WELCOME TO THE
MOJAVE DESERT
and
SOUTHWEST MOUNTAINS
RAILROAD
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In the summer of 2003, I began preparing space in my yard for what I would soon thereafter call The Mojave Desert and Southwest Mountains Railroad. The 40 foot by 12 foot side yard along the west side of my house would, for a very short time, become the home of my G-scale (1:24) garden railroad. The original layout was a modified oval. A trestle bridge crossed a dry creek bed in two places and a six foot long pony truss bridge spanned a small pond. Plans were for a second small loop to circle the pond. This would be a trolley line that would service the community at Lee's Mill Pond.
Pictures of the original layout (Phase 1) can be viewed here.
It did not take long to realize that the space I had chosen for my first layout did not give me the room I needed for comfortable operation. So in June of 2004, I decide to move the Mojave Desert and Southwest Mountains Railroad from the west yard to the east yard. The east yard gave me space for a double loop, the outside track having an 11.5 foot diameter, with at least three feet of walk around room. The layout rounded the corner of my house from the east yard into the main yard on the south side of the house. Originally, an 11 x 11 foot patio filled the far corner of the yard providing a place from which to run the trains with full view of all the track.
Construction photos of Phase 2 can be viewed here.
I was basically happy with how things were progressing on the new layout until I started sketching track plans for the remainder of the yard that had been conscripted into layout use. I soon discovered that I didn 't have the space I wanted for the diameter track I had envisioned. My sketching resulted in a major redesign of two thirds of the yard. Phase 3 design and construction process are recorded beginning here.
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Last updated November 17, 2007.