WASILLA, ALASKA: WHERE THAT LONESOME WHISTLE BLOWS A STUDY OF PEOPLE WHO WAVE AT AND FROM PASSING TRAINS, IN FOUR PARTS PART I, left to right: Volunteer 557 steam engine restoration workers Gene Augustine and Paul Dalleska wave at the crew in the lead locomotive of yesterday morning’s northbound Denali Star. Look closely at the cracked open window above the numbers 3 and 2. A hand reaches through to wave back. Engine 557 Restoration Company President and 557 Restoration project manager Pat Durand smiles broadly. PART II: All three wave at passengers aboard the Gold Star, first class service car. Inside passengers in this image cannot be seen. The fellow standing in the observation deck seems to look over the top of the volunteers, up towards the top of the hill atop where Home Depot sits. Perhaps he is not a tourist but a person who lives in a remote, off-the-road homesite in the Chase area and he has just remembered something important he badly needed to buy at Home Depot to repair his leaky roof but it is too late. I don’t know this for a fact. It is pure speculation. Perhaps he lives in New York City and is simply awestruck at everything he sees in Alaska - as he should be. PART III: Passengers riding Adventure Class look out the window, see the three volunteers waving at them, and wave back. PART IV: Although they are not all easy to see, several passengers riding in the two trailing Wilderness Express bear cars raise their hands and wave back. I checked online a couple of weeks ago and saw September 14 listed as the final day of 2023 service for the Wilderness Express. While I write this up on the 14th, I took these pictures on a rainy 13th morning. I had a plan in mind for the photos I would take on the final day of Wilderness Express service, especially in the evening as the bear cars depart Wasilla to go to their hibernating grounds. |
