One of the guys on the forum here lives in Anchorage. He's Modelalaska I think, Bet he could get you some first hand pics. He also once lived in Sitka as did I. Man thats a cold place to railroad. I once belonged to a club there,about 1972 I think. We had our layout in a big room above the deisel shops. As far as I know I have no pics from those days. BILL
reklein Ulrich, I lived in Anchorage for a year and a half,so your avatar is interesting to me. Did you ride the tourist train there? BILL
Ulrich, I lived in Anchorage for a year and a half,so your avatar is interesting to me. Did you ride the tourist train there? BILL
... no, Bill, I never made further north than Vancouver. Maybe I started to like the ARR ´cause Anchorage is on about the same latitude as Hamburg. Well, that´s not really the reason ... I fell in love with Bowser´s ARR F7A with the big snow plow and that got me started to look into the ARR as a prototype for my planned layout .
There could be a reason worse than that...
Paul,I too thought"Dutch Harbor ?in Alaska?" Then I read the post. I lived 28 years in Alaska and Dutch Habor seemed an unlikely place for a RR. Your premise for a RR is interesting. Will be interested in following your build.
Paulus JasThe RAF obviously went for Germany later in the war, only a confused pilot occasionaly lost his cargo to early.
The RAF obviously went for Germany later in the war, only a confused pilot occasionaly lost his cargo to early.
Sorry, but although this is strictly off topic, it kind of nicely links to Paul´s statement. This is supposedly a true story:
At Frankfurt Airport, planes need to immediately clear the runway after landing, requiring the pilots to know there parking position before landing. One day a British Airways Boeing stopped at the end of the runway. Immediately, the tower staff radioed to the cockpit. Now listen to this:
Tower: British Airways Boeing, don´t you know your parking position?
Pilot: No, let me just look it up!
Tower: British Airways Boeing, is this your first time in Frankfurt?
Pilot: No, not really, I remember, it was 1945, a different type of Boeing, just to drop off something...
I stand corrected, there is plausability in what you propose: Perhaps thousands of steel 40 foot flatcars were sent to the France and the low countries by the Army Transportaion Corp, they must have been quite adaptable, i've seen photos of them adapted to a variety of track guages, truck assemblies, buffers and such.
Dave
Dear Dave,
must be some misunderstanding. Rotterdam, the big port was heavely bombarded during the beginning of WW II, not the harbour but the city centre. The German army needed the ports themself. Because the Germans wanted Amsterdam their headquaters never ever a german bomb fell on Amsterdam. The RAF obviously went for Germany later in the war, only a confused pilot occasionaly lost his cargo to early.
All buildings from the late 19-th and early 20-th century could be found every where along the tracks untill the 70´th. Half is beautifully rebuild in to condo's, the other half torn down to become prey of private investors.
BTW, may be I didn't read your posting well, there is a Dutch Harbor in Alaska. But I was talking about Amsterdam in the Netherlands.
Have fun, good luckPaul
Having been stationed at Duch Harbor I too was initinally mystified, sounds like a great concept, As you know the Port of Amsterdam was utterly destroyed during the war, you could develop a theme based upon the rebuilding period in your nation. Keep us posted.
Looks good to me Paul. The only thing that I would think about is the somewhat stubby arrangement of the large elevator in the corner. Not many opportunities to improve the plan in my eyes, however.
I like original names for layouts as well.
Doug.
- Douglas
Paul, you "got me going there" for a second. From your title, I thought you were going to talk about a railroad at Dutch Harbor in the Aleutian Islands of Alaska.
Interesting plan you have there.
Mark
I'd also have to have one of those 0-6-0 side rod switchers you have in Holland. Sharp little engines.
Paulus,
Looks like a fine project. I dunno what I can do to help, but after all your assistance, if there is anything I can do, say the word...
Jim
I present the railroad I will start building soon, but critics first.
After WW II, American build engines leftovers (class 2000) could be seen around Amsterdam. Baldwin designed roadswitchers (class 2200) were newly build in Holland as well. I liked to watch them dearly; my late grandmother had to wait, and to wait, .............till the next one. In Holland the next one is always just a couple of minutes away.
As a boy, I could watch them on the other side of the road from my aunt's house, just before diner time. A couple of miles down the road in an old warehouse district I came, though decades later, across them again; today you'll find a jazzclub and condo's down there. And even futher down the line (20 miles) I saw them again, switching the fisherman warf in IJmuiden (mouth of 't Y, the inlet were Amsterdam is build along). We went to the pier to watch the ships and went home later with a bucket filled with fish. Today we visit one of the fish-restaurants and after visiting the fishpackers we still come home with a bag fully loaded.
So my layout starts at a small yard "Funen", named after the windmill just across the bridge from my aunt's house and ends in the IJmuiden harbour. But I have two trackplans, rather similar; with and without a dropp-in. How to chose?? The Funenyard is actually build in a corner and the freighthouse connection is prototypecaly. Also the shipyard spurs, but they were allready gone in the early 50's. The "Stone Head" elevators are at the right spot, pointing into the Amsterdam harbour, and also condo's today. The row of cannery's in IJmuiden should be fishpackers; with a daily hotshot to Paris; just a few reefers actually, but combined in Rotterdam with cars loaded with flowers, meat and vegetables it was quite a train.
I intend to run short transfercuts and switchjobs. Freightcars will be American (40 foot mainy,1955) so do the engines. It takes some fantasy, imagine my little railroad somewhere in the Bay area. Hence the name of my RR: AFL; the Alameda(Auntshome) and Fisherman Beltline. All those colourfull American reefers and boxes can find a place.
Help me chose please, and If you see something you don't like, tell me. Now changes are easy.
Keep smiling, have fun
Paul