That mound of dirt is starting to look like a garden railroad! With my trusty assistant, Ryder, we laid track for the first time today. It was a beautiful February day, though just 30 degrees at our start time of 8 am. By afternoon, I was in shirtsleeves and a bit sunburned. The track was powered up and a locomotive did the first test run. Ryder reported that the work was hard, but that made it fun!

I moved earth last spring, but summer and fall got away from me, and the railroad didn't happen. For the coming months, I expect that the McGuire-Henkel-Dunbar line will be limited to basic service in a rustic desert setting.

Learning how to bend the rails

Learning how to join sections of rail. We used six foot long track sections

Working out the curve for the bridge approach

Stock is rolling

Technical:

• Proline flexible brass track from Trainli
• For bending the rails we used Trainli's DuoTrak Rail Bender
• MRC Track power controller from Only Trains