August 4, 2021
Swing gate construction Swing gate construction
Swing gate construction
Although Terry and I are gone to Alaska for two weeks Rick continues work on the swing gate. He designs and constructs several wooden pieces as well as rounding corners using router bit. This side view shows the latch (left piece) which will swing down to allow the gate to open and the bottom L positioning piece with two adjustment screws. This top view shows the open gate position as well as the adjustment screws.
Fascia repair Fascia repair Swing gate
Rick repairs the fascia located just east of the swing gate..... .....as well as the swing gate's fascia. This shows the swing gates latch closed position as well as the temporary release pin. Rick will eventually construct a brass pin.
Swing gate adjustment screws
 Swing gate Train shirts
Shown here are the adjustment screws. The one on the bottom controls the up and down track position while the other controls movement to the north. For more swing gate construction photos click here. All this may be difficult to visualize so the above video explains the swing gate operation. I am dubbing this effort "The Final Fix" for the swing gate. Twins Shane and Cody are here for train night so we make a quick cameo shot with our train shirts. From left to right: Rick, Shane, John and Cody. Terry is out in front.
Train shirts Train shirts  

Rick also adds Keep-Alives to F7 #1510 and MP-15s #1551 and #1552.

 Rick finishes adding Keep-Alives to all three of the SD70MACs.  

 

August 11, 2021
Inner scenery backdrop painting by David Inner scenery backdrop painting by David Inner scenery backdrop painting by David
David continues to paint the inner scenery backdrop. When I comment the section between Portage and TwentyMile appears complete he says it still needs more tweaking. Really? He adds yet another layer to the mountains between Alaska Marine Lines and the double track. Even more tweaking occurs along the double track.
Inner scenery backdrop painting by David Eppley's curve
Eppley's curve
He finishes the session using some of the leftover paint to apply a wash at TwentyMile bridge. Bowed plywood underneath the "Smooth as Glass" curve causes Ultradome passenger cars to uncouple. Rick solves the problem by placing a length of wooden board beneath the plywood directly below the track and screwing them together. Indeed this forces the plywood flat. Legs are added below the board for added support. The CEO immediately renames the section of track to "Eppley's Curve." An eight car Ultradome consist successfully travels both directions through the curve without uncoupling. A video of the run was thought to be made, but the CEO failed to successfully press the RECORD button.

 

August 18, 2021
Status panel Status panel Status panel
On larger layouts RailPro recommends dividing it into segments to aid in troubleshooting. Clayton's Alaska Railroad has seven segments which are color coded as per our original design drawing. A segment is controlled by one of six CB-1s or AR-1 and has an LED to indicate status. Getting down on hands and knees to check this status LED is a real pain in the butt. Rick created a wooden status panel which houses an LED for each CB-1/AR-1. Underneath each LED is a color square which corresponds to the segment per our original design drawing. Tonight Rick runs wiring for the first three LED status lights. He picks the longest runs to do first (Anchorage Yard - purple, Port of Whittier - yellow, Usibelli Coal Mine and Flint Hills Refinery - cyan). As these wires are being run after construction completion Rick must move lots of stored boxes and foam remnants. Yup, this takes a lot of time and effort. By the end of the evening three LEDs are indicating their status on the newly created status board. Next week Rick will run wires for the remaining four LEDs each of which are shorter runs. Maybe he will have time to mount the status board as well?
Passneger train Passenger train
Max
Since I messed up video recording last week we decided to give it another try. This video shows an eight car Ultradome consist pulled by two MU'ed SD70MACs smoothly traveling through Eppley's Curve. RailPro provides speed matching of MU'ed locomotives so the load is equally shared. As an added bonus I took some video of the same consist passing smoothly through the double crossover. Construction foreman Max patrols the layout in search of technical issues. He finds none which reflects on the quality of the workmanship provided by each member of our crew.

 

August 25, 2021
Wilderness Express Painting the backdrop Status panel
I supplied master modeler Casey Durand with a McKinley Explorer Ultradome and a Wilderness Express decal set. His time and skill produced this beautiful passenger car. Now all three commercial tour company rail cars roam the rails at Clayton's Alaska Railroad. David was here on Monday and spent several hours working on the inner scenery backdrop along the inside curve. Rick spent a majority of train night on his back running wiring for the RailPro status panel. All wires on now in place.
Status panel    
The finished panel has a single light for each of the CB-1s and a pair of lights for the AR-1. Rails were shorted out for each segment and the corresponding LED turned off. When a train exited the AR-1 segment one of the two LEDs went off while the other lit up. As a final note, the status panel has a long connecting wire so it can be turned around or even placed on a tripod.    

 

 

 

 

Feel free to contact me at john@alaskarails.org
Page created 9/4/17 and last updated 8/26/21