The Hodgepodge & Whimsy sits peacefully in a flat, sunny area approximately 100' by 50'.  It is located on what was once a dull, unimaginative, and boring bermuda grass lawn that had to be mowed constantly.  Now instead of spending an hour a week mowing grass, we are able to spend 6-8 hours per week pulling weeds (and bermuda grass), cleaning track, watering, spraying, repairing stuff, and filling numerous bird feeders.  Oddly enough, the gardening is just as enjoyable as working with the trains.  This is no doubt a sign of old age.

The railroad consists of 1200 feet of standard Aristocraft brass track.  Minimum curves are four-foot radius; most curves are 5 foot or 10-foot radius.  All track is screwed together except at the LGB turnouts, where LGB rail joiners or brass Hillman rail clamps are used.  Wire jumpers are used on all LGB switches to provide electrical continuity along the tracks.

The track is laid on real railroad crossties placed end to end on top of the existing lawn.  The track design was originally determined by placing crossties all around the yard until a suitable layout was determined.  This made our neighbors very curious and very nervous for several months.  The crossties were cut as needed with a chainsaw (not fun, average 6 cuts then buy a new chain), then elevated and stacked as needed to give the desired curves and changes in elevation.  The ends of the crossties were not cut to fit the ends together where the track curved, except for two half circles for a standard 20 foot diameter curved track.  Other curves in each track were made so that standard radius sections of track could be used without modification and still basically fit on top of the crossties.

Plastic sheeting was placed over the existing lawn to control the existing bermuda grass, then fill dirt was brought in and placed as needed once all the cross ties were in place.  Initial plans called for sloping the dirt from ground level to the top of the cross ties, but this looked so unrealistic that more dirt was brought in until the dirt was level with the tops of all crossties.  Instead of the planned use of 15-20 yards of topsoil for the Hodgepodge and Whimsy Garden Railroad, over 160 yards of soil were ultimately required.  This made our garden railroad very similar to a government project - over budget and way behind schedule.

Once the track was laid, 8-10 gravel was used as ballast to level and secure the track.  Early attempts using chicken grit gave poor results as the grit quickly washed out from rain and the sprinkler system.  Power was applied to the track at 50-foot intervals to assure continuous electrical pickup over the entire track.

The rail layout is composed of three separate loops of track connected by electrically operated turnouts.  Each loop is electrically isolated from the other loops to allow independent train operation on each loop.  A fourth loop is currently under final construction, waiting on the actual laying of the track.

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