We had a family gathering at our home which resulted in an impromptu tour of Clayton, Ohio's Alaska Railroad. Original layout builder Mike Cooper, his son Erik, grandma Jan, her sister Barbara and twins Shane and Cody all graced the layout with their presence. Once the crowd cleared Shane and Cody talked grandpa into a little bit of train running time. Cody sits on the stool running a 15 car coal train from Usibelli Coal Mine through Anchorage and on to Seward. Shane gives the train a closely scrutinized "roll by" inspection. "All black, well stacked, goin' down the track clickety clack."

It appears last week's update to the handheld controller has fixed the charging problem as the battery indicator shows almost fully charged. Rick decides to update the other controller tonight. Unfortunately, the USB port on his computer isn't working so he takes the controller home to do the upgrade on his desktop computer.

Rick decides to lengthen both sets of wires (power and turnout) to the coffee table layout so they can be tucked underneath the table. The soldering effort goes well, but the turnout refuses to work. After a bit of analysis Rick discovers the Switch Control Box does not work. Now how did this go bad since last time? Fortunately, I have a ton of extras in storage. Now everything operates correctly and the wires have disappeared.

Modifications to the diesel shop's crane was necessary to accommodate the new animated neon Alaska Railroad sign. Rick slides the crane to one end of the rails and glues it into place.

John and Terry attended the Dayton Train Show and was very impressed with the fiber optic lighting systems from Dwarvin. One fiber box can be used to power 20-30 lights on the layout using fiber optic cables.

Dwarvin also supplies swan neck, industrial building, carriage, globe, and highway lamps with fiber optic leads. Furthermore, lines can be run directly into the inside of buildings for illumination. The ends of the fiber strands can be dipped in translucent paint to produce a rainbow of different colors.

Rick continues his work of using Liquid Nails to fill and secure the aisle side foam board into place.

The work is very substantial and will probably take three more weeks to complete.

Super Glue did not hold the crane assembly inside the diesel shop. Rick uses J-B Kwik and clamps it for a five minute set-up time. All is good to go!

Of course, what would train night be if we didn't run trains! Once again Rick pulls out his heritage unit and runs it around the track. Nice ditch lights!

It is always fun to have first time visitors at Clayton's Alaska Railroad and listen to their comments. Troop 325 Eagle Scout Joe D. enjoys a layout tour as well as running those thundering trains.

I stepped out of my comfort zone, grabbed a magnifying glass and painted the little brick work on the front of the Dairy Queen. It isn't the best job, but looked better than the unpainted version. I also masked off the lower portion for a band of brown.

Temperatures here in Clayton are a wee bit chilly so Terry's train night dinner of Taco soup warms us thoroughly and provides the energy to get some work down. Rick turns up the heat by continuing his foam filler and Liquid Nails work.

I really liked the Tom Koole Woodland Scenics ballast mixture he provided me. Unfortunately, he didn't record the ingredients of the mixture. I sent a sample to the Woodland Scenics folks and they gave me their best guess.

Rick made a small wooden triangle to hold the animated Alaska Railroad sign upright. The dark stain on the triangle helps it disappear from sight.

Of course, what is train night without running trains! Rick not only runs the prototypical flat car consist, but also puts his GoPro camera on a flat and runs it around the track. Hopefully, we will see this video soon!