Started to conceive it in 1997, house was finished in April and we started the backyard that summer.

The railroad is designed to give me a place to run my "G" scale equipment. I am not an avid gardener nor do I want to be. It is a simple dog bone shape with two passing sidings and two industrial sidings at Bug Tussel. A note about the name; Bug Tussel is a slang used by a guy at the fire hall for a small town where the only entertainment on Saturday night is to watch the bugs wrestle. Its what he calls Mt. Albert to hassle one of the guys. When I find an other word for a small town the Alcona will disappear.

I measured the back yard and located all the existing trees etc. One has since died and the railroad could have been bigger, oh well future expansion. Having been trained as a draughtsman sure helps in preparing a scale plan. I highly recommend this. The track plan was laid out on the grass to make sure everything worked and fit.

The plan was to build up the area at least one foot, its hard to work on the trains at ground level. I decided to use landscape ties to hold up the dirt. 25 tons of topsoil and many trips with a wheelbarrow from the front drive to back yard and I had a base for the railroad. A neighbour suggested that if you soak the grass and cover it with a few layers of newspaper the sod will compost and you do not have to remove it and dispose of it. It worked for me! The top soil went on top and no grass has ever come up through it. 12" = soil helps to.

I laid the track out on top of the soil and marked it with a stick, pretty technical but it worked. I dug a trench the same width as my spade 6" or so and 6" deep. Two tons of limestone fines tamped down and I was ready to lay track. Careful leveling and grading were next. I used LGB track and switches only tough more expensive joining rails by different manufacturers is not a problem.

I did not have all the track pieces to complete the layout, there is just so much you can plan and then it's time to do it. I'm a bit impatient so although the entire track wasn't down I ran trains on what was completed to confirm that it worked.

A number of rocks were added to make cuts and hold back the soil around one blue spruce. My late wife wanted a garden railroad but she loved that spruce. I may become a problem as it matures. I will deal with that when the time comes. Maybe some careful pruning.

I do not plan to operate this like prototype railroad; I can do that on my On30 layout downstairs or at friend's layouts. I just want to sit back with a cold beer and watch the trains run.

Over the past few years I have slowly picked up a few buildings and have two partial towns. More to come.

The layout is wired with 14guage wire feeding at various locations so the power is not entirely dependent on rail joiners. This method is common it model railroading where every piece of track is fed power. I did not feed every section because rail clamps can be added to insure continual power. Right now a persistent short has me considering battery power. When the snow melts and I regrade the track I will try again to track the short down.

Many thanks to Tim and Nancy Moore for plant donations and the experience of working on his layout to find what I preferred. I tell him that I learned by his mistakes.