Moose struggling through this winter's deep, wet snow north of Talkeetna gravitate to the cleared paths of the Alaska Railroad tracks.

They don't leave the tracks for anything. Not even the trains that run twice a day.

Between late November and mid-December, trains killed a dozen moose in a particularly snowy and narrow 100-mile corridor from Talkeetna to the Susitna River, according to statistics supplied by the Alaska Department of Fish and Game.

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A cargo ship tied up in Seward on Monday was scheduled to be loaded with 45,000 tons of Alaska coal bound for Chile.

It's the second such shipment from the Usibelli coal mine in Healy since August, said Steve Denton, vice president of business development at Usibelli.

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A second Chilean power plant has agreed to purchase coal from Healy.

Usibelli Coal Mine, which had a batch of its coal delivered to a plant in Chile last August, has secured a contract to sell a batch to a different plant in the South American country.

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The intermodal projects funded include:

• $2.5 million for the Alaska Railroad. It plans to build a $44 million new terminal at the foot of E Street, which will include an elevated walkway from the terminal below the bluff to Second Avenue above, and a parking garage with rooftop green space. The railroad will use a portion of the new appropriation for the garage, railroad spokesman Tim Thompson said.

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The Alaska Railroad has hired a Pittsburgh, Pa., firm to put together a computer system that will enable railroad dispatchers in Anchorage to remotely control trains anywhere along the 466-mile line.

The railroad will pay Union Switch & Signal Inc. $4.8 million for the job, which is a key part of a $12 million collision avoidance system expected to be completed by early 2007.

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The end of the line is about to get a lot nicer for Engine No. 1.

A new museum and train house is slated to be built at Pioneer Park next summer to showcase the century-old steam locomotive, which currently winters in a cramped maintenance shed off the park's railroad tracks.

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I noticed that you have a story on the DP Trains submitted. If you would like more, you can go to my press release of August 16 of this year. The plan has been approved by the state and they did so a while ago. Here is the link:

http://www.akrr.com/corporate/PressReleases/2004_08_16_DP.pdf
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The Alaska Railroad normally runs two tank trains per day. Beginning in January, the railroad will combine the two trains into one thus reducing their liability. Initial reports say 90 tank cars will make up the consist. However, the train can and may eventually run up to 125 tank cars.
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Despite Alaska Railroad Corp.'s November fuel surcharge of 10.5 percent for transporting freight, it is still paying more than it budgeted for fuel, according the public affairs officer Tim Thompson.
"It's definitely going to hit us this year. We just aren't sure how hard," he said. "You can only absorb so much. It makes us have to look long-term, make adjustments where we can (and) try to recover cost where we can."

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With the help of Sen. Ted Stevens, multi-millions in special project dollars are slated to go to Alaska...

There are also items like $150,000 for the Alaska Botanical Garden expansion and renovation in Anchorage, and there's $300,000 for the Fairbanks Senior Center. Then there's $24 million for Pacific salmon, including restoration of fisheries in Anchorage and a hatchery in Fairbanks.
There's $10 million for psychiatric treatment and substance abuse centers for children, $35 million for Alaska Native education equity. And there's $25 million for the Alaska Railroad...

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I found Alaska coach #5437 for sale at iltransit.com under Coaches tag

UP #5437, ALA #5437 1950 Pullman built, Lot 6844, Plan 7617. Built as a 44 seat Coach. Smooth sided aluminum. Car is complete and intact. Trucks are OSH, TFM disc. Car has D-22 brake. Body is excellent shape. One of fifty built. Price: $30,000
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A freight train collided with a tractor trailer early Saturday morning at a crossing on the Parks Highway.

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Gov. Frank Murkowski will meet with Taiwan's President Chen Shui-Bien and Taiwanese industry leaders Nov. 15 in an effort to nudge along agreements to buy coal from Alaska.

The state signed a memorandum of understanding with Taiwan's government Sept. 16, setting up a framework for enhancing trade between Alaska and the island nation off China's coast

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A Pennsylvania woman who was struck by a train has sued the rail company — for failing to warn her that trains travel on railroad tracks.

Patricia M. Frankhouser filed suit on Nov. 4 seeking damages in excess of $30,000 from Norfolk Southern Corp., according to the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review.

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Federal authorities are on the verge of awarding a multi-million dollar contract for a rail system into the Port of Anchorage for loading and offloading cargo from train to ship, a spokesman for the contractor said Oct. 26.

An undisclosed number of bids on the road and rail project, which is in the $5 million to $10 million range, are under review, said Bill Humphries, a vice president of Integrated Concepts & Research Corp. (ICRC). The contract will be issued within a week or two, pending approval of the federal Maritime Administration, he said.

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The Military Society of Model Engineers Fall Expo will be held on Saturday and Sunday, November 20th and 21st from 10:00 - 6:00? in the basement of Matanuska Hall on Elmendorf Air Force Base.

There will be operating railroads in HO, N, Z, and HOn3 gauges. Pat Durand will have a display of Alaska Railroad locomotives and rolling stock. White Pass Division of Slim Rails will have Hon3 modules in service. An active swap meet table will be in play so bring your excess inventory and rip track items for trade or sale.

A number of demonstrations and clinics are being scheduled for the two days. Creating realistic land forms and Backdrop landscape painting are but two.

For more information: Contact: Randy Bjorgan at Home 907 333 8347.
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I may be behind the curve on this news: I caught the sounds last night (1 am) of what I thought was some very different horns on the North Pole/Eielson Branch. The SD70MAC's are being used on the North Pole oil cans! So I watched for them again hoping to capture them in the light. Numbers 4009 and 4013 were working the branch and boy they looked nice. Towing the can like they nothing.
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Also, Budd cars 507, 508, 512 and 1394 will be rebranded for Alaska Rail Tours in the spring, but they will keep the paint with the mountail stripe. "McKinley Explorer" will say "Alaska Rail Tours ", and the Westours label will be removed and replaced with the new ART logo.

We are going to fix out identity issues this year. We will be "Holland America Line" with the "egg logo" on all of our busses and rail cars. "McKinley Explorer" will stay of course, but we are dropping Westours from all revenue equipment. The mothballed cars we won't change of course.
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With the realignment effort complete between Anchorage and Reeves (approx. milepost 117.3 and 128.4), the speed limit has been increased to 45 mph. A slight wobble through this section has been noted and work crews are currently tweaking this section.

The new 43XX SD70MACs are working out well from a train service worker's point of view. Inside the cab it is quieter since there are not blower fans for the CRTs. They load smoother and have fewer software glitches. This is probably due to the fact they have been tweaked and are also running Windows XP (as opposed to Windows NT on the older MACs). The exterior has several differences such as flared radiators (obvious) and a bulge on the engineer's side (less obvious). The bulge is probably the result of a turbo unit.
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Passenger car Nos. 551-554 are being refurbished over the winter. It is basically a replacement in kind. There will be new seat frames with new cushions on either side of the tables just as is the current layout. Carpet will be changed. Wall laminate colors may be changed depending on time and money budget. Seats will be manufactured by a vendor and installed by Mechanical forces.
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