|
|
|
John took the correct piece of rock wall and applied a base coat of a two color paint mixture. You might remember from last week's report where it was revealed he painted the wrong piece. Oops! |
Once the base coat dried, John applied numerous colors such as burnt umber, elephant gray, Tuscan red, Kelly green and diluted black. He then dry brushed white for highlights. It was now ready for installation. |
Our foreman loves to destroy stuff when he visits, so John kept his favorite wood block handy as a diversion. Although quite a mess remains, it was far better than allowing Taz around electrical wires or shop supplies. |
|
|
|
| John used painters tape to allow application of gravel on the shoulder of Steve Booth Way. | The end result looked pretty good, but John thought more gravel needs to be added to the south side of the street. |
Video: John and Terry's nephew Erik paid a visit and brought along girlfriend Summer and her son Oliver. Oliver got his feet wet as a new engineer by firing up bicentennial F7 1510. |
|
|
|
Video: Although Oliver got a big kick from being an engineer, Erik got an even bigger kick in serving as engineer AND instructor. Here he showed Oliver how to step through several screens to locate the photo and number for their chosen locomotive GP40 #3001. |
Video: The dispatcher gave approval for Erik and Oliver to run their trains at the same time. Erik quickly became adapt at switching the turnouts using the controller. Eventually, Oliver worked his 12 hour shift and took a much needed break. Erik, however, became enchanted with operations and continued for another hour. |
Several days later John and Terry's twin grandsons Shane and Cody arrived to perform Clayton's Alaska Railroad's first cooperative running session. Each train would run in the opposite direction of the other so the engineers needed instruction on who and how to put their train in the siding so the other one could pass. |
|
|
|
| Cody took his work assignment seriously and frequently perched on top of a stool, like a Meerkat scanning the desert terrain. He was NOT to be bested by his brother. | Cody put his train into the Anchorage siding so Shane's bicentennial F7 could pass. Every successful encounter was rewarded with a handful of M&M candies. Cody was typically quicker to grasp the situation and find the solution. |
After a successful 45-minute session, the engineers brought their trains into the Anchorage yard. Back in the fall of 2017, Mike Cooper envisioned a layout where grandsons could run trains simultaneously. Today, these engineers achieved Mike's goal. Bulls-eye! It was through Mike's generous donation of his time and talents (as well as so many others) that this joyous moment could finally pull into the depot. |
 |
 |
 |
| The first train night project was the installation of the two plastic rock wall sheets near the southern mountain portal. Rick used JB Weld as an adhesive and then applied wood scraps wedged against the wall to hold them in place. | The next project was installation of street lights for the Whittier Depot. John purchased Woodland Scenics Arched Cast Iron street lights using their Just Plug system. |
The lamp wires use lever connectors to attach to the wire plugs which, in turn, plug into the light hub. Rick was unable to get the wires to stay inside the lever connectors. Therefore, he added solder to thicken the ends. |
|
 |
 |
| The thickened ends now stayed in the lever connector, but needed coaxing. Rick inserted a small screw driver to open the lever, pushed in the wire and then removed the screw driver. Unless we missed something, there is a deficiency in this part of the system. | Rick checked under the bench work to ensure clear passage for the wires. He then used a 3/32" drill bit to create a hole into the depot's walkway. |
Although the instructions state that glue should be used to hold the lamp in place, it fit snug enough by itself. Therefore, we did not glue it into place in case it ever needed to be removed. |
|
|
 |
| Rick drilled a hole at the east end of the walkway for the second lamp. After inserting the wire and lamp post into the hole, he connected the plug into the light hub. | The lamp posts add an incredible amount of realism for a night time scene of passengers waiting for the arrival of their train. |
Rick's digital 35mm camera captured a wonderful four second exposure of the scene. The lights from the Whittier Depot bathe passengers in a warm glow while the street lamps illuminate the waiting passenger cars as well as a passing Auto Zone semi on Steve Booth Way. One of the passengers spies the headlights from her husband's '57 Chevy and waves for a ride home. Interior passenger car lights can be seen in the distance to the right while the warm inviting porch light of Terry's remote cabin can be spied at far upper left. A knock on her door will produce a warm loaf of homemade bread. |
|
|
 |
| Video: Running trains is what it's all about! Two SD70MACs make their way past the Anchorage Yard enroute to the Whittier Depot for passenger pick up. | Video: A long freight train passes the future site of Anchorage Sand and Gravel. |
Video: The ditch lights can be seen on the lead SD70MAC as the pair arrive in the Anchorage Depot where they will be tied down for the night. |
|
|
|
| F7 #1517 required a new motor. John ordered one from Walthers for $25 which seemed reasonable. | What was unreasonable was putting it in a box 20 times the motor's size and charging $13.95 for shipping. Note to self: Next time buy on eBay where shipping is $7.95. |
Tonight was John's birthday so Terry decorated the table in celebration of his love for the Alaska Railroad. Yellow napkins & blue party plates made for a beautiful setting. |
|
|
|
| An Alaska Railroad gold spike, delivery truck and cuddly AK bear made for a nice centerpiece arrangement. | Terry also made train party favors for everyone. You can't go wrong with chocolate! |
And speaking of chocolate, John's daughter Laura made a spectacular chocolate peanut butter cake for dessert! |
|
|
|
What better way to finish off the pizza main course than with this truly delicious cake. Lastly, there were plenty of gifts including Jackie's box of Esther Price dark chocolate covered cherries. |
Video: The Eppley Shops shimmed the top of the coupler on the Wilderness Express car to prevent vertical movement. Rail operations crew gave it a "thumbs up" on its test run. |
Video: A test run of the epoxied coupler box on P-30 showed "smooth as glass" operation. This E9B was custom painted by Harold Emerick in the old paint scheme. |
|
|
|
| Video: The Eppley Shops continued to install shims on the top and bottom of couplers of the standard passenger cars. Success! No more pull aparts! | Video: Problems still remain. The 602's coupler had a missing spring plus needed a shim on top of the coupler. Coach 203 was pulled from the line up as it was derailing as well as causing derailments to the car behind it. |
Video: Baggage car 102 had shank swing problems. It swings completely in one direction, but not the other. It was placed Out of Service (OOS) and will be making a trip to the Eppley Shops. |
|
|
 |
| Video: All blue and gold! Hearts were pumping as two SD70MACs pulled a standard passenger train along scenic TwentyMile. | Some couplers just need a small amount of nurturing. Rick showed precision milling in the form of a silver shim affixed the top of the coupler shank. |
The new motor for F7B #1517 has two flywheels. One of the flywheels needs to be removed to make room for the weight. It will be making a trip to the Eppley Shops. |
