Alaska RR, Anchorage to Fairbanks & Eilson AFB

[landnrailroader]

I'll be piddling on the track for this one in between a few other projects that I have going and my FC&TS education project. So, we have reached mile173, i.e. about 50 miles from Anchorage and have come to the location of something I am including just because it is there. This junction is not on the 2010 track chart but it is easily seen on Google Earth and folks on the ARR discussion group on groups.io told me that it was, or maybe is, a major project to construct a line into the port of Point McKensie which is across the bay from Anchorage and has a deep channel. The idea was to reduce congestion in the Anchorage port. But, the developers ran out of $$ after a lot of construction was done. You can trace about 1/2 of the route from the head of the wye at the upper right to the port and at the port you can see where land has been cleared for a large track loop. I was told it may never be completed. Now at this location, an added space between main and siding is used and since I don't really know what this space is, I used a piece of M3 track and put the active paths on the outer tracks. After doing the approach to this point etc. I then removed the M3 piece. Most of the turnouts are #15, though a few appear to be #10 and the presence of propane tanks at each turnout suggests that all are powered turnout, i.e. point motors are used.

Universal crossovers are located just north of the junction, bisected by twin bridges over a small river. On the ARR there are A LOT of bridges, though most are single span, 30-60 feet in length.

Jerry Sullivan

[landnrailroader]

Continuing with the track laying, we have come to one of the iconic structures on the ARR, Hurricane Gulch bridge. This may be pronounceed "Hurricun" as those friends of mine from Hurricane, WV pronounce it that way. Hurricane Gulch bridge is a large arch truss spanning a deep chasm that just seems to appear out of nowhere. The mere trickle of a stream in it feed as nearby river , but otherwise there is nothing spectacular about the creek. The south approach is on a 11 degree 48 minute curve according to the track chart but to fit the digitized route required use of a 12.9 degree, or 135 meter curve radius. So this is one spot of a few where I used dynamic track. At the north end, there is about 1/4 mile of tangent and then a 5 degree 57 minute curve swings to the right to continue northward. I will probably use a 6 degree curve there. So here it is with track in place. This is one of several bridges I will provide with the otherwise track only route. I have included here, also a B&W image of the bridge and I think I can get passable dimensions from it.

Jerry

[landnrailroader]

Continuing on past Hurricane Gulch, the track gets quite convoluted and curvy. Most of the curves. when digitized, are not as broad as the track chart suggests, but in general there is not more than 1 degree variation. It is really crooked. About a mile and half north of the gulch, the railroad descends down the face of a canyon. On Google Earth this is quite visible and the track chart shows it as a slide zone (one of MANY). For the last few years I have been unable to get 1/3 arc-sec digital data to work with DEMEX no matter how I try to adjust the file format. The only resolution that works is 1 arc-sec. The problem with that, is that in areas where the railroad is essentially on a shelf, the shelf does not faintly show in the digitized terrain. Where it did in earlier efforts, I usually shifted the track to the center of this anomoly. Now, however, some careful sculpting will have to be done, else the sharp vertical wall will not appear as forbidding as it really is. I don't plan to sculpt the track in this route (and I didn't for the most part in the Seward to Anchorage segment) because it would be harder for the super detailer to handle it, if he had to undo what I had done first.

Jerry

[landnrailroader]

Today, we reached Healy, AK. The image is looking south as if a buzzard was over the yard, a few yards south of the engine terminal. The main track wanders off in the distance to the right where it enters Healy Canyon on a roughtly 1% grade that extends beyond Denali Park where the passenger train stops to let off those who are visiting the park. I am fudging the yard area here because of the curves but the result will be a good approximation. The 4th track to the left is a short siding, of of the 2nd east siding. The main track is the right track, and the track next to it is the east passing track. The markers wandering to th left will be the branch that as far as I can tell, once extended some miles to a mining area, but now stops around a mile after crossing the river on a large AND EXPENSIVE truss bridge. Those with a Alaska RR interest will know more about that.

Jerry