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.

I was able to creatively acquire the 27'x27' bonus room over the garage. On October 14, 2017, thirty years after I initially started building my Alaska Railroad layout at my former home, my brother-in-law Ted and his son Rob kick started my second generation project by dragging my train tables out of storage in the garage. They weren't sure the old train tables would go up the staircase so they decided to lift them up from the ground and over the balcony. After several hours of work they had reassembled the tables. That's when things began to change directions drastically.....

In October 2017 I told my brother-in-law Mike Cooper about the train tables in the bonus room. I lamented how I always wanted to get my railroad operational again. He volunteered to make my dream happen. I explained given my affliction with muscular dystrophy as well as undergoing cancer immunotherapy that I wouldn't be much help. Pfffttt! He boldly replied he could do it single-handedly. Fortunately, my son John (LJ) later came onboard to help. Several months later Tom Koole, an N-scale Alaska Railroad modeler, began making the 40-minute drive from Springboro to assist and become part of our family.

One night a week my wife Terry prepares a fantastic dinner for the train crew. We feast while sharing and laughing about our daily lives. Sometimes we are joined for dinner by other family members who add to the warmth of the gathering. During some of the work sessions and dinners I quietly tear up. Indeed, it is deeply moving that so many people give so unselfishly of themselves to help me achieve my dream.

But that isn't all! I've received support from others throughout the United States. Steve Booth from Soldotna, Alaska sent a care package of model scenery and supplies. Alaska Marine Lines in Seattle, Washington sent an HO-scale five-foot long HO model of an Alaskan rail barge. Mikel Levine from Denver, Colorado is working on a full scale model of my favorite rail spotting location of TwentyMile bridge.

In May 2019 Mike and Tom departed to pursue their own projects. About the same time my brother-in-law Rick Eppley offered assistance. He performed the intricate and amazing conversions of sixteen locomotives from DC or DCC to RailPro. Next, he assisted LJ with fascia and foam board as well as construction of the Whittier barge transfer table.

Eventually, Paul the Painter, a friend of Rick's, showed up to see this enormous undertaking. Soon he was a regular and divided his time between painting foam board and videotaping/photography the layout

Brother-in-law Ted also got into the spirit of things by assisting with the backdrop lining the three walls. He assisted in the effort of overseeing the mounting of the backdrops by a local printing company. He constructed a wooden track system to hold the backdrops in place as well as facilitate removal.

David Sloan, one of my former Boy Scouts, volunteered to paint scenes on the inner scenery backdrop. He began by painting sky and clouds and eventually painted mountains and trees. Alaska Railroad employee Frank Keller positioned his drone over the waters of Cook Inlet and took a photo of TwentyMile bridge and its scenic background so David will be able to recreate it at Mikel Levine's model.

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!