Hauling Hoppers

It was still overcast and dreary in the 49th State and didn't look much like spring, but there was a touch of warmth in the air and the snow was just barely hanging on. Earlier in the year one of the Alaska Railroad's (ARR) longtime gravel customers, Quality Asphalt Paving, was awarded a very large contract for a runway expansion at the Anchorage International Airport which necessitated one of the earliest start ups in the history of ARR gravel operations with the first train running only the day before. This shot is of the second 150W train of season as it curls south splitting the signals at CP1140 in downtown Anchorage. Trailing two SD70MACs are 86 loaded 100-ton steel hoppers, another first for gravel operations, as operational changes allowed for the consist to grow from the 80 cars that was standard in prior seasons. The train is about to knock down the clear aspect on the main while the red signal guards the yard lead at the south end of the Anchorage classification yard. In the distance the high bluffs of Point Woronzof jut out into the cold tidal waters of Cook Inlet.

Anchorage, Alaska
Saturday April 17, 2010