John's Alaska Railroad HO Scale Layout

July 10, 2024

John began work filling in scenery in the gap between Terry's cabin and the hobo camp. First, the tree trunks were glued to the table. The corresponding trees can be seen at the bottom of the photo. John began putting in ground tundra, but soon ran out. Two more 48 Oz. Eco Packs (#EX882E) were ordered.	The SD70MACs frequently derail on the inner rail of the swing gate track. Rick found this was due to the humps in the gear box clip. In the photo above, he is pointing out one of the three humps.	Video: In this video, the SD70MAC can be seen jolting as the hump hits the pointed end of the inner rails.

Video: The fix requires two procedures. First, Rick uses the Dremel grinder to lower the height of the inner rail.	Second, he uses epoxy to help the inner rail lay down against the ties. A DeWalt tools container serves as a weight while the epoxy dries.	Video: The Athearn SD70MACs also derail at other points along the layout. Of the three axles on each truck, the center one does not have as much play so Rick drilled out the side frame plate on both sides.

Video: Rick did lots of test runs and found the derailment problems almost completely went away. The only derailment was one time at the double crossover. Rick also took the opportunity to reapply the nail polish at the inner rails of the double crossover.	Rick swapped out the wheel sets on caboose 1090 thus fixing yet another problem. Rick also noted AM-1 #2 had a circuitry issue. He cycled power to it and the problem cleared.	Jackie began work on the front section of the "Flowers at Eppley's Curve." First, she applied Mod Podge over the ground cover where flowers were to be added.

She adds fine leaf-flake flowers of Lavender, Pink Petunia, Buttercup and Orange Blossom plus Fuchsia stick-on flowers. Next week, she will fill in the area with birch and pine trees.	Her work is now complete. Here is an aerial view.	Trackside photo #1

Trackside photo #2

July 17, 2024

Video: The Indiana grandsons visited for seven days and one of the top items on their "to do" list was to run the train. Engineer Lincoln ran a GP49 pulling a rare passenger/freight combination. He enjoyed stopping at all the buildings to let passengers on and off of the train.	Video: Engineer Liam chose an F7 in the old DOT passenger blue and yellow paint scheme and new paint scheme caboose (why let reality get in the way of a good story) and brought three tank cars loaded with crude oil into the refinery at North Pole.	Liam asked if he could build something on the layout. Why yes, of course! He tackled the bare area between his grandma's cabin and the hobo camp. He carefully "painted" Mod Podge over the surface, being careful to cover all empty surfaces with a thick layer.

Next, he spread a thick layer of tundra over the glue. Afterward, he pressed the tundra firmly into the glue and checked for any missed spots.	After he completed the first section, he tackled the remaining area. Care was taken to cover the bases of the tree trunks.	Once the glue dried, the excess tundra was removed via the vacuum. Now the tress were reinserted. Click here for a view slightly to the south of this scene.

Video: Rick spent most of train night working the SD70MAC derailment problems. As can be seen here the wheels slipped of the rails. He plans on replacing this section of the track to see if it will help. Check at the bottom of this table for a summary of SD70MAC issues.	Jackie returned to finish her "Flower Power" section. She tried to drive a nail into the scenery base, but was largely unsuccessful. It was then realized this second section of base was made of plywood and not Styrofoam.	Rick came to the rescue by drilling holes in all locations requiring birch and spruce trees. Jackie was able to easily slide the trees into place.

Here is a trackside view of her completed work. Patrick Durand sent us a very nice note regarding the scene. "Hats off to Jackie and crew on the flower garden. You guys have done a great job of blending the foreground vegetation into the background photos. You have kept the scale and color gradients in believable values. The mind just goes along with your suggestions and there is nothing out of place to distract the eye. That is an art!"	Jackie added birch and dark spruce trees to the Boy Scout campsite as well as the field across the stream. This simple addition help bring continuity to all scenes, thus eliminating its previous block-ish appearance.	Trackside photo of the field across the stream.
Summary of SD70MAC issues: 4001 (Kato) - no problems 4011 (Athearn) - problem with curve south of TwentyMile and mountain, in both forward and reverse, clockwise and counter clockwise 4014 (Kato) - good on curve south of TwentyMile, derails under mountain, backwards and clockwise 7002 (Athearn) - good on curve south of TwentyMile, derails under mountain

July 24, 2024

In the past, John's layout tools and scenery materials were scattered on the floor in boxes in a little nook. It was very difficult to step through the boxes to locate the correct one. To solve the problem, he purchased a rolling shelf unit. Unfortunately, one of the casters would not insert into the frame. Rick did some modification efforts and made it function correctly. Next, a piece of plywood was put underneath so the shelf unit can roll smoothly. Now it is easy for John to locate needed items. The final step will be the purchase a set of clear boxes which will be labeled with the contents.	Rick wanted to build walls in the tunnel so the track side videos looked more realistic. He cut small sections of cardboard and painted it black.	Two wall sections were installed at the entrance to the northern portal. A test run determined Ultradome passenger cars brushed up against the walls, so they were moved slightly away from the track. Rick will install more sections in the coming weeks.

SD70MAC #4011 derails on the curve south of TwentyMile. John made a trip to Robbie's Hobbies in Columbus and picked up five 30-inches sections of nickle silver code 100 flex track. Shown above is the old section of track being removed.	Rick took two new pieces of track, laid them straight and soldered them together. This will keep the sections from bending out of gauge at the joiners. Next, he installed the new pieces of track by tacking them into place.	Video: A trial run showed SD70MAC #4011 no longer derailed on the curve. Success!

Video: Smooth as glass!	Track side photo #1: Whittier depot	Track side photo #2: The Boy Scouts cross the field and creek bridge to arrive back at camp.

Track side photo #3: Boy Scout campsite	Track side photo #4: The Flower Field at Eppley's Curve	Many thanks to Casey Durand for making this 100th anniversary car for me. This was originally an undecorated Walthers Pullman-Standard Single Door Auto Parts Boxcar Part # 910-3350 60. He painted the boxcar dark blue, applied his 100th anniversary decals and then added graffiti "I love #3015."

July 31, 2024

Grandson Shane stopped by the house for the day and running trains was definitely on his agenda. The SD70M demonstrator unit delivered logs to various locations on the railroad as part of future construction projects. Conductor Harry is in the caboose taking a nap.	Afterward, Engineer Shane celebrated with steaming hot plates of dead fly pizza. Insects are considered highly nutritional; the majority of them are rich in protein, healthy fats, iron, and calcium, and low in carbohydrates.	Two of the SD70MACs are derailing somewhere under the mountain. Rick crawled under the bench work for an eye level view. He soon located the approximate location where the derailments took place.

Reconnaissance required multiple hands so Rick taped a mirror in place, took a flashlight in one hand and Xuron Track Cutters in the other, and probed the problem area.	Video: Rick modified his test track car to house a tilted GoPro thus giving a video view of the problem.	Video: If you watch the video closely, you will see the kink in the curve. Tom Koole knew we were building a level over top of this curve, so he laid the track carefully. However, the track kinked over time due to either settlement of the layout or temperature expansion of the rails.

Rick used the taped mirror to grab a reflected photo of the rail kink. Correcting this kink will be no small matter. Access from above would require cutting out the overhead layer of plywood on which two tracks were laid. It ain't happenin'.	Rick's solution will be to design a wood block mounted next to the kink which is held in place with screws from below. One or two adjustment screws will come in from the side to push the kink back into place.

Feel free to contact me at john@alaskarails.org
Page created 9/4/17 and last updated 8/1/24