A Picnic With Old Friends
On a quiet fall afternoon I swung by the Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry (MATI) to capture this image from the picnic grounds of the museum that was closed for the season. This simple little facility on a back road out by the Wasilla Airport has a large collection of air, rail, and road vehicles and strives to preserve a bit of the transportation history in the 49th state.

Alaska doesn't have a big rail preservation community but does have two particularly noteworthy groups. In Fairbanks the Tanana Valley Railroad museum has restored and occasionally operates the oldest and first locomotive to operate in the interior, Tanana Mines Railway #1 a 3 foot narrow gauge 0-4-0 that is a direct predecessor of the Alaska Railroad and can be considered the oldest former ARR locomotive. Meanwhile just down the road from here another group, the Engine 557 Restoration Company is working to bring the ARR's newest and last steam locomotive back to life.

Here at MATI there is no operating equipment but there is a nice collection in various states of repair including these two notable locomotives. At left is #1000 an Alco RS-1 that along with sister 1001 were the first two diesels acquired by the Alaska Railroad. Build under construction numbers 71319 and 71320, they were obtained as a special war materials priority in 1944 to serve the new Port of Whittier through the long tunnels from Portage. At some point in her career her short hood was chopped down in a rather ungainly modification and in 1973 she was retired and donated for preservation.

At right is EMD F7A 1500 the class leader for ARR's fleet of F- units she was purchased new in 1952 and would serve 33 years before being retired in 1985.

Wasilla, Alaska
Monday October 9, 2017