Castle Rising

Today, I got a bit more done on the castle. 

It doesn't look like much from here… but

 When you get closer the base of the castle rises up from the ground. Below you can see where the train will run over and around

Im need some sunshiny days so I can work with cement and start building the walls. There will be two stories to this castle. Tall enough for a 16" doll to stand up inside. Now that most of the hauling of big rocks is done, I will begin using the flatter ones I saved just for this.
  This morning I also got the low side of the pond built up about 2" higher, so I could put more water in there. The fish love it now. It looks fantastic. Don't you think?

Castle Fondation

This is about all I'll get done today as I just got rained out. However, The foundation for the castle has been started, and another strip has been cleared of grass, and covered to prevent it coming back in here.

My Lilacs spread the wrong way, and I'll have to move that bush, but after it quits blooming. So here is todays pictures. I will have to get a small solar to keep the water moving in this pond, when I add some goldfish. First I need a clear day to begin the cementing rocks together for the castle walls. A little bit each day and it will get finished, and the train will run.

Second loop

Here is where the second loop will begin {and be connected somehow in the middle to the other loop).
It will start here next to the pond. {On the left side}

Travel around the mini honeysuckle bush

 come back in and around the church

 And cross the track in the middle where there will be a wooden foot bridge over this cross over.

 The pond will be next to the castle that I will be building out of rock. The train crosses the pond and runs next to the base of the castle on a short incline.

As the train runs down hill a little it will circle around the cherry tree

This is the middle section I haven't got figured out yet.

Once the rock is moved and used to build the castle I hope to get   the layout completed.
I have five boxes of flex track left to play with along with an assortment of odd pieces. There is enough to circle the formal gardens and I think that is what I will do. That or run the train around the koi pond, and I just might do that instead. Depends on how much of the summer is left at that time.
  Well, it's a start so what do you think? Any thoughts, ideas? Please leave me a comment, Encouragement would be nice as well. lol.

designing the layout

I am designing the track layout, and decided the easiest way was to actually lay the track in place to see how it would look and if it would fit. I have two loops laid out and need to connect them in the middle of the section.
First loop….   Follow the track around….

This is where the train depot will be in the empty spot

 Then it will run through a tunnel alongside the outer track line where you would cross over it when you came into the garden through the gate. Runs to the right of the outside track

 I have not decided how I connect it in the middle yet.

 But it picks back up around where the alcove is that will be coming down.

 Here is where the train will run though a tunnel made up of the juniper bush.

 it will come out next to the fence on the right side  now

 There will be two tracks running here as one will go into a shed/cover where the train will stay out of the weather, and the other will be a straight run along side the cover. That way I won't have to always run thought the shed.

At long last

The railway is now a work in progress. I have dug this side of the garden at least 4 times, and the grass has grown back in spades. So, now I'm laying landscaping cloth, after I dig the roots yet again. I have found this to work in the formal garden, so I'm going to use it here as well. This way at least I have a fighting chance of staying ahead of the root growth, and keeping the railway clear of grass and weeds.

This is how it looked to begin with…..

And the start of digging….

This was the last I did today…..
The pond that will be next to the castle is in the ground, and some of the ground cloth is laid. The castle will be built to one side of the pond {not sure yet}. But now I can start building the castle and extend the cloth covered sections  to either side. This will take some time, but should be a lot of fun creating. That pile of rock has mostly flat sides that was saved for this purpose. I will add some little goldfish to this pond to keep the biting bugs down. I want to plant little cattails, and bog irises  in one end to add color.
  Now to start piling up the rock and creating the "hill" the castle will be built on. There is way to m ugh work to be done in a day, but I hope by the end of the summer I have it well on it's way to being done.Check back to see how it's going.