Work at the Eppley Shops was hot and heavy this past week as Rick built a guard rail system, using the old rails from the barge, for the swing gate. The end design closely matches those used by the Alaska Railroad. Rick used JB Weld to hold the rails to the ties.

It took about five minutes for the adhesive to set up. Rick used wooden blocks with weights on top to hold the rails in place.

Video: After all the adhesive points had set, we ran a test train across the swing gate. Everything worked perfectly.

Video: Two freight trains meet at the double crossover.

Video: We ran a different freight consist and found all the cars ran great.

Video: We ran a rock train and found one of the Difco Dump cars needed work on the coupler and coupler box. This will be shipped off to the Eppley Shops for modification.

After telling Terry I was making a scenic cabin area for her, one of the things she wanted was Max roaming her farmland. Grant Mergler printed me a miniature collie on his 3D printer. Using a sharpened toothpick and a few example photos of Max, Rick painted the finishing touches.

During our train night dinner, we passed around little Max for all to see. What a great addition to the layout!

This week we had quite a number of guests at Clayton's Alaska Railroad. Original builder and visionary Mike Cooper and his daughter Elise paid a visit. Elise ran the train, but I absentmindedly failed to capture a photo.

During train night Terry's mother Jan and her sister Barbara got an updated tour. Pictured above is Rick explaining the mechanical operation of the barge.

Rick had Barbara run a freight train. She enjoyed turning the knob to increase and/or decrease the speed of the train. RailPro is so easy to use.

Video: Rick runs a Maintenance of Way (MoW) train to demonstrate smooth operation after a tweak to the outside rail of the turnout. This errant rail was caused occasional derailments.

Rick discovered he missed gluing a section of the guardrail at the swing gate. He quickly mixed up JB Weld and set the rails in place.

Video: Rick runs a 29 car freight train pulled by numbers 2004 and 2001 near the southern end of the Anchorage Yard. What a joy to have a smooth running train! There were no derailments or pull-aparts.

LJ took a day off work to spend time with Mom and Dad. What began as a tour update turned into a 2.5 hour operating session! Early in the construction of the layout, LJ joined Mike Cooper and the pair built the entire L-girder structure, roadbed construction, foam board inserts and all electrical systems.

Video: LJ started slowly by running the freight consist around the layout.

Video: LJ's confidence grew quickly and he ran the freight train through the double crossover revering its direction.

Video: Next, LJ added a Princess Ultradome passenger train. Here is a video of the two trains passing at the double crossover. If you watch closely, you will see the ghost of RailPro paralyze the trains momentarily.

Video: In a very unique and striking video the two trains pass over and under!

Video: Just as Rick had done several days ago, LJ used a controller in each hand to control each of the two trains.

Two of our locomotive's iPhone 4 speakers went bad. After searching suppliers we discovered they were sold out. Further searching revealed several sources had them for inflated prices. John finally found a supplier selling four at $8.26 including shipping.

Eppley Shops will also be fixing the coupler height on 8 hoppers as well as a dead locomotive 2503.

Work commenced on Terry's cabin area. First, John added a small elevated land form to the foam board on which the cabin will rest.

Sculptamold was added to the remaining areas of the foam board to give it a more "land" type feel. Instead of flat foam board, the area has more of a 3D type look.

The Eppley Shops did some hopper coupler work this week and they now run perfectly.

Rick checked out the new iPhone speakers we received this week and found they fit the bill. Thankfully, we've found an inexpensive source!

One of the locomotives rubbed the guardrail on the swing gate. Rick used his Dremel tool to trim the rails down so locomotive plows clear easily.

The north Anchorage yard turnout's southern stock rail came loose from the tie plate. Rick used track nails to hold it in place and later added J.B. Weld.

Video: A railfan standing at the western end of the Whittier Depot captured a passing freight train.

Video: A 17 car freight consist passes the Anchorage yard. Rick did some tweaking on hopper #14101 to cease pull-apart issues.

The Tour Alaska Ultradome was experiencing pull-aparts so the couplers were replaced with overset couplers.

Video: The short passenger train snakes through Canyon. Note the locomotive's flashing ditch lights.

Terry and John spent time inspecting the components of the cabin scene - sunflowers, vegetable garden, flowers, goats and wind vane. Paper place holders are created so each component can be moved around freely until a final resting place is determined.

Video: On a sunny summer's day, Rick's GP40 locomotive leads a full passenger train through Canyon and into the tunnel.

Video: The passenger train is given priority on the main over a freight. Asked why passenger trains are given priority, the engineer replied, "freight don't complain."

Video: You can hear the locomotive operating at full power as it heads up the 3% grade past the Whittier depot.

Video: Two passenger trains pass each other at the double crossover.

Two passenger cars returned from the Eppley Shops and were placed back in service. Each received modifications to their coupling system so the couplers were canted upward bringing them into a leveled position.

Four passenger cars were taken out of service due to constant derailments. Checks will be done for wheel tread width, wheel gauge, truck action and air hose position.