Outdoor Division Mainline

The South Loop of the Lousiana, Texas & Pacific Outdoor Division mainline begins at the switch at Hawkins Junction, passes the water tank, crosses an aluminum truss bridge over a portion of lawn, includes a turnout for the A. P. Price Supply siding, curves around at a 25' radius, includes a second turnout for the loading ramp siding, and ends in the area around the barn with the first of two passing sidings on the railroad.

The storage area around the Hawkins Junction switch includes a turnout to two sidings that lead to a storage area for rolling stock inside the barn. A third storage siding connects to the mainline near the north end of the South Loop passing siding. By these these three sidings, the barn provides storage for all of the Outdoor Division's rolling stock, freight and passenger.

The Middle Loop of the Outdoor Division was the northernmost portion of the mainline until the construction of the current North Loop extension, below. The Middle Loop begins at the north end of the Hawkins Junction switch, climbs up the railroad's steepest grade to begin the raised-deck portion of the mainline, includes the two-track locomotive storage shed and the future Dispatcher's Office, and sweeps around in a 25' radius loop over two sections of lift spans which allow passage for the horses on the property.

The North Loop of the Outdoor Division is the newest portion of the mainline. It begins at a turnout off of the Middle Loop and proceeds north along the railroad's longest tangent to a second turnout that begins the loop. The North Loop itself is likewise a 25' radius curve and includes a raised wooden truss bridge section, a subsequent lift span section, a small passenger platform with a sitting bench, the second of two passing sidings on the railroad, and a two-track switching area for shunting and storing rolling stock. A working signal system protects trains in the North and South loops from entering the single-track tangent section if that block is occupied by another train.

I have been building the riding railroad for over a year. The gauge is 7.5 inches. About 250 feet of track is in place, with two operating switches and one not yet completed. In building the mainline, I attached the ties to eight-foot stringers for stability on our soft ground, then built a grade from sand. I put weed barrier on the sand, then placed the tie/stringer panels on that and screwed the rail to every other tie. I finished it with #3 limestone ballast. So far, 250 feet of track has required almost 100 eight-foot 2 x 4s, 1500 track screws, four yards of sand, four tons of limestone and 500 feet of rail. The railroad is planned to be about 600 feet long with return loops at each end. I plan to operate with a dispatcher and should be able to run three trains at one time, provided I have that many friends with riding trains!

The first return loop is almost done. Looking north towards the barn, you can see the cut I made across a hump in the yard. At its deepest point, the cut is 5 inches in depth. I did my best to keep the bottom of the cut level. Even so, it still has a slight crown to it, perhaps an inch or less above the grade approaching it from the curved switch at the bottom center of the photo, and maybe 1.5 to 2 inches from the track in the corner of the barn.

To the right, you can see a curved switch that will lead under the eaves of the barn. I plan to have two tracks there for storage, in the hope that all my rolling stock will fit! The switch has a 100 foot radius on the left side, with 40 foot radius on the right. My Southern Railway caboose is peeking out under the corner of the barn. To help protect it from the weather, I had put up a couple of pieces of old tin roofing. Just to the other side of the caboose is what I call Hawkins Junction, where the two legs of the loop join.

As these photos (below) show, almost all the rail is in place around the loop, although I had only tightened the track screws on one rail. I still need to put the gauges on the rails and tighten the second rail. It also needs more ballast to fill in completely between the ties and on the sides of the cut up to ground level. I will have to run my riding lawn mower over the track here to store it in the barn. The white PVC pipe in the photo (right, below) is for drainage. I placed the two 1 inch pipes at the lowest point on the inside of the loop so water could drain to the ditch to the right. When I have the track adjusted, the grade to the hump will be very slight.

You can see the short gap in the rail in the foreground. I had added a piece of rail about 18" long to get the original track to stick out under the sliding door of the barn. I'll take that out, and add a new piece about 3 feet long to complete the loop. This whole curve is 40-foot radius. It's exciting to contemplate running all the way around.

UPDATE: The two new storage tracks under the barn roof are now complete. My son drove the first short train into the “engine house” Saturday. The my daughter did the first switching moves when we picked up the riding car from Hawkins Junction Sunday. We picked up the car, rode around the south loop, dropped the car, then manually moved it past the loco. Then she coupled to the car and backed up, I threw the switch, and she placed the car on the right-hand storage track. She then backed up again, I threw the switch, and she put the loco and hopper on the left-hand storage track for the night. Pretty neat!

Just before Thanksgiving 2011, the LT&P work crew (father and daughter) extended the north end of the main line by constructing an abutment for a new trestle. It includes red concrete garden-style blocks and a piece of 6" PVC to serve as a culvert. The crew had to revise about fifteen feet of the existing railroad to begin the transition grade to the new trestle. It took several loads of new ballast for the grade. This was one of the first parts of the LT&P to be built and is about three years old. All the ties were in good shape, but since most of the LT&P is built with the rails screwed to every other tie, the crew put screws in every tie on the revised grade.

Since the LT&P is a small railroad with tight curves (at least for a riding railroad), it is not designed to carry two-ton locos. Two existing trestles carry trains by using four-foot spans of 2x4s. They are very solid. The new trestle will have a total of four 2x4s on each four-foot span.

The drawing shows the basic design, with a four-foot span of 2x4 stringers and an average rail height of just over two feet. The handrail on the LT&P trestle is intended to serve two purposes: first, it will help anyone on the trestle be safer in case of a problem during operation; second, it will keep the horses from trying to go over it!

The barricade across the tracks is part of the original fence keeping the LT&P horses in the yard. A new gate will go here to replace the barricade to keep the LT&P dogs from going into the horse yard.

In the new year, work progresses northward. As you head north on the main line and ascend the new raised trestle, you reach a major switch. I have been working on the diverging route turning to the right (as seen in these pictures). My lovely daughter likes to help me and keep me company, and she was on hand for the photo below. She is sitting near the newest bent on the curve. This bent is very heavy duty, as I plan for it to support the end of a short drawbridge that will allow me to drive through the right of way if I need to. The trestle is pointing northeast at this point. The straight, 10-foot-long drawbridge will be next, then the trestle will turn left to make a loop all the way back to the other leg of the switch and thereby completing the north end of the mainline.

Work has now begun on the new 4' x 10' engine shed located in the loop on the north end of the railroad. The lefhand shot below is looking north, while the righthand shot is looking northwest. A switch will be on the north side facing the shed; the main line will go straight through and the spur will be on the east side of the shed. This shed is 6'2" tall inside, so I can stand up without hitting my head. The shed is large enough to hold SP 260 (a 4-4-0) and SR 2243 (a Southern NW-2). I plan to make it critter-proof so that I don't have worries about the wiring and such.

Spring time certainly puts demands on my outdoor time that is not focused on the riding railroad. With the mild weather of December 2011 and January 2012, I guess I installed a hundred feet of trestle, including the basic structure and roof for the locomotive shed in early February. From mid-February through March, I think I may have put in 16 feet of new trestle.The trestle is only two feet off the ground, but my 53-year-old legs do not like jumping off or climbing up, so I installed steps. Wow, what a difference.

Looking south (above, right), you can see the two newest piers of the mainline raised trestle. These piers are the beginning of the north return loop. On this side of the loco shed, I jogged the track closer to the fence in order to have the minimum 25-foot radius for the loop. Our three horses are in the background, watching. I still have more than half a circle to build. The switch you see will let me store both my locos in the shed. I have another storage area under the roof of my barn, with enough space for all my rolling stock, including the models I have parts for, but are not yet built. Wow! What a job this has been.

Both sides of the LT&P locomotive shed now have siding. The photos above were taken just before I added the last two pieces of T-111 to the east side. My daughter was helping as we painted, drilled and screwed the siding to the structure. The kids will be painting camouflage colors on the sides, although I started with a light green as you see in the photos.

Here is the design and some photos of the first bridge on the northern loop built according to Lisa Eldredge's design. Lisa is an engineer with my company. I plan to call the bridge Eldredge Crossing! The 2x4 stringers were very bouncy after I had placed the ties, rails and deck boards. After I flipped the bridge over to add the trusses, that changed. I honestly cannot detect any deflection at all, even with a 200 pound locomotive, 80 pound caboose and my 125 pound son on the bridge.

I guess the bridge weighs around 200-250 pounds! I put hinges on it so I could fold it back out of the way. But after folding it back once and nearly having a disaster, I am re-thinking this. One benefit of the hinges is that they keep the end lined up very precisely with the trestle approaching the bridge. When my son and I ran the train over the joint, we could barely hear the click-clack of the joint. You may notice that the truss in the last photo is connected to the end of the 2x4 by only one bolt; it will get one more on each end. The other side already has two 1/4" bolts on each end.

Below is the look of things on Friday, October 5. It's the first photo to show all the piers for the trestle in place, although I had not yet finished adding the stringers that hold the ties and rails. I put the rails in place so I could lay out the last couple of piers to follow the transition from the straight segment in the foreground to the radius for the loop about 20 feet away. Transitions help trains take curves more dependably.

A 12-foot draw bridge will soon span this gap (below, right). I need a drawbridge so I can access the northern parts of my property and to let our horses roam the whole yard. I installed the pier in the foreground January 2, 2012. Even though I used a level that is about 10 inches long, the height of the last pier was only off by about 1/8 inch! My son James and I went to Home Depot yesterday and got enough aluminum to build the truss for this bridge. God willing, we will be riding the entire railroad by October 14! I plan to hold a "Golden Spike" ceremony to complete the railroad. Actually, it would be a "Golden Screw" ceremony, since I use screws to hold the rails!

The revised grade on the LT&P is now complete: piers, rails and deck boards are all in place permanently. I tested the track with my NW-2 and it went up the hill much more smoothly than before. Of course, the test will be to pull a train of passengers. Another test will be to see how the steamer ascends the grade. It has only two powered axles (the NW-2 has four powered axles) and has historically been able to pull only the engineer and one person uphill, with difficulty.

Many of the ties in the ballasted stretch of track in the photos were the oldest on the railroad. I think they went in in 2009; originally, this stretch was very low and the ties stayed wet for long periods. The ones that were not already falling apart were quite soft and barely holding the screws. I replaced about 20 ties so far, using plastic balusters (made for deck construction).

In all, the new grade stretches for just over 60 feet, with a climb of 3%, if my calculations are right. This is one job I am glad is done!

The LT&P has been working well with two trains running. The signal system guards the long stretch of single-track and looks great. However, when one engineer stops his or her train, it blocks the line. We had no place to pass, except the switching area on the north end of the railroad. An opportunity was presenting itself.

About three weeks ago, I started to install a passing siding by the barn, to allow engineers to park their trains, while leaving the line open for any other trains to continue running. The photo below shows the new switch at Hawkins Junction. When I removed the deck boards of the crossing, I discovered most of the original ties from 2010 were in bad shape, so I replaced them with new plastic ties (you can see I also laid out new ties for the next switch on the line). The next photo below shows the second new switch, near the storage tracks at right. The original line is the track that veers left and cuts under the corner of the barn. This switch and the new siding use all new plastic ties and I also replaced several rotten ties on the original track in this area.

Finally, the photo below shows how the new track skirts the barn. I will be able to run a train without having to open up the barn doors. The new curves keep the LT&P minimum radius at 25 feet. The two siding tracks can each hold up to 30 feet of train.

We ran trains Saturday and did some minor switching on the north loop. It added interest to drop off and pick up cars. The LT&P now has six cars that can be used for switching. This new siding on the south loop will ease congestion where we normally pick up and drop off passengers, and make it easier in the event we have more than two trains -- a dream that has yet to turn into reality -- but keep your fingers crossed that will change within a couple of months.