Geeps On High How about another frame of what is arguably my best catch ever from my secret camp site spot and overlook of Hurricane Gulch. While not a revenue freight train, the company work train always puts on a good show usually rating classic original, built new, home road GP40-2s for power and trailing any combination of a string of ballast hoppers, side dumps, gondolas, flats, the depressed center car with a piece of heavy equipment or more...and always punctuated by one of the Alaska Railroad's three remaining cabooses. On this spectacular fall day it dawned clear and colorful as Frank Keller and John Combs and I awoke in Talkeetna and after a (nearly to!) leisurely breakfast we made the hour drive up the Parks Hwy to the trail head and hiked in the mile. When we heard them blowing for the crossing while still trekking in it became a mad dash through the woods, and Frank damn near barrel rolled in through the brush just as engineer Gordon Larson inched slowly out over the Gulch in charge of train 591W with four matching geeps (3010, 3005, 3002, 3004) punctuated on the end by ARR 1092, an ex CN wide vision van! Located at MP 284.2, this bridge spans 918 feet and rises 296 feet above the floor below. This famous arch is arguable the signature location on the entire ARR mainline and was the most expensive and difficult engineering project on the entirety of the railroad. The American Bridge Company started construction in early 1921, erected steel in June and finished in August. To construct the bridge, they strung an aerial tram across the gulch and construction proceeded from both sides. The first passenger train crossed Hurricane Gulch Bridge on August 15, 1921 culminating the $1,200,000 project. For some stunning historic photos of its construction click: https://vilda.alaska.edu/digital/search/searchterm/Hurricane if interested. Hurricane, Alaska |
