Castle Mountain Railroad starting to take shape.	Castle Mountain Rail Car coming into the station

Deer out munching on our plants.  Ready to start building the raised railroad box on the other side of deer.

View of house from canal toward garden railroad box. Before we could even start building the raised garden railroad box we needed to construct a garden box wall down at the canal fire pit area.

August through mid November 2003

Once Sally, the expert stone layer, completed the main row I was able to help by hauling in and placing the rest of the blocks.  The garden railroad box started to take shape right away.  I dug in and covered the pipes which would bring and return water for the water feature to the canal.

The pump was placed inside of a large ice chest to help keep it quiet, wired and tested.

View of lower half of the garden railroad box where the Castle Mt. Resort will be located on toe section and both town and Castle Mt. Station will be located toward the bottom right of the photo.	This view shows the back of the pump box. The water system will start about the middle of right side of the photo and cascade down in an "s" pattern toward the left heading for the upper left of the photo along the front garden blocks. The water system will have a series of waterfalls along its course.  This section of the railroad will consist mainly of a mountain and the river.

View from the neighbor's yard looking toward the canal.	Sally setting blocks to finish the bottom row of the box. Next to her is the Transformer Station where power will be distributed throughout the railroad.

February 2004

While researching what type of train station Castle Mt. should be I came upon a 1915 photo of the Edgmont, Md. in the October 1976 Trains Magazine. The idea of having a Speeder garage as part of the station seemed perfect for my project.

The picture at right shows the windows and door installed. The first roof application is on. It is made out of black non-skid ladder tape. Next process will be to put shingle pieces over the first application and then paint with enamel black paint to lock it down for outside weathering.

Start of the five business Tourist Shopping District. The left Photo shows foundation startup.  I wanted a slight elevated boardwalk along the store fronts so I elevated one end and leveled each store unit from that angle. On the right, I was testing out the wall structure and window placement.

Castle Mountain's business districts basic structure is together and ready for finish molding. Clock tower with clock checked out and some of the windows set in to see how it will look.

March, warmer so its back out side to work on the railroad

Using the PVC method described by Jack Verducci in the February, 2004 issue of the Garden Railways Magazine.	Photo taken from second floor Guest Bedroom window. Shows the leveling process for the two track loops. The grades run form 1.5 to 2%.

Photo shows the section of the railroad where the stream an waterfalls begin. You can also see the cross over PVC which will be curved around to the right and go under itself to hook up with the main line.	Before laying down the streambed rubber the electrical wire is being put in. Both the Town and Train Station has working lights so power needed to be ready on site. The structures were set into the garden and paving blocks were set down to create the foundation for the structures.

Tunnels are being set into place before the stone sub-base is put down along the track right-of-way.    A  two track trestle is set into the streambed before the rubber to adjust for size and depth of the river at this point.	To get the train over the bridge and around under itself, garden blocks were used and laid down on a 1.5% grade. These blocks will later be covered up by plants and natural rock.  In the upper right of the picture the stream will be coming out of a narrow canyon and over the falls to flow down the river.

Planting moss and heather on Castle Mountain  and around tunnel entrance before river rubber get installed.	Cribbing made of dead branches and yarn was set into the cottage stone mountain base. This frame will hold more dead wood so the soil wont slough off.

Sally working the soil and peat moss into the cribbing.	Completed planting of Castle Mountain. The foundation at center front of photo will be the site for the town structure.

River rubber attached to 2" flowout drain and worked upstream toward the waterfall. The patio blocks in the upper middle of the photo are being used as weights to hold together a glue joint in the rubber.	River shot from the site of Castle Mountain Resort looking up stream towards rapids and waterfall. Castle Mt. train station will be located on foundation at upper left of photo..

Starting to rock and pant sculpt the waterfall feature	Rapids looking upstream toward the waterfall. Tack going over a double bridge to station.

View from our third floor tower looking down on the Garden Railroad. Stream running. Waterfall starts in the middle right of the photo and goes under the trestle bridge, takes a couple of 90 degree turns and heads toward the upper left and around the front toward the drain at the upper right of the photo.	Track being laid on sublease gravel. Chicken grit will be used for the ballast when track is ready. Split-Jaw track connectors are being used to connect all track together. Split-Jaw Rail Clamps were purchased from a Portland, Oregon company (www.splitjaw.com)

Castle Mountain is planted with a variety of mosses,  heathers and thyme. The Resort shopping district has been wired into place and ready for resort guests.	Site of the future "Castle Mountain Resort". Contractors will be arriving by train sometime in June to start building.

 May is here with opening expected by June 1st. Track with sub-rock is in.  Power is in. Planting is going into high gear. Track ballast should go in by the last week of May.

Castle Mt. Railroad coal mine.	Castle Mt.Station in place and wired. Gandy Dancers just received their Speeder and are parking it in the station garage.

Steam engine with passenger cars coming down off of Castle Mountain grade.	Waterfall Mountain foundation buildup. Chicken wire and coco mats tied into the frame to create mountain top structure.

Planting continures on the waterfall mountain.	Rapids running under double bridge.