Time To Part Ways On an absolutely stunning and decidedly unusual bluebird day in the tiny Prince William sound community we see the Alaska Railroad and the Alaska Marine Lines barge getting ready to part ways. The barge has been fully loaded as evidenced by the fact that the slip is raised in the background and she is floating level. Soon enough she'll be getting ready for the long tow south to Seattle. Meanwhile the three GP40-2s idling in the foreground will start doubling up strings of loaded flat cars for the 60 mile trip north to Anchorage. Once a week an AML (Alaska Marine Lines) barge arrives at the port of Whittier from Seattle. There are three barges in rotation and each was built by Gunderson in 2001 and is 420 feet long by 120 feet wide. They feature 8 tracks with capacity of 45-50 railcars and then overhead racks for stacking containers up to three high. This is truly a fascinating operation to observe and a marvel of logistics innovation. Whittier, Alaska |
