The Big Meadow Railroad

by Mike, Tanner and Carson

Here is a portion of a nice email and some photos I received from Mike and his grandsons. He uses 2 mainlines - one for each grandson, which I think is a great idea. His letter and pictures are as follows:

This is our first venture and we are having fun putting it together. I think I mentioned the layout is 5x10 feet and I keep it in the garage. I devised a double pulley system to lower it to the floor and raise it to the rafters. That way my wife can park her car in the garage under the layout. I use an electric winch to raise and lower the layout. Yep, I also installed safety straps.

The layout is named "Big Meadow Railroad." The layout is divided into four sections. The first section (mountain/tunnel) has a cabin on the top with a corral. It is called "Horse Corral".

The second section (ranch) is called "Nuchols Ranch" after my grandsons.

The third section is the town of "Big Meadows".

The fourth section (waterfall flows into a lake) and is called "Big Boulder Falls and Lake."

As you can see I have mocked up the roads, buildings, etc. to make sure everything fit as planned. So far so good. I am a retired Sheriff's Captain so you will see in the lower left hand corner next to the Orange orchard, I have a county jail with inmates. Just had to do it!!! My grandsons get a kick out of it.

The outer track is oval and a Lionel Santa Fe Freight train runs on it. The inner track is a figure eight and an Lionel Alaska Freight/Work train runs on it. All track is Lionel Fastrack.

Again, thank you for all your help.
Mike (Grandfather)
Tanner ( 9 year old grandson)
Carson ( 6 year old grandson)

February 20, 2010

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