Cementina Family Railroad (Part 1)

06 January 2023

Following the untimely passing of Dennis Cementina in 2022, the Cementina family reached out to the Central California Coast Garden Railroad Society for advice and assistance in completing the construction of the garden railroad Dennis had created at their Atascadero home.

CCCGRS members visited the Cementina family railroad in late December to assess the current condition of the layout, determine the work necessary to make the layout operational and the resources necessary to complete that work.

The current layout was not the first garden railroad Dennis had constructed, but several elements used in his San Luis Obispo garden railroad are repurposed in this north county layout when his family moved to Atascadero. The location of the layout, trackplan, plants and details all reflect Dennis’ creativity and attention to detail we all came to admire.

Dennis contributed to our group in multiple meaningful ways, and we are honored his family would allow us to respect his memory with this project. Watch for future updates on the completion of the Cementina Family Railroad over the next few weeks.

Dennis Cementina artistically sited his family’s garden railroad on a gently sloping hill adjacent to the backyard patio. The track plan makes excellent use of the available space with trestlework and a tunnel adding visual interest to the scene (Mark Edwards, image).
Ladder-style roadbed constructed of PVC maintains elevations and supports a portion of the trackwork (Mark Edwards, image).
Richard Harvey documents the elevation of the roadbed at four-foot intervals along the entire length of the garden railroad (Mark Edwards, image).
The elevation under the trestle and tunnel are tightly controlled to allow rolling stock to pass these fixed points (Mark Edwards, image).
This overview of the Cementina Family Railroad shows stakes identifying both the elevations and distance at known points around the railroad (Mark Edwards. image).