The Battle For Winter

Here's something from long ago on a special day when I rode the snow fleet up to Tunnel deep in the wilds of the Chugach Mountains. This is what I wrote when I first shared this long ago.

The snow fleet has been climbing the steady 2% plus grade up from Spencer and is curling around by the site of the former Tunnel section house at MP 51. While no longer the home to a regular section crew, Tunnel is still a base for Maintenance of Way (MoW) crews to begin their assault on the treacherous avalanche zones in the loop district up to Grandview. Jordan Spreader #7 is in the lead with two geeps and a depressed center flat car trailing. Note the warning sign for Slide Zone 51 which the train is just exiting and the block sign for Tunnel Siding which is completely buried under chest deep snow.

The work train crew is heading south up hill toward the site of the massive slide near MP49 in the famous loop district that buried a northbound freight out of Seward nearly a week prior. The excavator with the custom designed snow bucket is on its way to continue the arduous task of extracting flat cars from a tomb of snow.

Here's a news story from back then.

And scroll down thru this page to 4/10/09 for some crazy photos.

Tunnel Station Chugach National Forest, Alaska
Wednesday April 1, 2009

WASILLA, ALASKA: WHERE THAT LONESOME WHISTLE BLOWS

“YAY!!! YAY!!! YAAAAAAAYYYYYY....”

Wasilla’s old Alaska Railroad Depot is once again a real, genuine, depot. (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6)

More than three years have passed since the historic depot built in 1917 was moved from its former location at the train station on the corner of the Parks Highway and Knik Goose Bay Road to the middle of an abandoned gravel pit across the highway from Wasilla Lake. While the employees of the Greater Wasilla Chamber of Commerce, the building’s long-time tenants, would come out onto the porch to wave at passengers in passing trains, up until two days ago it looked to me like the old depot would never serve a train again.

Then various Facebook friends me sent the Chamber’s announcement that a ribbon cutting ceremony was scheduled at the new Depot site on Saturday when the northbound once-a-month Hurricane Turn would be due at 9:50 AM.
From Saturday forward, the depot will serve all passenger trains that stop in Wasilla.
I had hoped to document the event from the air with Quixote the DJI Air 3 drone, but it took place in near blizzard conditions. I had to bag that idea.

I did come back under clear sky when the southbound Hurricane Turn Train stopped to drop off a few passengers right on time at 6:25 PM. They’ll be hard to pick out on a small screen but if you zoom in on the left edge of the frame you should see them.

Frame four shows Wasilla Mayor Glenda Ledford (middle, holding the big scissors), Mat-Su Borough Mayor Edna Devries (to Ledford’s right), and Representative Kathy Tilton shouting for joy immediately after they cut the ribbon.

This Ain't Right!

Do you know what's wrong with this picture? This is another oldie that I didn't remember taking till I was going thru old albums looking for something different to post. For a moment I thought this was a northbound empty 182N coal train until I looked at the date and then noticed the hoppers were loaded. The last coal train ever had rolled south just about three months prior as seen here.

This train is actually a 110N Seward Freight with LOADED coal hoppers. The train was loaded with leftover coal from the stockpile that Usibelli was shipping all the way back north to burn in one of the interior power plants after being unable to solicit anymore spot market business and realizing that the export coal trade was done for. While certainly disappointing it makes for a unique and interesting photo as three blue and gold SD70MACs lead the train over the silty turquoise water of the Trail River that connects Upper and Lower Trail Lakes. They are at MP 25.7 on the ARR mainline as they roll over the 360 foot long timber trestle and ahead of them is the 2% climb nearly 600 foot to the crest of the Kenai Mountains at Grandview Summit, right at MP 45.

Crown Point, Alaska
Wednesday October 19, 2016

As our extreme cold couple of weeks come to end we look back at the first bitter couple days of winter.
Thursday, 14 December 2023: Here we see Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARRC) Fairbanks Yard Job plowing railroad North towards Eielson AFB with 30 cars of black diamonds in tow. Here they are at MP-G23.21 as the matching pair GP's put on their best Alco Impression for the trip North. Leading the train is GP40-2 number 3015 followed by GP38-2 2006 both of witch put on quite the show on due to temperatures hovering around -30 on this blustery cold Alaskan Day. The crew has just one and a quarter miles left before they enter Eielson Air Force Base and the United States Military Railroad trackage at G24.5. While there they will wait to be let on base before making the final 3.5 mile trip to the USMRR's small yard before grabbing the empties reversing back South to Fairbanks.

Alaska Railroad Corporation, Fairbanks Yard Job
Unincorporated Community of Moose Creek
Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska

WASILLA, ALASKA: WHERE THAT LONESOME WHISTLE BLOWS

A red light stopped me this morning at the corner of Parks Highway and Lucille Street. The tracks of the Alaska Railroad paralleled the highway directly across the spot from where I sat. I had different “Lonesome Whistle” train picture possibilities in mind, both to the west and east.

The traffic light turned green. I turned right, to the east. Seconds later, I got a good view of a stretch of frozen-over Lake Lucille. I could see three ice fishing tents, too far out. If I drove out onto the ice and framed one or more tents with the railroad tracks in the background, a passing train would look like nothing more than an almost invisible thread.

I made a “U” turn and drove east to check the signal light at Dog Wash Crossing to see if it had already turned green for northbound traffic. It hadn’t. I was surprised to find it green for southbound traffic, red for north. This meant the southbound freight was late but it would reach the light before the northbound AuRoRa Winter Train did. This would make the AuRoRa about an hour late itself. I decided to park where I had a good view of the light and wait for the freight.

I readied Quixote the double-eyed drone to fly and listened for the whistle of the southbound freight. I formed a mental image of the photo I wanted to take. I did not want to waste battery power. I planned to launch Quixote the moment I heard the whistle and fly him to a certain spot where I could get a photo of the entire length of the freight curving backward into the heart of downtown Wasilla.

I never heard the whistle. The first notice of the freight’s approach came when I saw the crossing arms begin to lift to let the freight come through. I flew Quixote straight to this spot and had to shoot right here. I shot some more afterward, of course, but none were what I wanted. I brought Quixote back to the car and headed west to look for the right place to photograph the southbound AuRoRa. I will post the resultant photo tomorrow morning.

A look back to about a month ago before our bitter cold moved in, I decided to try my luck at some night time shooting. Monday, 15 January 2024: Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARRC) Fairbanks Yard Job has just tied on to a string of loaded tanks and one buffer car as they prepare to switch out the Marathon North Pole Terminal. Here they are at MP-G16.6 on the Eielson branch which runs from Fairbanks Yard (MPG-0) to the end of the railroad at Eielson's AFB (MPG-24.5). A string of empty coal cars from Eielson can be see on the siding behind the locomotives that the crew will take back to Fairbanks later in the evening. In addition they will bring a string of empty tanks that they will soon collect from inside the terminal after spotting their loads. In charge of todays yard job is GP40-2's 3008 and 3012 both of which were built new for the railroad in mid to late 1970's.

Alaska Railroad Corporation, Fairbanks Yard Job
North Pole, Alaska

Floating Freight Car Friday

In a prior post in this series I shared a photo of the Whittier Provider being pulled off the slip to begin its trip north to Whittier. Here is their sister vessel, the Fairbanks Provider, which had been holding out in Elliot Bay awaiting her turn to be brought into position to have the railcars stripped off her deck.

Three barges owned and operated by Alaska Marine Lines (a member of the Lynden family of companies) are constantly cycling between Seattle and Whittier, AK carrying up to 40 railcars on 8 tracks with 32 rows of containers stacked two or three high in the racks above. The rails are flush with the deck so that high reach fork lifts equipped with twist locks can drive on and off the barge before rail cars are loaded to pick or stack the containers. To add to the fascination AML owns flat decks they they lash anything and everything to and then stack on top of the containers. I've seen graders, excavators, campers, fire trucks, boats, and even prefabricated outhouses! Oh, and if that wasn't enough the upper level is also wired for 480V power so refrigerated containers can be plugged in to be kept cool in summer and warm in the sub zero winter months. There truly is nothing else like it!

This particular barge is the Fairbanks Provider built by Gunderson in 2001, and it is 420 ft long and 100 ft wide with 3190 linear feet of track on the deck and a dead weight of 15,300 tons! Movement of the barges is contracted to Western Towboat and out of sight but ready to move her into position is harbor tug, Westrac. The 63.4 ft long vessel was built in house by Western Towboat in 1987 and is powered by two, Caterpillar 3512 diesel engines for a total rated 2,500 horsepower.

Unlike in Whittier the containers are not handled in the same location as the railcars so a barge arriving from Alaska will stop here first to unload railcars then be moved to AML's yard down on the Duwamish waterway to be unloaded and reloaded. Northbound the process will reverse and the barge will stop here to load railcars before beginning their thousand mile 7 day trip up the Inside Passage and across the Gulf of Alaska.

In the background rises the lovely neighborhood of Queen Anne Hill.

Seattle, Washington
Wednesday October 30, 2013

WASILLA, ALASKA: WHERE THAT LONESOME WHISTLE BLOWS

This is not the shot of Easter evenings ARR AuRoRa Winter Train I intended to take. That shot fell apart and disappeared even as the sound of the whistle reached my ears. I had to act fast and make a dramatic change in the drone's location by hundreds of yards and then reframe a new photo in seconds. Now what I have is a shot that illustrates where and how the signal light I always check to see if the train is one it's on its way. The green light standing by Dog Wash Crossing reassures the engineer that the path before him/her is clear. It usually comes on a good half hour before the train arrives but sometimes an hour, sometimes two, and sometimes minutes. 4/1/24

Monday, 08 April 2024: Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARRC) Fairbanks Yard Job heads Railroad South over the Spur Court crossing and past K&K Recycling on a beautiful spring day. This is MP-G10.05 on the ARRC’s Eielson Branch that runs 28 miles between Fairbanks Yard and Eielson AFB Alaska. This days consist had GP38-2’s 2004 and 2007 along with the railroads Track Geometry Car on the head pin and 23 empties from Eielson’s Central Heat and Power Plant on the rear. Although the snow had just finally started to melt the summer is already shaping up to be very busy on the branch. The northern 20 miles have seen an abundance of ties marked for replacement along with track work equipment already being staged along the branch.

Alaska Railroad Corporation, Fairbanks Yard Job
Unincorporated Community of Badger
Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska

The Seward Coal Loading Facility was built in 1984 and exported coal from the Usibelli Coal Mine to South Korea, Japan and Chile. At its peak in 2011, it exported 1.1 million tons of coal annually. Former ARRC Terminal Superintendent Dave Blazejewski stated on July 11, 2016, "But from those halcyon days the business evaporated just as quickly as it had boomed, and four years later only four colliers called on the terminal at the head of Resurrection Bay. With only one ship for all of 2016 the ARRC called it quits and laid off the 16 employees in Seward, mothballed the facility, and sold off the hoppers."

In November 2023, the ARRC put out bids, "to remove and dispose of the deteriorating offshore equipment. Support marine structures, and onshore segments may also be included in work if funding is available." As shown in the second photo, taken from a computer screen, the red crane means the demolition process has indeed begun. It is the end of an era.

The coal loading machine photo was taken during my July 27, 2002 visit.

WASILLA, ALASKA: WHERE THAT LONESOME WHISTLE BLOWS

Passengers on this morning’s northbound ARR Denali Star get some friendly waves.

In past years, I have taken several photos of volunteers working to restore ARR Engine 557 when they come out to wave at passengers in passing trains. This is the first one I have since I first purchased the double-eyed DJI Air 3 drone that comes with a wide-angle and a small telephoto lens. This is through the small telephoto.

There is another shot I want to take that requires a heavily overcast day and did try to take that shot on the ninth during the first run of this year’s Denali Star, but before I could my monitor lost the image so I could not see what the drone was seeing and so I did not take it. I still had full control of the drone, I just could not see what it saw.

I have since figured out how to correct that problem should it happen. Sooner or later, I will try that photo again. I believe the photo would work when the southbound Denali Star passes by in the evening light maybe even better, but the volunteers will have gone home by then.

— at Engine 557 Restoration Company.

Thursday, 09 May 2024: Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARRC) Fairbanks Yard Job heads Railroad North over Moose Creek on the ARRC’s Eielson Branch. GP40-2 3004 and GP38-2 2005 have the honors today pulling 17 loads of back diamonds to the end of railroad at Eielson Air Force Base. Now that spring is here trains will shorten from about 25-30 cars during peak winter to only 10-15 cars during the summer months. The signage to right of the frame denotes the bridge being 21.3 miles from Fairbanks Yard, the start of the branch. They are now only 3.2 miles from the end of ARRC trackage at Eielson AFB where they will continue on United States Military Railroad tracks to G28 where they will interchange cars some 500 miles North of Seward. This shot has been on my list for a while although I had been wanting for the snow to melt to try it out.

Alaska Railroad Corporation, Fairbanks Yard Job
Unincorporated Community of Moose Creek
Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska

Parks Highway

First Meet complete in Cantwell and a large sucker hole holding on for sure the three GP40-2's are notched out and gaining track speed approaching Parks highway and splitting some great fall color. At this point the crew is playing the siding jumping game. At Broad Pass, the next siding ahead they will meet the DEX before heading to Curry to load rip rap.

Taken on September 5, 2022

The AquaTrain

The Alaska Railroad has no physical connection to the rest of the North American rail network. But that doesn't prevent them from having a robust interchange. The ARR owns a service and interchanges weekly with the BNSF and UP in Seattle via barges owned and operated under contract by Alaska Marine Lines.  

However, there was a second player and the barge pictured here is the AquaTrain which was owned and operated by Foss Maritime under contract to CN. Whittier was the designated interchange point and once loaded on the barge this is a CN "train." At the time of this photo the AquaTrain was on a 10 day cycle between Prince Rupert and Whittier. Alas, a couple years later the service was cut back to only two sailings a month and then finally in 2021 the CN called it quits when the last barge sailed north empty to be loaded for the last time in Whittier on April 16th of that year. This ended just shy of six decades of service and wiped Alaska from Canadian National’s system map for the first time since 1962.  

After their first two decades of service the CN made a major commitment when they contracted with Shin-A shipbuilding to build what was then the world’s largest railcar barge at 400 ft long by 100 ft wide with a capacity for 45 standard 50 ft freight cars on eight tracks. Launched in 1982 and sailing from Prince Rupert, BC the AquaTrain offered the shortest railcar service to Alaska at only 600 miles slip to slip. At its peak the barge operated on roughly a 12 day cycle making 30 complete round trips to Alaska annually.  

The barge had an 8 track layout that tapered to 6 on the stern with two switches on the deck. This was to accommodate the layout of the slip in Prince Rupert which did not allow the barge to move to four positions like they could here (the AML barges are 8 straight tracks and the barge is shifted side to side to line up with the two track slip). This barge is loaded completely to the gills with 45 cars of southbound interchange. Lashed to her bow on the port side is the 118.7 ft long Justine Foss, a 4300 hp tug built in 1976.  

So enjoy this look back to a better time and what has been lost.  

Whittier, Alaska
Saturday October 8, 2016

WASILLA, ALASKA: WHERE THAT LONESOME WHISTLE BLOWS

I back up to September 18th - the day of the final run of the ARR Denali Star. I wanted to catch it northbound in the morning and southbound in the evening.

The official schedule calls for the Star to arrive at 9:30 AM, and sometimes it does. Usually, it is close but a little later. Sometimes, it doesn’t arrive until 10:00 or later. Even when it comes on time, if a fair number of passengers are waiting to be picked up, it can stay parked at the station for as long as 15 minutes while they board. Thanks to a little snafu on my part, I arrived at 9:45. The final morning Star of the season had already come and gone.

I checked the railroad traffic light to see if one of the other northbound trains that ran all summer had a green light. None did, but there was a green light for southbound traffic. I figured this must mean the ARR southbound freight was running late, so I parked where I had a good view of the signal and crossing lights and prepared Gepetto for flight. I pictured the terrain the freight would approach through and created a mental image of the framing I wanted. I planned to launch the moment I heard the whistle. I knew it could be a long wait. This was the freight, after all.

It was a brief wait. I never heard the whistle. I saw the crossing warning lights come on. The freight was just about here. I launched Gepetto, hoping to have at least 100 yards between the drone and the train, but the freight was right there. The whistle blew loud. I shot Frame One. Four SD70MAC locomotives this train, including the Union Pacific on lease for the summer and an orange one I had never seen before. It had to be one of the two Kansas City Southern locomotives the ARR had acquired to blend into the fleet. It zipped past. I wanted a better picture of it and aimed Geppeto's camera at nearby Dog Wash Crossing, flew Gepetto full speed toward it, shot Frame 2, then up higher and over for Frame 3.

I brought Gepetto back to the car and drove home. I did not stop for a donut.

Monday, 02 September 2024: Alaska Railroad Corporation ARRC Fairbanks Yard Job heads railroad North at MP-G24 on the ARRC's Eielson Branch. Todays power was ex-Conrail nee-Penn Central GP38-2's 2007 and 2006 built in 1976. Although only the beginning of September, it was peak foliage at this spot on branch and soon the area will be covered in snow. In half a mile the crew will enter Eielson Air Force Base, home to the 354th Fighter Wing and the Alaska Air National Guards 168th Aerial Refueling Wing. The 354th Employs F-16 "Fighting Falcons" with the one of a kind 18th Fighter Interceptor Squadron along with F-35 "Lightning II's" with the 355th and 356th Fighter Squadrons. The 168th hosts the KC-135 "Stratotanker" employed by the 168th Areal Refueling Squadron.

Alaska Railroad Corporation, Fairbanks Yard Job
Unincorporated Community of Moose Creek
Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska

WASILLA, ALASKA: WHERE THAT LONESOME WHISTLE BLOWS

Immediately after I took the photo I posted of the southbound ARR Denali Star that [my cat] Junipurr transformed into black and white, I followed the Star through the eye of Gepetto, the DJI Air 3 drone. Gepetto led me to this view of the Star traversing a canyon of fall leaves and Fred and Sara Machetanz Elementary School.

Sunday, 29 August 2024: Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARRC) Southbound Aurora Winter Train (235S) rolls across Hurricane Gulch Bridge at MP-284 on the ARRC's Mainline. Although this is the second southbound Aurora of the season it looks more like a summertime Denali Star due to extra equipment being needed in Fairbanks for their open house and Beer Train events. Although I was hoping to get out here while there was still colors on the trees, timing and the very limited amount of sunny days this fall made it not in my favor. Never the less, I can still cross this iconic shot off my list as here we see train 235S crossing the bridge lead by SD70MAC's 4327 and 4318 with 15 cars and 4326 on the rear.

Alaska Railroad Corporation, 235S
Matanuska-Susitna Bureau, Alaska

Webmaster note: Dave Blazejewski and Frank Keller brought me to their secret spot on Saturday, August 18, 2012. I was absolutely blown away as I had plotted a similar route several years ago. I was very thankful to have the professionals escort me to this iconic location and check off one of my ARR bucket list items. I am thrilled Dylan Robert has achieved success reaching this sweet spot as well!

Elephant Style - Denali National Park, Alaska - USA

Yesterday’s Denali Star has just departed Denali National Park, enroute to Anchorage. Seen here are three SD70MAC locomotives arranged in elephant style crossing the 900 foot long Riley Creek Bridge. The Railroad’s centennial locomotive was on point for the trip south.

Taken on July 16, 2023

Pete Mejia, under official escort by an Alaska Railroad employee, took this photo through the dirty window of the Anchorage Shops. Ex-KCS SD70MAC #3909 is being prepared for the application of a wrap by International Name Plate Supplies (INPS). An INPS artist created the artwork for the railroad’s approval. INPS will paint all hand rails and latches, vents, hinges, etc, by way of color matching the paint to the vinyl. All the work is done at the Alaska Railroad in Anchorage with INPS, 3M trained and certified graphic installers. The film was printed in Longview, Texas at their plant. They use all 3M premium vinyls. 10/28/24

Make your prediction! What paint scheme is the Alaska Railroad using for the wrap?

Exiting The Canyon

Healy Canyon has been described as one of the most scenic places on the Alaska Railroad and is almost completely inaccessible as the railroad is wedged between the river and the canyon walls. Here an emergency work train rolls south exiting the Canyon confines and will soon arrive into Denali Park. The train is enroute to Crown Point where a glacial dam had broke and caused damage to the railroad.

Taken on September 5, 2022

End of the Line

A lone GP38-2 has gone as far as it can go on the Alaska Railroad Palmer Branch, all to retrieve a couple of empty gondola cars stored at the end of the line. This trackage was abandoned in 2010, but saw action only once every few months even when it was in use, so catching this move was a real treat. Also, note the DC-3 (an endangered relic in its own right) resting at the Palmer Airport just beyond the fence. May 21, 2009

William A (Art) Gibson, Jr. was a lifelong railfan, having been born into the life, courtesy of his father. Over the years, he and his father became known as "Team Gibson" and were referred to as WAG, Sr. and WAG, Jr. Art amassed a huge collection of models, negatives, photos and magazines unlike any other. He was one of the founding members of the Great Plains Transportation Museum.

One of the blessings he bestowed upon us was an enormous collection of black and white negatives taken in large format. "Why large format?", you say. Basically, the wider the film being exposed in the camera, the more detailed the image captured. Combine this with mounting the camera on a tripod for stability and you get mind blowing detail.

For preservation purposes, Art placed these negatives in glassine negative sleeves and then in white envelopes labeled with photograph subject type, location, date taken and other items of interest. These were placed in boxes according to railroad name.

Enter Paul Duncan, former Norfolk Southern Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer. I met him on the Aurora railcar at the Engine 557's summer solstice fund raising event. He actually gave up his seat so my wife and I could sit together. What a gentleman! We bumped into each other again at The White Spot restaurant in Anchorage through our mutual friend and Alaska Railroad employee Frank Keller.

Months later Paul contacted me saying, "A friend of mine named Jim Wilson has forwarded on these images taken by William A (Art) Gibson. We'd like to get them scanned and posted to your website if you're good with them." Several weeks later, I received a box of negatives and slides. Joy! Rapture!

On Saturday, I spent 6 hours scanning in about a third of them. With another 10-12 hours of scanning, I should have them all scanned. Another 8-10 hours of work and I'll have them posted on the website.

To wet your whistle, here is a razor sharp photo of RSD-1 #1027 in Anchorage on October 21, 1956. It's almost like being there, don't you think?

Alaska Railroad P31 - Nenana, Alaska

Alaska Railroad’s P31 cab car holds the marker lights on the rear of the Fairbanks to Anchorage Aurora train. The P31 is an ex Amtrak F40, now with its prime mover removed. It is typically used on the Hurricane Turn in the summer and the Aurora in the wintertime when long reverse moves are made.

Taken on April 23, 2023

Holiday Train 2024

The Alaska Railroad runs this Holiday train every Saturday in December leading up to Christmas. Locomotive 4327 was decked out in Holiday lights despite the lack of much snow along Turnagain Arm. Happy Holidays to everyone; have a wonderful Christmas and a Happy and Safe New Year!!!

Santa sent us a bonus Picture of the Week:

The AuRoRa at the Anchorage Depot, December 20, 2020.