The MANNM (Mike, Ann, Michael) Railroad has been a work in progress for many years. The concept of our own backyard railway started in 2003, but it was not until 2006 that construction began. Today, the layout is nearing completion. All of the heavy construction and masonry work is finished; plants, lighting, buildings, and some electric work have yet to be completed. There are many progress pictures in the tabs to the left and I hope that some of these pictures will help anyone who is building their own railway.
The layout is designed as a "wedding cake" where no two tracks are on the same tier of the cake. We have six tracks (so six tiers) that cross over and under each other, a rack railway that weaves its way through the layout, and a point to point line. Three waterfalls feed 130' of stream beds into two collecting ponds. All but two of the tracks run inside the stream beds. The plan was to make the railroad so that you would never see one train the whole time because it would run under or behind another train track. One moment you might see no trains running, and the next there will be seven trains in view. The observer will see something completely different from every angle.
Another important aspect of the railroad is that even if there are no trains running, there will still be plenty to look at. The running water travels through an array of colored rock and rolling terrain. It was important that the trains not overwhelm the area. This may seem a little strange at first considering it is a "train" layout. However, I wanted the viewer to see a beautiful area with plants and running water, that just so happened to have trains passing through it. A lot of time was spent on the design of the railroad and every track was carefully positioned to get the desired affect.
There is no
particular theme to the railroad because I like to run trains that I
like, without being restricted to a specific era. We have everything
from American logging with the Shay line to a European section with the
Rack railway, Orient Express and RhB trains. Main lines one and two have
large sweeping curves and over 180' each of track so I can run almost
anything I want. We have even included history from hometown Riverside
including the rain cross, Mt. Rubidoux, and soon to be built Santa Fe
station.
I am very proud to see this layout from design to where it is today. I hope that some of the ideas displayed here will inspire your very own garden railroad.