Find out what's cooking
in December at
John's Alaska Railroad web page
Admin: Merry Christmas, Happy Hanukkah, Happy Kwanzaa, and Happy Holidays! - 12/25/24Rosters: Here are more William A. Gibson, Jr. photos. First, is a photo of #901 (second photo). It is from the William Gibson collection and was probably obtained from Robert Graham. Here are some nice sharp photos of #554, #556, #561, #562, two of SW1's #1201 and #1204, RF1A #1074, RSD-1 #1041 and RS-1 #1000. - 12/23/24Modeling: Here is a "heads up" to all you N scale modelers - Zscale Monster Trains has 40' 3-Bay Rib-Side Heap Shield Hoppers in four different road numbers. - 12/23/24Admin: I received some Alaska Railroad gifts at my family's Christmas - A book, "All Aboard The Alaska Train," a 2025 calendar and two post cards. - 12/23/24Picture of the Week: Holiday Train 2024 - 12/23/24News: Riding the rails with Santa on the Alaska Railroad Holiday Train - 12/22/24Modeling: John and Rick team up on scenery work to install the guardrail at "Steve Booth Way" plus begin installation of the rock wall at the mountain's south portal. Rick also ran a record number of sixteen passenger cars on my HO Alaska Railroad layout. - 12/19/24Rosters: A few more William A. Gibson, Jr. photos: Rail Diesel Bus #212, MotoRailer #214 and 2-8-0 #551 - 12/18/24Bibliography: Passenger Car Magazine (Railroad Passenger Car Alliance) has two articles - North To Alaska, A Different Kind of American Railroad and Alaskan Steam Loco Restoration Nearing Completion - 12/17/24Picture of the Week: P31 cab car in Nenana - 12/16/24Modeling: John creates "Steve Booth Way" while Rick fine tunes freight and passenger cars on my HO Alaska Railroad layout. - 12/12/24Picture of the Week: RSD-1 #1027 in Anchorage in 1956 - 12/9/24News: Wrapped locomotives - 12/6/24Modeling: Jeff McCrea checked out this week's edition of my HO Alaska Railroad layout and suggested my grandsons should use a Schnabel to transport the M&M candies. I wasn't familiar with this so I did a little research and found this awesome YouTube video. I learned something today. - 12/6/24Admin: Ron Petrich is trying to find a Kato N scale 4-car or 6-car (106-091) set for sale. Let me know if you have one for sale or can find a reasonably price set online. - 12/6/24Rosters: Casey Durand captures photos of the northbound barge train and the PTC Test train. - 12/6/24Bibliography: Adding All Aboard the Alaska Train to the book bibliography section. Also, a "heads up" that a Leo King photo of F7P #150, circa 1970 is featured in the Winter 2024 issue of Classic Trains. - 12/6/24
Rosters: Casey Durand grabbed some detailed photographs of the freshly wrapped SD70MAC #4130. Any idea why the panel connecting to the sun shade is light blue instead of dark blue? - 12/6/24News: Gold Spike for auction at Christies - 12/6/24Modeling: Thanksgiving grandsons run trains while Rick continues tunnel wall work and restoring GP40 #3009 wheel gauge on my HO Alaska Railroad layout. - 12/5/24Rosters: Robert Krol captures a foggy night at Portage. - 12/3/24No.
557 Info: Engine 557’s 2024 Fund Raising Campaign – On “Giving Tuesday,” December 3, the official Engine 557 2024 fund raising campaign was kicked off. Two board members have made a $20,000 in matching contribution challenge for a dollar-for-dollar match for each contribution. Please consider contributing and having your contribution doubled. Click here to find out more about Engine 557 and to view 12 years of monthly status reports with over 3,000 photos. To contribute via credit card, debit card, Paypal, or check go to the donate page. You are also welcome to pay a visit to the 557 Engine House, take a tour, and leave a generous contribution. - 12/3/24Picture of the Week: End of the Line - 12/2/24No.
557 Info: The November Engine 557 Restoration Company Progress Report - 12/1/24News: F5.8 Portage Tunnel Rehabilitation - 12/1/24