125N At Bird Flats

A pair of Alaska Railroad GP40-2s, one each in the modern livery and original 1970s as delivered black and gold, have a short train of solid manifest freight interchanges from CN's 'Aqua Train' barge in Whittier

The short 125N train is approaching MP 84 as they sail along beside Turnagain Arm headed north to Anchorage. This stretch of track along the Bird Flats has the look and feel of a heavy duty lower 48 Class 1 with deep ballast, concrete ties, and 141 pound welded rail. That's because it is among the newest on the railroad having been built in 2004 as part of a two year long and nearly $20 million Alaska DOT and PF project that straightened this stretch of the Seward Highway, widened it to four lanes, and moved both it and the railroad 60 foot or more west out into Turnagain Arm. This project was accomplished by blasting a massive chunk of the hillside out at Bird Creek three miles to the north and hauling some two million tons of it here in side dump gondolas during the summer of 2003.

Most importantly it got both the highway and railroad away from the treacherous avalanche zone along the Bird Flats and reduced the risk of a major avalanche reaching the road by 85% by adding distance and a large 'catch basin' at the foot of the slope. This terrible stretch of road and rail cost a railroader his life only a few years before this project was undertaken. 53 year old Kerry Brookman, a 21 year ARRC veteran lost his life in February 2000 due to a slide here. Brookman, a heavy equipment operator, was helping highway crews clear an avalanche from the road when a second one came down. Brookman, operating a bulldozer, was working with two other state highway bulldozer operators when it unexpectedly hit, and his 35,000-pound D6 Caterpillar was carried about 400 feet into Turnagain Arm, its cab crushed. To read more about this terrifying tragedy click this link. As a small memorial and to ensure his name isn't forgotten the railroad renamed the siding two miles south of here 'Brookman' in his honor.

Bird Flats South of Anchorage, Alaska
Sunday September 17, 2017