This is about the time that the neighbors begin to wonder just what we are up to.
We got all three tracks in place. We ran trains. We contemplated and navel gazed for a bit. We decided we were really going to do this. And then…
…we got to work. The large blob of deadness in the fore ground will be a water feature and where our mini-Great Dismal Swamp Canal starts.
Our buddy, the roto-tiller. It is a bit of a Herculean task for what is actually an attachment for our weed eater, but it is performing admirably. Following the “dead zone” of our track layout, we are first going along and tearing through the grass layer followed by tilling down through the dirt to get a trench that is approximately one foot wide and a half foot deep. Our topsoil layer is surprisingly thin, digging very much past six inches and we are into clay.
We also ran into a lot of subterranean surprises… 
…the roots maybe not so much unexpected. Our water line going to the house that was not where the “Call Before You Dig” folks indicated was a definite surprise. Fortunately it was PVC pipe so a quick trip to the hardware store for pieces parts and it was repaired.
Dismal Creek Railroad 