Something Different Down The Street

Here is another day along the closest thing to 'street running' in Alaska.

An Anchorage yard job has GP38-2 2001 (built January 1977 as Butte, Anaconda and Pacific 108) is shoving a string of side dump gondolas with Alaska Railroad (ARR) Russell snowplow number 4 on the end leading the way north up the APU spur here beside East First Avenue.

This vintage piece of equipment was built in August of 1949 and is 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 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 documentation they sold her for scrap.

After a short trip on the main where she got to cut a little snow for the last time she is seen being gingerly walked up this mile long industrial spur to the waiting cutting torches at Central Environmental Inc.'s scrap yard. In an interesting twist, she had to be lifted off the spur where she sat by forklift because the track was inaccessible. Set back on her own trucks she was afforded the dignity of a trip to the 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. One wonders if the motorists passing her here on the street recognized the historical significance of the fleeting moment? 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 and scroll down to the Russell Plow section.

Anchorage, Alaska
Friday March 5, 2010