The Alville & Captown Railroad
The Story

Conception, Design and Construction

In the beginning I was a gardener. In those early days it was not by choice, everyone in the family helped out. Later I became a model railroader. Then I found out that gardening and model railroading could be combined. Originally this started as a "just for fun" project spurred on by the gift of several copies of Garden Railways magazine from my brother, Frank. Later I thought that it should have a higher purpose. Considering the various skills needed and the end result I got to thinking about two important people in my life. So I decided that this project should be done to honor my father, a Signal Maintainer for the Soo Line Railroad, and my father-in-law, a Civil Engineer for State of Wisconsin. Both were Christians, family men, gardeners, woodworkers, hunters and fishermen. (These men never met each other as Dad died in 1958 and I did not meet my wife-to-be and her family until the mid 1960's.) A further purpose, the railroad provides a gathering place to have fun for family and friends. It is also a reminder of the people and industry that built many of the communities of this part of Wisconsin.

• North edge of USDA Zone 4. Some maps put us on the southern edge of Zone 3..
• Temperature range: -20°F to +105°F (I do remember a -40°F morning in the winter of 1964-65.)
• Soil type: Sandy loam several inches deep over sand
• Rain fall: Rarely over 1 in. per event
• Snow fall: Rarely over 4 in. per event
• Max snow depth: Rarely over 24 in. and decreasing (can you say "global warming'?)
• Location: Central, south, and west side of back yard
• Light: Full sun on the central area and south end, partial to full shade across the west side
• Available space: About 50 ft north-south x 50 ft east-west
• Grade: Pretty much level, ok it's flat but does slope down going from north to south, about 6 inches over 50 ft, that's a 1% grade.
• Nearest electrical connection: Under center of deck

Here is the current track plan:

The end result was the purchase of the Aristocraft 27 MHz Train Engineer and the Elite Switching Power Supply. I have added a second receiver and transmitter pair since I have two loops.

Got some Aristocraft brass track and switches, some new, some used on eBay and elsewhere. It looks well made. I also got some Split Jaw Rail Clamps to use where ever I put switches in the track. This was recommended on the Aristocraft forum. Switches need occasional maintenance so the clamps will make removal and replacement easy.

In mid-winter I ran across an article on the Web about pond siting. One statement in it said, "For all the work that goes into building a pond, you should put it where you can see it from the house most of the year". That made good sense. So I moved pond on the plan and also the location of the towns. This was a whole lot easier than digging a new pond and filling in the old one. Planning is a good thing to do. This was almost like starting over. I'm glad I did not get more construction done.

I volunteered to have my garden with an operating garden railroad around a pond on the tour for the North American Lily Society International Lily Show in July, 2006. A fixed deadline, July 15, for lots of projects.

Spring, 2006. Construction of the layout itself was preceded by 2 related projects, replacing the concrete in the driveway and building the pond. The old concrete from the driveway was used to construct a retaining wall to hold dirt excavated from the pond and build the stream bed that will feed the pond. It was also used for the construction of 2 tunnels for the train. Some dirt from digging the pond was used for fill in the driveway. About 600 marigolds were raised from seed in my green house and planted in the gardens and flowerbeds around the yard.

Summer, 2006. The pond was dug and lots of garden and flower bed work was completed. Next some track was laid. Many thanks to Margaret, my wife, and friend Lars for helping. 1 July, 2006 arrived quickly. Roadbed for the loop around the pond (the Captown loop) was started. On 14 July 2006 the first train was running. Only one problem was encountered - two pair of wires ran from the power supply to the track as 2 loops were planned but only one constructed at this time. I hooked up the wrong pair to the first loop. A quick swap of the wires and the train sprung to life. The tour was the next day. About 130 people visited. Most had never seen a garden railroad before.

On 9 August 2006 construction of the Alville loop began. The next day trains were running over the Alville loop with a temporary connection to the Captown loop.

Fall, 2006 was the construction of the Alville loop extension around the pond. 28 Sept 2006 marked the beginning of the roadbed preparation. On 10 Oct 2006 the grade crossing installed. People and the lawn mower need to safely cross the tracks. Someday signals will be installed here. Some snow fell in October but progress continued. Track was laid and the Alville extension was completed and operating. 24 Nov 2006 the Alville station siding is in place. By the end of November the Alville tunnels were completed except for portals.

Winter, 2006-2007. A wooden truss build bridge, the first of at least 3 bridges was built. Some of the boys in my Royal Ranger Outpost came to run trains and have a hot dog roast. To add to the fun I built several prototype buildings out of cardboard. These were industries so we could do some realistic switching.

Spring, 2007. Some landscape with plants around the pond and on and around the hills through which the tunnels pass was done. Also some finishing of areas of track that was laid earlier was done.

Summer, 2007. This brought the lengthening of the Alville loop along the west side and to the north. Construction of the train shed has started.

Fall, 2007. Finished most of the trainshed and Alville loop north extension.

Winter, 2007-2008. Built a short a deck bridge. Started building a rotary snowplow.

Spring, 2008. Installed bridge between the tunnels.

Summer, 2008. Extended the Alville loop north extension farther north.

Winter, 2008-2009. Built a prototype turntable of all wood. Final version will be made of composite plastic-wood material to stand up to rain and snow. Built 3 more tunnel portals.

Spring, 2009. Finally got the ridge cover on the train shed. Turntable was installed as were the new tunnel portals. Plastic rail was installed in the trainshed for storage tracks. Electrical panel for power control to the trainshed tracks was installed. A real door replaced the 1x8 board that was being used.

Summer, 2009. Added a 2 track siding for the logging camp area and a track that runs through the trainshed.