A Thousand More Feet To Go....

Alaska Railroad (ARR) Russell snowplow number 4 is being slowly shoved up the APU Spur on her last trip. This is a complement to this shot I posted earlier since I figured you'd want to see the leading end.

She has about a thousand more feet to go before her wheels will make their final rotation as she comes to a rest in the Central Environmental Inc. scrap yard right behind me on the other side of Sitka Street. There she will be summarily tipped off her trucks onto her side and the shears and torches will bite in for their terrible heartless work.

This vintage piece of equipment was built in August of 1949 and was the last of her kind on the ARR. Long since retired, it had been decades since she was used in revenue service and the left rear corner of her car body was completely crushed from a side swipe derailment long ago. She had sat forgotten on a disconnected piece of track alongside the Anchorage yard for many years, but finally fell victim to the ARR's clean up efforts in late 2009. She was donated by the railroad to the Alaska Museum of Transportation and Industry for preservation but the historic society deemed that she was too far gone to be fit for restoration given their limited funds and space. Instead, after taking photos and measurements for historic documentation, they sold her for scrap.

Following a short trip on the main line where she got to cut a little snow for the last time she is seen being gingerly walked up this mile long industrial spur passing the Alaska Mill and Feed elevators on this last run. In an interesting twist, she had to be lifted off the spur where she had sat by forklift because the track was inaccessible. But instead of cutting her up on site, she was set back on her own trucks and was afforded the dignity of a trip to the literal and figurative end of the line on her own wheels.

This plow was also the very last piece of equipment on ARR rails still equipped with friction bearing trucks. It's a shame she had no chance of survival, but at least these photos can preserve the memory....

And if you want to read a great story about her check out this page on John Comb's encyclopedic website - Russell Plow.

Anchorage, Alaska
Friday March 5, 2010

Photo courtesy of Dave Blazejewski