Garden railway

We had such a blast with the trains in the back yard last weekend that we've been plotting the best way to make them permanent. John has a great program called WinRail, where you tell it the scale and brand of your trains (and tracks) and it helps you build a to-scale plan using the tracks available. The current plan is to gravel the top of the garden (where nothing really grows well to begin with) and lay track up there. Ideally we'd also have a 'branch line' coming down the south side of the garden (along a north-facing wall that never gets any light).

Wait, why am I telling you this, when I can show it to you? Here it is, a monument to our epic computer/train geek-ness.

In exchange for the trains, John's agreed that we can also extend the patio so there's room for our chairs and table. There should still be plenty of grass in the middle of the lawn for croquet and we're planning it out so it doesn't foul the clothesline.

The grand master plan is to build a small retaining wall along the right hand side of the garden, as the lawn slopes down a bit more than the train can handle. The grand master plan is to use the dirt cleared from the top to build up the bank on the right. If we ever want to sell the house, we'll just lift the track and all of the train areas can be used for planting.

If nothing else, we're having fun dreaming about it.