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blackburn49
1st Class Member
Copper Center, Alaska
Engineer
Posts:1855
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 | | 01/17/2008 2:15 AM |
| Posted By kormsen on 01/16/2008 5:41 PM (lives in)
southamerica, paraguay, chaco, a semi arid thornbushplain, 150 miles to the next body of running water, over 300 miles to the next town with more than 6.000 souls.
Wow. I finally found a place more remote than where I live where a fellow large-scale modeler lives. I'll never feel all that isolated ever again.
My regards,
--Ron in Copper Center, Alaska
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| blackburn49
1st Class Member
Copper Center, Alaska
Engineer
Posts:1855
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| | 01/17/2008 2:17 AM |
| Posted By eddie on 01/16/2008 6:03 PM
1 word: IMPRESSIVE!!!!!!!!!
Was that directed at me? If so, thank you.
My regards,
--Ron in CC-AK | |
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| kormsen
in the middle of the westparaguayan semi desert
Conductor
Posts:544
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| | 01/17/2008 2:52 AM |
| you know what, i really believe, that living just some paces before the sign "known worl ends here" makes our hobby more interesting.
one has to replace missing materials with phantasy and creativity.
korm
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 construction site - keep off! | |
| mhutson
1st Class Member
Gunnison, CO
Brakeman
Posts:68
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| | 01/17/2008 5:29 AM |
| Ron,
Our elevation is about 7800'.
It's -36 as I type this at 5:30 A.M. Gunnison is well known in Colorado for its brutally cold winters.
Cheers,
Matt | | | |
| blackburn49
1st Class Member
Copper Center, Alaska
Engineer
Posts:1855
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| | 01/17/2008 11:17 AM |
| Posted By kormsen on 01/17/2008 2:52 AM
you know what, i really believe, that living just some paces before the sign "known worl ends here" makes our hobby more interesting.
one has to replace missing materials with phantasy and creativity.
korm
.
Know exactly what you mean. There's a lot to be said for the relative isolation and how it effects one's sense of this obsession, uh, hobby. | |
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| blackburn49
1st Class Member
Copper Center, Alaska
Engineer
Posts:1855
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| | 01/17/2008 11:20 AM |
| Posted By mhutson on 01/17/2008 5:29 AM
Ron,
Our elevation is about 7800'.
It's -36 as I type this at 5:30 A.M. Gunnison is well known in Colorado for its brutally cold winters.
Cheers,
Matt
You sure have us beat today, anyway. it is about minus five here this morning. With any luck we will not see minus 35 again for the remainder of the winter. Elevation here is 1,025 feet. In this part of the country, lower elevation in the winter means colder, especially near the rivers, as is the case here. The reverse is, of course, true in the summertime. | |
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| blackburn49
1st Class Member
Copper Center, Alaska
Engineer
Posts:1855
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| | 01/17/2008 12:07 PM |
| Great Northern passenger consist being pulled out of the bar by my mogul double headers:
The problem with the wye, is that in running multiple consists, this end would quickly clutter up. The extension loop that will added to the end of the wye will fix that problem and avoid the present necessity of backing all the way into the bar to turn around. That in itself presents problems because backing up this many heavy coaches increases the likelihood of derailment at the curves and switches inside the bar.
This is the present north end of the wye, which has just enough length to hold one consist that can be parked inside the back of the bar, thus defining the practical limit on the lengths of any consists on this track as it is presently operated. The extension will continue from the far right end, beginning a wide curve back to the direction of the Cicely structure to the east of here (you are looking west, the main run of the track is east-west, to the right is north). Click either photo for a larger image.
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| sschaer
Brakeman
Posts:36
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| | 01/17/2008 12:22 PM |
| hi ron
i'm following your posts with great interest. it always amazes me how much time you spend to search for all these background informations. incredible. i tried to email you thru the address on your website as well as thru mls. not sure if you received my messages.
i'm looking forward to read more about your layouts progress and especially all the historical background of the kmr. been up there several times but didn't know about the railroad that existed up there. | | | |
| blackburn49
1st Class Member
Copper Center, Alaska
Engineer
Posts:1855
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| | 01/17/2008 12:49 PM |
| Posted By sschaer on 01/17/2008 12:22 PM
hi ron
i'm following your posts with great interest. it always amazes me how much time you spend to search for all these background informations. incredible. i tried to email you thru the address on your website as well as thru mls. not sure if you received my messages.
i'm looking forward to read more about your layouts progress and especially all the historical background of the kmr. been up there several times but didn't know about the railroad that existed up there.
I did receive the one message, but failed to reply to it as of yet. Sorry about that. I will get back to that one.
I have a great deal more on the KMR project and will be resuming that thread directly.
My regards,
--Ron at the CRD in CC-AK | |
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| blackburn49
1st Class Member
Copper Center, Alaska
Engineer
Posts:1855
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| | 01/18/2008 2:08 PM |
| The ALCAN Railway Routes:
The reality of my Alcan Railroad --ALCANEX Consolidated -- a collaboration of several railroad lines for purposes of accessing Alaska and the Yukon Territory and tying them to the lower 48 is not as far-fetched as it may at first appear.
Proposals continue to surface for the alternative routes that merge east of Whitehorse in the Yukon Territory near Watson Lake.
Alternative One: The Cassiar Route, is the less expensive route in terms of length and physical obstacles to overcome. The Cassiar Route through Dease Lake would require 1355 miles of new railroad line to connect an area south of Fairbanks at Eielson AFB to Prince George.
-- to be continued --
the above map can be viewed in a larger size by right-clicking and selecting "view image"
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| blackburn49
1st Class Member
Copper Center, Alaska
Engineer
Posts:1855
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| | 01/18/2008 3:10 PM |
|
right-click on image and select "view image" for larger map
Quoting from a report which surfaced in July 2007:
"The present feasibility study presents the following findings from its research. An initial single-track line of 1,355 miles in length, would be built between Prince George, British Columbia and Fairbanks, Alaska, via the western Dease Lake route, in four years. at an estimated total capital cost of $3.715 billion. The construction of this railroad line would employ 3,000 to 5,000 workers during the planned four-year construction, with an operating staff of 1,000 to start increasing to 1,500, within 10 years after starting operation. The comparable capital cost of the alternative eastern route via Fort Nelson between Fairbanks and Prince George would be approximately $4.22 billion for the 1,435-mile route which would require five years to complete if built completely separately.
"The recommendation is to build the Dease Lake line first as a single-track route, with sidings spaced at 20-mile intervals, and centralized traffic contract signaling and diesel locomotive traction. It is expected that there would be a two-year evaluation and design period followed by a four-year construction period, with operation to begin in 2010. The siding spacing would be reduced to 10 miles by 2015 and 5 miles by 2020, as traffic increases and the line progressively converts to double-track operation by 2030, as the full line capacity is reached. The railroad line connection from Whitehorse to the east, to Watson Lake in the Yukon Territory and to Coal River, British Columbia would be built along the Fort Nelson route for the gas pipeline."
--from "Build the Missing Link: Alaska-North America Rail , "
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| blackburn49
1st Class Member
Copper Center, Alaska
Engineer
Posts:1855
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| | 01/18/2008 3:16 PM |
| Although the Dease Lake route is considered the preferred one due to the shorter distance and lesser obstacles, the eastern Ft. Nelson route is recommended based on the increased likelihood that a gas line will be built from the North Slope of Alaska, more or less following the Alcan HIghway through Dawson Creek and into Alberta on the way to the midwest Chcago area.
These are proposals that have been around for years but have become more significant as the likelihood of the construction of an Alaskan gas line has increased. With the advent of Governor Sara Pain's administration in Juneau, late last year, this possibility of a gasline through Canada apparently has dramtically increased, particularly with the administration's recent announcement that the Trans-Canada proposal is the one that best meets the Palin administration's criteria reinforced with recent state legislation that seem to enhance that likelihood. | |
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| blackburn49
1st Class Member
Copper Center, Alaska
Engineer
Posts:1855
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| | 01/18/2008 3:28 PM |
| Remember, this is not news, this is just a proposal, but it is now beginning to gain traction. Continuing on with the above report:
"It would be planned to add a single-track line to connect near Jake's Corner in the Yukon Territory, to the east to Watson Lake by 2012, and Fort Nelson, British Columbia, and then to the east to High Level, Alberta by 2015. Construction on this line would begin at the same time as for the Dease Lake line and be completed in one year, and be completed by 2020 with an additional connection between Dawson Creek and Fort St. John. At the same time, the eastern extension of the Dease Lake line to the east via Tumbler Ridge to Grand Prairie, Alberta would begin construction in 2010, and be completed by 2015 from the east side of the existing tunnel to the west of Tumbler Ridge on the existing rail line.
"The entire combination route for the Alaska-Canada railroad connector would then be completed for both the Dease Lake and Fort Nelson routes as a single-track route by 2015. A second track would be added for the common route segment between Fairbanks and Whitehorse to Jake's Corner by 2020. In addition, it would be planned to electrify the entire railroad route of the Alaska-Canada railroad connector between 2015 and 2020 as both diesel fuel prices and freight traffic volumes progressively increased into the future. It would also be planned to build a series of power plants burning coal and/or other fuels to serve the electrification needs of the railroad, estimated as increasing from 500 megawatts in 2020, to 3,000 megawatts in 2050. Additional electricity growth would be needed to facilitate regional economic development for the native reserves, mines, factories, and communities along the route of the Alaska-Canada railroad connector. "
from the Executive Intelligence Review
There is much more to this, which you are about to see, but my main point is that my own ALCANEX Consolidated Railways System really is not all that far from reality in terms of serious consideration from some very large business and governmental concerns.
Of course the really BIG deal is a renewed proposal (the original one was well over a century ago) to create a Trans-Siberian-Alaska railroad by means of a tunnel crossing in the shallow Bering Sea.
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| blackburn49
1st Class Member
Copper Center, Alaska
Engineer
Posts:1855
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| | 01/18/2008 3:46 PM |
| The TKM World-Link:
The headline reads:
Russia Plans World's Longest Tunnel, a Link to Alaska
By Yuriy Humber and Bradley Cook
April 18 (Bloomberg) -- Russia plans to build the world's longest tunnel, a transport and pipeline link under the Bering Strait to Alaska, as part of a $65 billion project to supply the U.S. with oil, natural gas and electricity from Siberia.
The project, which Russia is coordinating with the U.S. and Canada, would take 10 to 15 years to complete, Viktor Razbegin, deputy head of industrial research at the Russian Economy Ministry, told reporters in Moscow today. State organizations and private companies in partnership would build and control the route, known as TKM-World Link, he said. (more)
There you see it: The ALCAN link ! aka ALCANEX Consolidated Railways System
Pie in the sky you say? Maybe, but never underestimate the large unseen forces that seek to control international market forces. This is what is REALLY happening out there. Recent events leading to increasing shortages not just in oil and gas, but many other raw materials seem to point to the TKM World LInk as one possible solution. After all, a large part of the problem we are experiencing in the developed and developing world is lack of transportation infrastructure, not lack of supply !
from Bloomberg Television
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| blackburn49
1st Class Member
Copper Center, Alaska
Engineer
Posts:1855
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| | 01/18/2008 4:36 PM |
| Alaska as part of the "Trans-Global Highway System"
Below: The bigger picture: Are major railroad systems to once again become a significant part of the world's future? Very likely, it appears: click
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| blackburn49
1st Class Member
Copper Center, Alaska
Engineer
Posts:1855
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| | 01/18/2008 5:29 PM |
| On the other hand, my Phase II line is going to be limited to an area in south-central Alaska centering on Cicely, which I will deal with in more detail in this thread. The hint of the international nature of this rail line is contained in the major railroad names utilized, including the Canadian Pacific.
The Phase III line, which is entirely separate and not expected to be connected to Phase II, will exist as a wholly-separate model entirely within the Yukon Territory of Canada and in a different time frame, specifically circa 1910.
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| blackburn49
1st Class Member
Copper Center, Alaska
Engineer
Posts:1855
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| | 01/18/2008 6:09 PM |
| The Choice of the Canadian Pacific:
I guess you can blame Art Knapp Trains in Surrey B.C. for my choice to inclue the CP into my Phase II line. About a year ago Art offered a limited-edition run of CP heavyweights.
Above: Samples of the heavyweight units offered by Art Knapp Trains which I acquired.
The set also included this sharp-looking Aristo Pacific, which will not be used with the heavyweights on the Phase II line, at least not initially.
The Canadian Pacific recently acquired this American line. As you can see, CP is well suited to take advantage of any Trans-Canada natural gasline which comes out of the Alaskan North Slope. Like my other roadnames, except for the AKRR, it is an east-west transcontinental that happens to parallel the others: GN, NP, ATSF (less so) and the Milwaukee Road.
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| blackburn49
1st Class Member
Copper Center, Alaska
Engineer
Posts:1855
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| | blackburn49
1st Class Member
Copper Center, Alaska
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Posts:1855
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| | 01/18/2008 8:58 PM |
| Posted By blackburn49 on 01/18/2008 6:57 PM Posted By blackburn49 on 01/18/2008 6:09 PM The Choice of the Canadian Pacific:
This is the all new E-8, which is now on the way from Art Knapp Trains. It is already unavailable. I was fortunate that Art was able to find one in the back room:
And the addition of the E-8, of course, means that I can plan on acquiring a few of these:
Which may very well become part of the Phase II set up at a later date.
The CP is going to end up warranting its own terminal on the layout. I am giving some thought to that and may have just found the right space for it. | |
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| blackburn49
1st Class Member
Copper Center, Alaska
Engineer
Posts:1855
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| | 01/19/2008 12:29 PM |
| I pulled out my FA1 unit for this photo. It is quite the impressive engine. I don't see information on the year this one was produced, but my guess is that it is relatively recent. Anyone out there know?
This one will probably go into service later in 2008. Like all the other units, it has to be sent in for remote battery control with sound.
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