I first got interested in "G" scale outdoor garden railroading in late 80's, living on the Mendocino coast, with little indoor space, but lots of land. I was inspired by the California narrow gauge railroads, particularly the Carson and Colorado, and built the Big River Railroad as narrow gauge in half inch scale (1:24), constructing almost everything, including hand spiking my track. Over the next 17 years, the Big River Railroad evolved, with more motive power, rolling stock, and buildings. In 1995, I moved to San Diego and rebuilt the railroad there, where the railroad eventually ran all the way around the house.
In 2006 I retired, tore up everything, and sold it all to some friends. I was done with "G" scale. The problem was a conflict between what I was modeling and what resources I had for the model. Specifically, I was modeling prototypes that had about 100 miles of mainline, but I had less than 2 scale miles around the house. This meant that a modest train was already heading into the next siding before the caboose cleared the last siding. I decided my next railroad would take my limited physical reality into account.
In the prototype, industrial railroads can serve a real purpose with very little mainline, so that became my guide. Further, I wanted to haul real products, not pretend any more. I decided that hauling firewood would be my primary industry, and the railroad would be designed to suit that goal. "G" gauge track (45mm) was too narrow for actual firewood, so I decided to jump scales and build in 1" scale (1:12), with 3' gauge, since I like the look of narrow gauge equipment. The fact that no one is producing anything in that scale/gauge combination was actually a plus, since it meant I get to build everything myself.
Since 2006, we have moved twice, first to Port Townsend, WA after retirement, then to Ukiah, CA in 2012. Garden railroads were low on the priority list during that time, but only dormant, not extinct, as it turns out. While in Port Townsend, I hired a local machinist to produce axles and wheels for my new railroad, patterned from some "G" gauge wheel sets I had been using. I also bought 800' of code 332 brass rail. The Big River had run on code 250 aluminum rail, but this was fragile and too small for my new scale.
What finally got me going again was a casual comment my wife made in 2016, that she would like to see another railroad in the yard. That lit a fuse, and my new railroad was begun. We live in the westside neighborhood of Ukiah, so it is called the Westside Transfer Company.
The WTC uses arch bar trucks, link and pin couplers, and I picked a 5' minimum radius, to conserve space. That radius gives a #3 switch. WTC will be slow speed, with short trains. I have a 12' elevation rise from where we store the firewood to the deck outside the living room where it will be delivered.