main line and then worked our way downhill from there.
Each tunnel is built of pressure treated 2x12s screwed together. There
are three of them on the original mainline track, the longest being 10 feet
(3 meters) long. The shortest is one yard (1 meter) long, and it is at the
exit of that tunnel that we placed the switch that moves the trains off the
original main line onto the new expansion to the west. A lot of fill had to
be placed there to allow the track to make a large semicircle to get lined
up perpendicular to cross a pathway stairs that joins our two properties.
We had to negotiate around a couple huckleberry bushes to get the track
to the proper elevation and alignment. After considerable discussion, it
was decided to cross the the rail tie steps at the surface rather than try to
tunnel under it or cut a groove into the tie. The g scale rails are tough
enough to withstand being stepped on, and they are tucked close enough
to the riser that it should now present a tripping hazard. By not attaching
the track directly to the tie, we hope there is enough movement in the
track to avoid catching somebody's toe unexpectedly.
We decided to place a power station near the spot where the track
crosses the steps. To do that, we first had my brother (Dean) build a
platform tree that could be sunk into the ground and be secure enough
not to become dislodged. The process of welding it took about an hour,
and it was a design it as we built it project, as we used scrap around
his shop.
A considerable amount of track was purchased, and once we got past the
initial corner and step, it was pretty much a quick downhill run of straight
track for the next 30 feet (10 meters) or so. The bottom of that run makes
a wide radius curve that brings the track onto the fill dirt that previously was
a depressed area of the ground. It is much easier to build the curves while
sitting in a chair rather than on one's knees on rough uneven ground. When
chairs aren't convenient, tunnels work just fine!
Once the track transitions from the downhill straight to the fill area, it
traverses a canyon where the Faux River (pronounced Fox, as the water
will be as unreal as the pronunciation should be) approaches the Faux Falls.
We'll have to build a trestle to cross the canyon, but that will come later.
Upon reaching the other side of the canyon, the track continues its downhill
run as it immediately crosses the shortest tunnel of the layout...only two feet
long.
The track passes by an old growth fir tree as it climbs the hill. Due to
an excess of continually dripping pitch, it was necessary to run the track
through a 4 foot (slightly longer than a meter) tunnel and then dump
enough dirt over the top to create another mountain that butts up against
the tree trunk. It's a tough place to reach when working on the track, but
the problem area is rather short.
To make the layout as interesting as our original layout, we decided to
put a nature trail through the middle of it so kids would be less likely to
climb on the rocks and hills. That meant the path would have to traverse
Faux River and the track in several places. A temporary bridge was built
on the upper side to make construction of the layout a bit easier. Later, a
more natural bridge replaced it until a proper bridge can be built. The
temporary bridge was then moved below to cross Faux Lake (Fox, that
is...which sounds better than Fake Lake, eh!), at the beginning of the
nature trail.
The longest tunnel of the addition is 6 feet (2 meters) and required a lot
of rock and fill dirt to cover. At the lower end of the tunnel, the track
emerges at the level of the footpath, and begins its turn to cross the nature
trail as it enters the short tunnel and begins its climb back up the hill.
Near the top of the stairs, we are putting in a simple water fountain
that will be the headwaters of Faux River. While the fountain will
feature real running water, due to the difficulty of keeping an actual
stream operational in such a heavily vegetated area, the stream changes
to one of driftwood, in keeping with our theme of a whimsical state of
nature. Having an abundance of driftwood on the beach makes buiding
rivers and bridges and even tunnel openings of it very easy indeed,
not to mention unique!
Once the vegetation has a chance to mature, the track and train features
should pretty much disappear to those coming up the driveway. We've
planted a lot of ground cover plants to reduce the stark contrast of
rock and dirt visible now.
The trains will climb up a relatively long steep hill through some rather
dense rhododendrons just before they wind their way around a replica of
Dave and Joi's home in Willamette Valley. About 10 feet (3 meters) or so
later it passes the Crazy House just before it mates up with a original
mainline near the crest of the hill.
So....for now, the layout is getting close to being completed for this
season. A few more days of intense work on it should have it ready for
winter hibernation before the trains again start running next summer.
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