John's Alaska Railroad HO Scale Layout

November 4, 2021

Rick was busy as a beaver working on the barge this week. "This photo shows the jig holding the straight edge on the center track. The other four tracks were then shimmed up to the straight edge and glued back in place. The spacing jig was also used to keep the tracks the same distance apart."	"The clamp was used to lightly hold the straight edge jig in place while the glue set up."	"This shows the right most track on the barge. The left rail is low – not touching the straight edge. Shims were placed under the rails to get them up to the straight edge. All five tracks are now at the same level." Absolutely amazing work, Rick!

David has missed the past three Monday work sessions due to his work schedule, but this afternoon he's working fast and hard. This backdrop will feature Alaska Mill and Feed. David places the appropriate rail hopper to get a working perspective.	We adjourned to my computer where David used PhotoShop to use my existing photos taken from my July trip to create images in the proper viewing perspective. Ever the conservation minded individual David prints the images in black and white to save the more costly color ink.	Here is the first perspective. David will eventually transfer this image to the backdrop in living color.

Here are both images. These need to be swapped!	Here is the 45-degree aerial view from Google maps. This will give you the proper perspective of Alaska Mill and Feed. Also, many thanks to Rusty Wendlandt for sending us the actual HO scale measurements of each structure.	Heritage unit GP-40 #3001 is taking our new 70-ton ballast hoppers out for a spin.

A very kind individual took the time and effort to send me this Tour Alaska herald. Some day I will bequeath it to a museum, but for now I will display it in the train room.	Rick brought a stud finder and ginormous mounting screw with him to train night. Here he is positioning the herald on the train room wall before hanging it.	After removing the long shanked couplers of passenger cars 300 and 400 and replacing them with gear boxes it was found the couplers were too high. Rick replaced these couplers with low shanked versions and they now meet NMRA specifications.

Passenger car 300 with correct height couplers.	Passenger car 400 with correct height couplers.	Work continues on the Anchorage yard south main switch. The wires to the Tortoise's new location fall short so Rick adds more wire.

Rick created a wood mounting base to aid in putting the Tortoise in place. Four screws are used to mount the Tortoise and the spring wire is put in place. Happily the switch works without any fine tuning. The south Anchorage yard main switch is now fully operational.	Our foreman is unhappy with his employees. He reminds us taking photos while on duty is strictly forbidden. Furthermore, photos taken within 100 feet of the Right-of-Way is forbidden as well. Undoubtedly upper management will be putting disciplinary action letters in our files.

November 10, 2021

With the completion of the high speed switch installation at the south end of the Anchorage yard it is now time to fill in the leftover holes. A small gap at upper left is easily filled in. However, the large hole to the left of the new plywood needs a hefty hunk of two inch foam board.	Using an x-acto and hot wire cutter the old foam board was repeatedly cut and test fitted for a near perfect fit.	The final product looks good.

The final step is a coat of paint over the plywood.	Rick shows his homemade guide tool used to align the tracks between the Whittier yard and barge.	With the barge in place it is apparent the Whittier yard tracks need to be moved slightly. This will be next week's project.

This video shows the proper alignment between the barge and the yard.	We still have a ghost hovering around the TwentyMile bridge area. Locomotives will sometimes slow down or pause. Rick re-solders joints to ensure proper electrical connections.	We would like to eliminate the numbered tabs at switches. Our technique involves filling in and painting the holes on snap switches. Soon a white permanent marker will number these blank tabs.

November 17, 2021

With measurements provided by Rusty Wendlandt, aerial photos by Google and on location photos by John Combs, David begins his work on painting Alaska Mill and Feed on the backdrop. First, he blocks out the existing mountains by covering them with blue paint.	Next, he uses the side of a pencil to place a layer of black "charcoal" on the back side of the paper. He tapes the image onto the backdrop with the charcoal side to down and then meticulously traces the outline of the west end of Alaska Mill and Feed.	I am amazed with the final result. I couldn't draw a straight line to save my life. David traces this outline from a standing position while reaching over the layout and it is darn near perfect. Eventually, the colors to this image will be filled in with the appropriate colors.

Over the past week Rick worked on the barge and filled in the space between the tracks with plaster.	Rick brought the barge in for train night to make further adjustments. One of the Whittier yard tracks is too close. Using nippers and a scrapper he removes it.	A new section of track is installation. Test measurements show all five barge tracks now line up with the two Whittier yard tracks.

Using a C shaped piece of plywood and a bolt Rick made a gauge to ensure all barge tracks are the same height.	The gauge is placed at the loading end of the barge. If a gap existed between the rail and the bolt then the track was shimmed.	The final step in eliminating the brown numbered switch tabs is using a 0.7mm white permanent marker on the filled/painted snap switch tab. The technique works well and the brown numbers can now be removed. The RailPro handheld controller wirelessly changes switch positions via an AM-1 mounted underneath the layout. One AM-1 can control four switches. There are 41 switches on the layout so 11 AM-1s are required. It would be nice if switches could be named on the controller. Instead they are referred to by AM-1 number and switch number 1 through 4.

November 24, 2021

Rick continues his work on the barge. The upper photo shows two strips glued and held in place with weights. The lower photo shows all five strips glued in between the rails. More compound needs to be filled in on the stern end of the tracks. Rick will also begin searching for gears to drive the electro-mechanical system for barge movement.	One of the industries on the layout is Alaska Mill and Feed. As I am not much of a modeler I left no space for one. Instead, I planned on printing the image and gluing it to the backdrop. However, David informed me he could paint it directly on the backdrop. Using a photo I took in July David used his artistic magic to begin painting Alaska Mill and Feed.	After several hours of work the eastern end of Alaska Mill and Feed was taking shape. David refers to this part of his effort as scaffolding. Next week David will add detailed work.

On our November 10th train night Rick killed the Ghost of TwentyMile by re-soldering the joints at each end of the flex track. Tonight he spent most of the evening checking the continuity of EVERY rail as well as ALL joints between them. If warranted he re-soldered the joints.	John spent the evening painting the recently replaced turnout and switch at the southern end of the Anchorage yard as well as all the joints Rick re-soldered.	Fortunately, there was time left over to run some trains! SD70MAC #4011 transports Usibelli Coal Mine hoppers from the nearby tipple to the barge for delivery to China. Conductor Ryan Rodriguez peers out from the cupola of caboose #1086 to ensure operations go smoothly.

Feel free to contact me at john@alaskarails.org
Page created 9/4/17 and last updated 12/2/21