My initial sketch was an attempt to draw close to scale, but I'd be more than willing to let others with more practice have a go at it. The house doesn't sit square on the property, but I think with a sat. photo of the house, and the house measurements it would be easy to draw a track plan. I think I have somewhere a sketch of the property dimensions. I will have to look when I get home.

The house as it currently stands is 32x30 with a 24x20 garage. An addition would be 32x30. The property to the east is bound by a 8' tall rocky (needs replacing soon ), and the house gets within 8' of the wall.

Craig;

I tried to do a google map of my home but it isn’t nearly as clear as the above. When I was at the UW a bunch of us got our scuba certification and went all over the sound. 

My advice the Michael is just do it. Getting in the garden is fun and, if you don’t bite off too much as I have done, the one station approach will get you up and running between raindrops. By September you’ll be having operating sessions with plywood boxes for customers! 

Neil,
What's neat about this plan is I can fix all the mistakes from my previous layout. I built a ground layout (loop with a branchline) when I first moved to this house in 2005. Sadly, that layout got torn up when we rented the house while we lived out of state. So this rebuild is correcting all the problems. The first one being elevated to about waist high and have staging that you can run in/out of.

So are you planning this at ground level this time? I’m curious since I have a solid roadbed but having layed any track yet. If you have a moment to look at my plan I would be interested in your thoughts. 

Think of a typical indoor layout build, with L brackets, and legs. I want to do something similar so I don't have to bend down.
I imagine something like this. A concrete footer (used for decking), with a 4x4 post running to 36" high. Then build from there a "deck". The deck would be a spline roasted and everything would be covered with a wire mesh and garden fabric.

This is my inspiration.
http://lsc.cvsry.com/POC_Elevated_Benchwork.pdf

Thanks for the link. A lot of good ideas there. I think I’m committed to the concrete roadbed and going the route of Port Orford would be a big undertaking. You are at the right point for this AND it would, or could, be moved if necessary. That is really taking TOMA to a new level. 

You may not be bending over to run trains but getting all that material up there will be a job. How about having the crew who does the addition build the frames as part of the work? 

When is the groundbreaking btw?

Well ground breaking is a going to be a long ways off... I first have to get the CFO to approve the project. I'm in the process of that now.

Now as for the framing, I would build it myself. I'm thinking very minimal landscaping and plants. If we added on to our house, I would use the dirt from the foundation hole to elevate the ground level amd maybe frame the layout with landscape blocks.

some comments: the concept is neat! 1. Don't forget an engine escape for your garage storage tracks. 2. There is also a cold storage/ produce facility with a spur at Monroe. And GN had a greenhouse in Monroe that provided fresh flowers for the Diner tables on the Empire Builder. 3. Don't forget to cover it at night and during wet weather, eh? Enjoy the research and the layout building project! John Colley, Sonoma, CA

John,
I would likely have removable buildings in the front of the house to keep the street aide appearances to a minimum, but everything in the back yard would stay year round. I'm thinking maybe a total of 10 structures?

As for an escape track for the staging, I would use a sector plate at the end. Saves room, and allows for maximum flexibility.

Well it looks like this version of the layout won't happen. No room on the lot to build out. The space we thought we had to add on, is actually within the county easement for the road. Apparently when the house (and road) was built back in the 1970's, the survey marker was 12' east of where the crown of the road currently is. That puts the current house 6" into the county easement. Even if we got the plat maps corrected, we would only be able to build a 6' addition (195 sq ft). Not really worth the expense for 195 sq feet.

Good news is, the plan can stay the same, but the bad news is it will be a while before breaking ground. This way when we are looking at houses, I can ensure that the yard will have enough room. Or get a basement and built the layout in P48?

Craig