The first step in your new garden railroad is to plan the layout and design of your garden railroad track.
There are many, many ways to lay your garden railroad track outdoors, none of them right or wrong. We prefer using a method similar to that of full-size railroads.
Dig a trench 2"-3" deep along the line where you want your track to go. Fill the trench up to the level of the bottom of the ties with crusher fines, decomposed granite, or some other crushed rock. Do NOT use pea gravel or squeegee. This is river rock, and the stones are round. They will roll against each other and against the track, and are unable to securely hold the track in position. Crushed rock has "teeth" and, when tamped, will lock against itself and the track.
Tamp the ballast with a stick or a brick to seat it and level it. Place the track in position, level it up, and fill the trench with more ballast. The top of the ties should be even with the top of the trench. Tamp the ballast around the ties until it is firm. Do this with a stick, and take your time. It will take a while to properly ballast and tamp, but this is time well spent. After all, enjoying your garden and landscaping is the motive behind the "work".
Track will change with the seasons. It will contract in the winter and expand in the summer. The ballast method allows the track to move freely, eliminating the buckling rails and broken ties of track rigidly fixed to a wooden or concrete base. Also, if you live in the frost belt, frost heave will move the track around, perhaps necessitating a once-a-year realignment. Ballasted track makes this an easy operation.
What's the minimum radius track I should use?
Most trains will negotiate the smallest radius available, which is LGB's #1100 curved track. This is 2' in radius, making a 4'-diameter circle. However, this is far too tight for realistic operation. A general rule of thumb is to use the largest radius you have room for.
Aristo-Craft has track that is 10' radius, making a 20' circle. Though this is a matter of opinion, I feel that a radius of 7' or 8' is about the minimum on which a train will begin to look realistic going around it, and then only if the rolling stock is fairly small. Large stock needs larger-radius curves. If you use flex track, you can make the track go where you want it to, and not be constrained by the pre-made curvature of sectional track.
