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... read more.

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!

Layout Design V2.0

Current Layout Overview (as of 12/1/22)

Looking northeast: Whittier and Portage depot	Looking southeast: Anchorage and most industries
Unlabeled panoramic	Label panoramic

And the movie

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Here are the photos from past months:

Rick took the existing electrical wiring diagram and updated it with the turnout move at Whittier siding and Eppley's Curve, as well as added Anchorage track 5 and Rudd Spur. Other minor changes were made as well. Rick printed the diagram on four different sheets of paper and glued them together, creating a beautiful 15"x21" rendition for John. You'll find get a large version here.

Although train night was put on hold while the Combs clan was in New Zealand and Australia for 26 days, Rick continued to show up on Wednesdays to work. He changed the wiring on Rudd Spur to operate with the dead man switch at the swing gate. Therefore, we can now park locomotives on this track and not have power to them when not in use.

AM-1 #11 which controls Anchorage track 5, has never had correct indicators for the two turnouts. Rick tracked this down to a setting on the controller. In the advanced setting mode, feedback needs to be enabled so the AM-1 gets the signal from the tortoise which determines correct display of the turnout's status.

Now the track 5 turnouts display the correct status.

Upcoming repairs:
- One of the handheld controllers refused to take a charge so we sent it back to Ring Engineering for repair. Long story, short they are selling us a brand new HC-3 for almost half off.
- GP40 numbers 3009 and 3010 are squealing so they are heading to the Eppley Shops for repair.
- One of the legs of the double crossover won't show the correct position for more than half a second. Wiring and configurations will be checked next week.

Video: A late Easter celebration brought The Invasion of the Grandsons. Each grandson got to chose his consist and then serve as engineer while the others add and subtract passengers from the locomotive. This is an activity that never gets old.

Video: Engineer Liam chose #1809 to head up the consist which was composed of rail cars chosen by uniqueness rather than functionality. He makes a brief stop to allow passenger to hop on board.

Video: The favorite trackside location is Dairy Queen. Most passengers embark and disembark from this ice cream nirvana.

Video: Engineer Shane favors a small consist with a heritage paint scheme locomotive. Another favorite activity is following the train with a Hot Wheels car. This activity NEVER gets old.

One of the controllers was sent to the manufacturer for repair. Ring Engineering offered their new (third generation) controller at a heavily discounted rate instead of a repair. Well, heck yes! The new controller has some great new features:

• Four customizable buttons
• Soft Grip Knob
• Lanyard eye ring
• Smaller size and lighter weight
• Twice the storage memory
• Better battery retention when powered off

Video: One of Rick's favorite operations is reversing a train's direction through the double crossover. With that said, this train must be so long that the front and rear barely clears at the crossover. Some day he will probably orchestra a train with hair's width clearance.

Video: During the past week, the Eppley Shops removed the motor from GP40 #3014 and placed it in GP40 #3010. The squealing persisted. However, when trucks were swapped the noise went away. GP40 #3010 is shown here with original motor and swapped trucks. No squealing noise was present. The Eppley Shops will now check the squealing trucks for possible repair. Trucks are composed of side frames, gears, wheels, axles and clips so there shouldn't be much amiss.

Rick loves a challenge so finding proper car lengths that result in a hair's breadth clearance between locomotive and caboose at the double crossover is cause for delight. Click here for the video.

Video: A combination freight and coal train snakes through Divide near Triple Peaks mountain.

Video: Rick loves a challenge so using separate controllers, he ran trains opposite directions. Soon before a possible head on collision he brought GP38s 2001/2004 into Coastal siding (MP 110) so GP38 2005/GP40 3001 could pass. This maneuver may appear simple, but one controller must quickly run through several menus to change the position of the siding switch so the through train does not derail.