Wow! What a great-looking railroad. The trestle is amazing.
Holy cow @NeptaliRail! How high up is that trestle?
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@CarpeTony, I think folks on here have given great advice. My one addition would be that if you are just planning to use sectional track, USA Trains makes small screws and a tap kit to bolt your track together at the joiners. Joiners often have an elongated slot to allow for some expansion and contraction, even with the little screws. These are much cheaper than clamps, and I have found them to work pretty good for conductivity and generally keeping the track held together. The downside is the little screws are tiny and can be a bit difficult to work with. I used them successfully on my first garden layout and had no conductivity concerns.
Also, even though your rolling stock can handle tight curves, your space looks like it could accommodate larger radius curves. Regardless of equipment, a larger radius curve will always make your trains look better. 8 ft diameter curves are a nice compromise for narrow gauge equipment. Photo of my old layout with 8 ft diameter curves below.
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Wow, great layout. I love that wood trestle bridge.
Rich
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Thanks @richhotrain. I am hoping to get it installed on the new garden layout sometime in the near future.
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mdmasc91, the trestle is 28” high. It links the railway to the storage shed.
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Casey_Dowling, is the new railway larger than the old in the picture?
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I blew up the photo on my iPhone to get a better look at the trestle bridge in the foreground. Then, I went on my laptop and got a great view of that larger, longer trestle bridge in the background. Two beautiful structures.
Rich
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Neat, and well done !
Paul
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@NeptaliRail, eventually it will be about twice the size and L shaped, but right now it is only half done.
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Ok. .so yes, I plan on the bigger radius curves, my question was just about the switches (points, turnouts) as I have a several of those in the short radius, so it would only be that single segment that’s the small radius. Those turnouts add up $$ you know 
I do plan on using clamps–and compound. . .I know battery sounds amazing but, man, that’s getting expensive for the 5 loco’s I have. I do have a cleaning loco, and am excited.
I just need to get some longer straight sections, I have tons of the 1’ segments (300mm) segments and those clamps will add up as well.
I have a plow, and I’m jealous seeing the truck plow! How is that set up with the tool battery, I’d love to see a thread or ‘how to’ on that!
Thanks everyone. . .
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Hi Tony,
one consideration I should probably bring up, at least to think about : sometimes tree roots can give some problems, especially as they grow bigger. They can lift the track in places. I am looking at Big Pine especially. Is there room to swing wide away from the tree ?
My first garden railroad was in place 12 years, and what started out as a flat plot had sudden grades here and there after the tree roots grew large. Something to think about, anyway…
Paul
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Hi CarpeTony, I wrote an article on the battery conversion of my plow AHA truck.
The article appeared in Garden Railways, in October 2017 (page 44).
You should be able to get a back issue, if you don’t already have it.
At that time, the plow blade was just a simple piece of bent metal plate. Since then, as you can see in the picture, I rebuilt the plow blade from PVC pipe, so it looks more like a real plow.
Here is another picture that shows the plow blade better.
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Nice work!
Very cool, Casey.
Rich
That is a great angle and s great view of the in action. Love it!
Rich
Casey_Dowling, wow! You have a big yard! I’m limited by my small yard, so I’m always inventing ways to make my railway look bigger than it really is (about 8 wide by 36 feet long).
Here are some pictures.
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Love that backyard layout. You guys are making me jealous.
Rich
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@NeptaliRail, you layout looks amazing! I like the coaling tower and your trestle leading to the shed is awesome. I would eventually like to build a similar but smaller bridge into my shed. The plants also look great!
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Thanks for the comment on Big Pine and running wide, will definitely consider going wider around both sides. It is however about as big as they get in the Hills.
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