diff --git a/MachineLearning/CNTK/CNTK.cpp b/MachineLearning/CNTK/CNTK.cpp
index a025e74ea..6ccbe8854 100644
--- a/MachineLearning/CNTK/CNTK.cpp
+++ b/MachineLearning/CNTK/CNTK.cpp
@@ -835,12 +835,11 @@ public:
 template <class ConfigRecordType, typename ElemType>
 void DoTrain(const ConfigRecordType & config)
 {
-    const ConfigRecordType & configSGD(config(L"SGD", ConfigRecordType::Record()));
     bool makeMode = config(L"makeMode", true);
+    DEVICEID_TYPE deviceId = DeviceFromConfig(config);
 
-    shared_ptr<IComputationNetBuilder<ElemType>> netBuilder;// = GetCreateNetworkFunction(config);
+    shared_ptr<IComputationNetBuilder<ElemType>> netBuilder;
 
-    // TODO: turn the netBuilder into a lambda
     if (config.Exists(L"createNetwork"))
     {
         netBuilder = make_shared<BrainScriptNetworkBuilder<ElemType>>(config);
@@ -866,6 +865,13 @@ void DoTrain(const ConfigRecordType & config)
         RuntimeError("No network builder found in the config file. NDLNetworkBuilder or SimpleNetworkBuilde must be specified");
     }
 
+    // network creation is handled by a lambda, which we define here
+    function<ComputationNetworkPtr(DEVICEID_TYPE)> createNetworkFn = [netBuilder](DEVICEID_TYPE deviceId)
+    {
+        ComputationNetwork * net = netBuilder->BuildNetworkFromDescription();
+        return shared_ptr<ComputationNetwork>(net);
+    };
+
     // BUGBUG: inconsistency with BrainScript: old config passes a config dict, whereas BrainScript creates the object right away
     const ConfigRecordType & readerConfig(config(L"reader", ConfigRecordType::Record()));
     //readerConfig.Insert("traceLevel", config(L"traceLevel", "0"));        // TODO: fix this by making this an optional arg; or if this should not be inherited, then by disabling it
@@ -879,9 +885,10 @@ void DoTrain(const ConfigRecordType & config)
         cvDataReader = unique_ptr<DataReader<ElemType> >{ new DataReader<ElemType>(cvReaderConfig) };
     }
 
+    const ConfigRecordType & configSGD(config(L"SGD", ConfigRecordType::Record()));
     SGD<ElemType> sgd(SGDParams(configSGD, (ElemType)0));
 
-    sgd.Train(netBuilder.get(), dataReader.get(), cvDataReader.get(), makeMode);
+    sgd.Train(createNetworkFn, deviceId, dataReader.get(), cvDataReader.get(), makeMode);
 }
 
 namespace Microsoft { namespace MSR { namespace ScriptableObjects {
diff --git a/MachineLearning/CNTKComputationNetworkLib/ComputationNetwork.cpp b/MachineLearning/CNTKComputationNetworkLib/ComputationNetwork.cpp
index 0a470d19f..105668259 100644
--- a/MachineLearning/CNTKComputationNetworkLib/ComputationNetwork.cpp
+++ b/MachineLearning/CNTKComputationNetworkLib/ComputationNetwork.cpp
@@ -398,8 +398,9 @@ namespace Microsoft { namespace MSR { namespace CNTK {
 
         fstream.GetMarker(FileMarker::fileMarkerEndSection, L"ECN");
 
-        //some internal values in the nodes are computed during validation
+        // some internal values in the nodes are computed during validation
         ValidateNetwork(false, bAllowNoCriterionNode);
+        ResetEvalTimeStamp();
     }
 
     // -----------------------------------------------------------------------
diff --git a/MachineLearning/CNTKComputationNetworkLib/ComputationNetwork.h b/MachineLearning/CNTKComputationNetworkLib/ComputationNetwork.h
index f171936f2..e68d9e308 100644
--- a/MachineLearning/CNTKComputationNetworkLib/ComputationNetwork.h
+++ b/MachineLearning/CNTKComputationNetworkLib/ComputationNetwork.h
@@ -984,5 +984,6 @@ private:    // TODO: make all private that can be made private
     // TODO: does this apply to anything else besides temporary node-internal intermediate results? What, for example?
     MatrixPool m_matrixPool;
 };
+typedef shared_ptr<ComputationNetwork> ComputationNetworkPtr;
 
 }}}
diff --git a/MachineLearning/CNTKSGDLib/SGD.cpp b/MachineLearning/CNTKSGDLib/SGD.cpp
index da066e9a9..666ee00c9 100644
--- a/MachineLearning/CNTKSGDLib/SGD.cpp
+++ b/MachineLearning/CNTKSGDLib/SGD.cpp
@@ -6,7 +6,7 @@
 #include "SGD.h"
 #include "DataReaderHelpers.h"
 #include "AllReduceDistGradAggregator.h"
-#include "ProgressTracing.h"
+#include "ProgressTracing.h"
 
 #include <map>
 
@@ -513,12 +513,12 @@ namespace Microsoft { namespace MSR { namespace CNTK {
     }
 
     template<class ElemType>
-    void SGD<ElemType>::Train(IComputationNetBuilder<ElemType>* netBuilder,
+    void SGD<ElemType>::Train(function<ComputationNetworkPtr(DEVICEID_TYPE)> createNetworkFn, DEVICEID_TYPE deviceId,
                IDataReader<ElemType>* trainSetDataReader,
                IDataReader<ElemType>* validationSetDataReader,
                const bool makeMode)
     {
-        if (netBuilder == nullptr || trainSetDataReader == nullptr)
+        if (trainSetDataReader == nullptr)
         {
             InvalidArgument("netBuilder and trainSetDataReader should not be null.\n");
         }
@@ -533,8 +533,15 @@ namespace Microsoft { namespace MSR { namespace CNTK {
         if (startEpoch >= 0)
             fprintf(stderr, "Starting from checkpoint. Load Network From File %ls.\n", modelFileName.c_str());
 
-        ComputationNetwork* net = startEpoch < 0 ? netBuilder->BuildNetworkFromDescription() :
-                                                             netBuilder->LoadNetworkFromFile(modelFileName);
+        shared_ptr<ComputationNetwork> net;
+        if (startEpoch < 0)
+            net = createNetworkFn(deviceId);
+        else
+        {
+            net = make_shared<ComputationNetwork>(deviceId);
+            net->LoadFromFile<ElemType>(modelFileName, FileOptions::fileOptionsBinary, false/*bAllowNoCriterionNode*/, nullptr/*anotherNetwork*/);
+        }
+
         // TODO: BUGBUG: if not starting from checkpoint, need to synchronize initial model
         // strategy should be to run the initializer above on mpiRank==0, and then broadcast parameters.
 
@@ -2596,7 +2603,7 @@ namespace Microsoft { namespace MSR { namespace CNTK {
     template class SGD<float>;
     template class SGD<double>;
 
-    // register ComputationNode with the ScriptableObject system
-    ScriptableObjects::ConfigurableRuntimeTypeRegister::Add<SGDParams> registerComputationNode(L"SGDParams");
+    // register ComputationNode with the ScriptableObject system
+    ScriptableObjects::ConfigurableRuntimeTypeRegister::Add<SGDParams> registerComputationNode(L"SGDParams");
 
 }}}
diff --git a/MachineLearning/CNTKSGDLib/SGD.h b/MachineLearning/CNTKSGDLib/SGD.h
index aaf174d19..f22d7dfdb 100644
--- a/MachineLearning/CNTKSGDLib/SGD.h
+++ b/MachineLearning/CNTKSGDLib/SGD.h
@@ -275,7 +275,7 @@ public:
     void SequenceTrain(IComputationNetBuilder<ElemType>* netBuilder, wstring origModelFileName,
                        IDataReader<ElemType>* trainSetDataReader, IDataReader<ElemType>* validationSetDataReader,
                        const DEVICEID_TYPE deviceID, const bool makeMode = true);
-    void Train(IComputationNetBuilder<ElemType>* netBuilder,
+    void Train(function<ComputationNetworkPtr(DEVICEID_TYPE)> createNetworkFn, DEVICEID_TYPE deviceId,
                IDataReader<ElemType>* trainSetDataReader,
                IDataReader<ElemType>* validationSetDataReader,
                const bool makeMode = true);