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Photographs courtesy of Dave Blazejewski Working the Barge Three unique views of the Alaska Railroad's marine operations in Whittier. And in case you're wondering if I need to level the first image...NOPE...that's just a normal list as the barge is stripped (unloaded)! Look at the loco and the light tower for perspective. 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 particular barge is the Fairbanks Provider and it is in the process of being unloaded from it's stern. On the Port side (to the left) is track 1 which is still loaded but tracks 2-5 have already been unloaded hence the pronounced starboard list. As the cars on track 8 are pulled off the barge leveled off noticeably. This is truly a fascinating operation to observe and a marvel of logistics innovation. And on this day it was made even better by the rare bluebird skies and two of the three remaining GP40-2s still wearing their as delivered 1975 black and yellow paint scheme. Images two and three offer rare glimpses of this otherwise off limits work area. In the second shot the view looks off the stern across the recently upgraded slip as a pair of vintage ARR Geeps gingerly pull cars off the starboard side of the barge with the old 70 ton flats used as reacher cars. In the background to the left of the units rises the Begich Tower, a 15 story high rise in which nearly all of the town's full time residents reside! The third shot is a view from the service walkway on the upper deck of the barge and the Geeps can be seen in the distance. Whittier, Alaska
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