2-26-2000  Before it all began.  It was just a patch of grass in front of the pool.  At the time, I don't think my was to interested in the idea but I had the fever and there was no stopping.  So she agreed to loose this piece of grass, 25 x 20.

3-28-2000  After a hard month of sod removal (also know as blister work) and dirt moving, the ground was ready for some track.

4-18-2000  The first loop of track is laid and the first bridge installed.  It was a tough 6 or 7 weeks but when your motivated, it can't happen fast enough.

04-13-2001  The first steamup of the 2001 season.  As you can see the pool and deck, just to the left of the greenhouse, is still in place.  Ideas were already forming.  This would be the year the pool was removed and that opened up a whole new are for expansion!

4-14-2001  The deck and pool area behind the Garden railway.  Just waiting for the Phase 2 expansion of the DC&H.

4-25-2001  The right of way has been cleared.

5-7-2001  The pool expansion had begun and Fred came up with the idea to put a tunnel under the wife's flower bed for the Northern access to Phase 2.  Worked out to be a great idea!

May 2001 - With the right of way approved and cleared, the expansion took on a whole new urgency.  Looking back I am really surprised at how quickly things got done.  I don't remember having that much energy!  The first loop of track in the expansion is laid and a new waterfall and pond have been installed.

06-19-2001  I believe I had committed myself to an open house for G-Day 2001 and the pool expansion (phase 2 or maybe 4) moved quickly ahead.  Somewhere in that process and additional deck was build as a gathering place to sit and watch the trains go by.  You will see it in the pictures to follow.

08-2001  To be honest, I am not sure of the exact date of G-Day 2001.  However,  it was a great day on the DC&H.  The layout was looking great, we had lots of live steamers there and phase 2 was well under why.

The pond had really added a nice tough to the layout.  It gave the trains someplace to go and made for some great pictures.

06-2002  Some time during the summer an inner loop was added.  So now we could run on the 80 foot long loop and the 50 foot long loop at the same time.  Switches were added to tie the two loops together.

2002 - We sure got a lot of good use out of that deck.  Food and drinks and a lot of bull shitting went on here.

09-06-2003  With a majority of the track work done or concerns turned to foliage.

Lots more miniature trees and ground cover was added.

A few more buildings were added as well as another side line that gave the layout more of a wandering feeling.

10-11-2003  This was the year that I finally got my wife involved.  She had been into the gardening all along.  Then one day she saw this Bumblebee C-16 and said "If I was going to get a live steam engine, that is what I would want.".  I couldn't let that one get past me so I secretly order one for her birthday.

Little did I know that the Winds of change were about to blow.

03-05-04  My selection of engines continued to expand as live steam because my primary mode of railroading.

More engines and more landscaping were the mantras of the day.

October 2004  The last steamup of the DC&H southern line.  Little did I know that 2004 would be the last year for the DC&H Southern line.  It was the year I had the fewest steamups and the year I did the least amount of work on the layout.

The track marshal was on had and as usual, there were no incidents.

The good times ended here but were getting ready to start just 45 minutes north!

After all the good times and the untold number of work hours spent to get the layout the way we wanted it, it was hard to see it dismanteled.

Here you see SteamTom1 taking great care not to bend up my track couplers!

A little cleanup before storage.  the track would soon find a new home.