Family Garden Trains
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A reader writes:

I HAVE A 10 FT X 6 FT KIDNEY SHAPE in my front yard I would like to make a train garden. thinking about an outside loop and a figure eight in the middle. Would like to review other kidney or dogbone shape layout plans

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Sorry, I don't have any great plan resources. Most books of HO plans focus on having extensive switching capabilities and things, so they're not the helpful either. Some folks lay a garden hose where they think the track should go to try to visualize it.

I assume you've seen this article: https://familygardentrains.com/primer/w ... bility.htm

If you're going to stick with the present dimensions, you'll be looking at 5' diameter curves for the outside loop and 4'-diameter curves for the inside loop. Which means you won't be running anything really big.


Is there any way you could get the outside loop, say a foot off the ground, and the inside track a little higher, just to add vertical interest?

The roadbed recommendations I have in this article will be helpful whether your track is raised or not.

https://www.familygardentrains.com/prim ... _posts.htm

Best of luck, please let me know if you run into any snags I might be able to help with.