Whiskey and Easy Short Line Build Log

I’ve finally gotten to a point in building that I want to show the line and how it got here.

My first run was started in 2015 with a classic Stainz LGB starter set. It was low to the ground, no more than 6″ elevated. Some of the line was at ground level, with many elevation changes.

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But then I wanted to rebuild the line so it would be more suited to live steam, with level grades and wider curves. So I took out most of the old line, leaving only a waterfall/pond/tunnel feature I built for the first one.

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I first constructed the shelter where I could sit and control the line. I decided on a freelance three sided thing with a bench for two. The shelter is for the Shady Grove halt. The shelter also supported a giant shade sail that helped tremendously as I labored to stack stones under a sweltering summer sun.

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I planned a little and measured a lot. Flags were placed and replaced to mark the extent of the fieldstone walls for the elevated beds.

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I left a gap in the wall of each bed so I could wheelbarrow in the fill.l, then filled the gap with stones and shoveled in fill for the last bit.

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For the central bed, I wanted a backdrop of mountain peaks, so I stood up some pointy large flagstones against a spine of railroad ties.

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The walls were built and I started on the first and second water features that would both be in the main bed.

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Then I built the third and final bed, and was finally ready to start on the track. The third bed attached to the pond/waterfall/tunnel feature, which got a new layer of stones around it to match the other beds.