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Baldwin Consolidation 2-8-0 Joins the Fleet

I’m so happy to finally have steam locomotion on the Alaska Railroad. Eventually I’ll number it 557, and change the roadname.

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Up and Running

Got it up and running! Actually, it’s been running for a few weeks now. I’m just terrible at blogging my progress. 😅

I even installed a new siding (seen in the foreground). I needed a nice long siding to park a train.

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Smoothside Passenger Car Trucks

I’m forever looking for replacement parts etc. I found KATO part numbers for my passenger car trucks. Parts 800033 and 800043 are the silver ones that match my ARR set. I found them available for purchase on https://www.n-scalemodeltrains.com. They are Boston and Albany Hobbies out of NH.

836 Candia Road

Manchester, NH 03109

(603) 305-5023

Kato catalog #800031 (Smooth Side Passenger Truck, Black w/o Coupler, 1 ea)
Kato catalog #800032 (Smooth Side Passenger Truck, Gray w/o Coupler, 1 ea)
Kato catalog #800033 (Smooth Side Passenger Truck, Silver w/o Coupler, 1 ea)
Kato catalog #800041 (Smooth Side Passenger Truck, Black w/ Semi-Automatic Knuckle Coupler, 1 ea)
Kato catalog #800042 (Smooth Side Passenger Truck, Gray w/ Kato Knuckle Coupler, 1 ea)
Kato catalog #800043 (Smooth Side Passenger Truck, Silver w/ Semi-Automatic Knuckle Coupler, 1 ea)
Kato catalog #800045 (Smooth Side Passenger Truck, Black w/ Fully Automatic Knuckle coupler, 1 ea)
Kato catalog #800046 (Smooth Side Passenger Truck, Black, Observation w/o coupler, 1 ea)
Kato catalog #800093 (Smooth Side Passenger Truck, Silver w/ Kato Magnetic Knuckle Coupler, 1 ea)
Kato catalog #800102 (Super Chief Pullman Truck, Silver, 2 ea)
Kato catalog #800104 (Pullman Passenger Truck, black w/ Fully-Automatic Knuckle Coupler, 2 ea)

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Coupling Problem

I’m not sure what to do about this problem. In an S curve, the body mounted couplers are offset too far. I’m thinking a short, straight piece of track may be needed.

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Photo Update

NScaleLayout Grampy

Updated Plan – Added a spur for a future train station

Here are some photos from this past weekend.  My focus has been on laying track so the scenery needs a lot of work.  I have a few more switches to wire up then I may begin filling in scenery.

I really like working with the curved turnouts, they add a lot of flexibility to my industry options.  I find that using a curved turnout at the exit end of a curve allots the industry to be larger because space isn’t wasted by turnouts after curves.