John's Alaska Railroad HO Scale Layout V2.0

 

It took 18 years to completely build my HO scale Alaska Railroad layout. Long story short, we sold our house and had to tear it all down in one evening. Yes, in one evening! Unfortunately, I had to throw away the scenery, track, wiring, risers and cork road bed.

In November of 2016 my daughter Anne expressed a strong desire to have her son (my grandson) see my trains run at Christmas. I wasn't able to make it happen, but seeds were planted... read more.

And now to the details. The layout diagram is shown below and clicking on it will reveal a "super sized" image. The next section gives a blow-by-blow photo journal report of the work as it progresses. Enjoy!

Layout Design

Layout Design V2.0

 

Current Layout Overview (as of 2/6/25)
Overview Overview
Looking northeast: Whittier and Portage depot Looking southeast: Anchorage and most industries
Overview Overview
Unlabeled panoramic Label panoramic

And the movie

 

Here are the photos from past months:

 

And the current work in progress:

June 11, 2025
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Rick made an improvement to the deadman switches at the swing gate by installing quick disconnects.

The reed switch powering the diesel and passenger car tracks broke again. This time Rick chose to replace it with a toggle switch. He ran out of time to connect all the wires, but will finish next week.

 With more yard track is available, John dug through the boxes under the table and began pulling out more railcars. He snagged four coal hoppers as well as this rotary unit.

 

June 18, 2025
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Chicken strips, mashed taters and salad were mighty fine, but the pièce de résistance of the meal was strawberry shortcake with fresh berries. Summer is here, my friends!

Rick spent the evening fighting wiring problems with the new stub tracks in the Anchorage yard. He replaced the reed switch with a SPDT toggle switch, but can't seem to get the correct resistance/power readings.

 John continued to unearth more rail cars from the storage boxes under the bench work. This weathered Jordan spreader will make a fine addition as well as these four coal hoppers.

 

June 25, 2025
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After a huge wrestling match with the electrical wiring, Rick finally subdued the pesky gremlins and got the new Anchorage stubs working correctly.

Here is Rick's drawing for the SPDT toggle switch which controls power to the diesel yard, and passenger car/stub tracks.

 Video: Now that the wiring issues were fixed, Rick ran the rotary plow around the layout. This video captured the snowfleet at TwentyMile.
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Video: Here is the rotary entering the Anchorage yard. Check out the rotating fan blades!

John purchased an identical 60' TTX flat car #98101 that hauled John Deere tractors. He plans on loading it with two smaller tractors he and Terry purchased at the John Deere headquarters in Moline, Illinois.

 Rick finished the evening cleaning the wheels of six locomotives.

 

Feel free to contact me at john@alaskarails.org
Page created 9/4/17 and last updated 6/26/25