She'll Be Coming Round The Mountain... Something about this image always makes me want to hum that old folk song I remember singing in elementary school music class...that I always loved as a train song. Assumed to be written in the later 1800s, the first official publication of the song dates back to 1899 when William Eleazar Barton included the song in his book “Old Plantation Hymns.” If you care to learn more check out this link. Anyway this has always been one of my favorite shots from Alaska and a chase I'll never forget that was the full length of the south end from Anchorage all the way to Seward. The blues and greens of the fir trees of the coastal mountains creates a layered scene of color and depth that has always spoken to me. I hope you like it too. It was a splendid cold Sunday with bluebird skies and crisp white snow abounding. An empty intermodal (bare table) train 110S was called for a date with the Northland Services barge at the ARR's southernmost terminal in Seward. So, a quick call to my friend Frank Keller and we decided to go for it. What a chase...114 miles from Anchorage to the end of the line with not a cloud in site. Two clean SD70MACs led the train, which albeit was not very photogenic consisting of one tank car and 60 flats (most of which were empty) for a total of 2660 tons and 4852 feet Here the train is seen marching up the short but steep 2.07% climb to Divide Summit near MP 12.5, about to duck under the highway and then drop down the last 10 miles to the docks at Seward. North of Seward, Alaska |
