Love Those Black Geeps! It isn't nice very often in Whittier. In fact, the town features some of the worst weather in Alaska with a normal winter seeing over 420 inches of snow! Known for routine 60 MPH winds with snow and rain blowing sideways a local saying goes: "Weather is here, wish you were beautiful!" But, when it is nice, it is like nowhere else Here we see two of the last three GP40-2s to wear their 1975 as delivered black and yellow drifting light through the yard after bringing down a 6015 foot trainload of barge traffic from Anchorage. The strange little town squeezed hard between the waters of Prince William Sound and the Coastal Ranges is accessible only by boat of the 2.5 mile long shared access rail/vehicle Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel Whittier is the ARR's main port for shipment of containers which arrive via barge stacked in racks above the main deck which contains 8 tracks for interchange of railcars to the BNSF & UP in Seattle. Check out these links How Whittier, Alaska, Won World War II and Inside Whittier, The Remote Alaskan Town Almost All Under One Roof to read a bit more about the this unique and fascinating Alaskan community and it's young history. Whittier, Alaska Photo courtesy of Dave Blazejewski |
