ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- If you like getting into Alaska's backcountry, there's a new option in Chugach National Forest. And it's available for everyone -- not just hikers, campers and canoers.

It's a great new family camping spot, it's off the road system and it's up close to Spencer Glacier. Thanks to a unique partnership between the Alaska Railroad and the National Forest Service, Alaskans and guests of the state will have a one-of-a-kind opportunity on the whistle stop.

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The first Alaska unit was supposed to deck on the line in the high bay last Friday (6/8/07) but it has yet to be seen, the underframe is being outfitted right now and hopefully should be on the line by the end of the week. As far as I can tell this will be the exact same loco as was delivered before. The only difference is that this one is Tier 1 compliant. I don't think the last ones were. Alaska rail doesn't have to follow the same EPA guidelines as all of the big US Class 1 railroads so they don't have to buy Tier 2 compliant units like the SD70ACE. These will be MACS with the extra HEP outfitting in the rearend.
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Allen Choy filed a court case on April 5, 2007 for Injunctive Relief and Damages against the Municipality of Anchorage (MOA) in regards to the placement of passenger car #600 at Al's Alaskan Inn. He had a hearing on June 15, 2007 in which the judge ruled that the most prudent and safe place for the train to be pending the final outcome of the trial is up on the permanent stanchions where it was designed to be placed. The trial will be held on January 14, 2008.

Hopefully they will deliver and set-up the crane this morning (June 27) or tomorrow and do the installation on Thursday or Friday.
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Borough and railroad officials say it’s unlikely the area south of Fairbanks will ever become home to a new railroad yard. Instead, a new yard — if the railroad ever moves from its current location just north of the Chena River in Fairbanks — would likely need to be built miles away from town.

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Canada's CBC News reports that a railway linking Alaska to the Lower 48 would cost $10.5 billion. Then it would lose money.

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[View feasibility study] Note: file size is 3.1 MB

NEAR CANTWELL -- It isn't an easy feat, getting hold of Shannon Cartwright. The illustrator, who has at least a million and a half books in print, lives off the grid in the northern reaches of the Matanuska-Susitna Borough. Getting to town takes a few days of planning and when she gets there, she has to borrow a friend's phone to take a reporter's call.

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A proposed team approach, pitched by railroad and borough officials and aimed at eventually rerouting train traffic around Fairbanks, was formally approved Wednesday by the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly. The assembly's approval, however, hinges on proposed changes to the draft agreement, inked this spring by Alaska Railroad Corp. president Pat Gamble and borough Mayor Jim Whitaker. A railroad spokesman said the corporation must review the changes before it can commit to the deal.

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The Alaska Railroad has announced a new train stop in Talkeetna. Railroad spokesman Tim Thompson says that there is so much congestion with trains on Saturdays and Mondays that the Railroad had to find an alternative to relieve the log jam that occurs along the rail in the Talkeetna area on certain days.

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The Alaska Railroad Corporation has opened a satellite ticket and information office in downtown Anchorage. The City Ticket Office will be open seven days a week from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., during the summer. The railroad says reservations and ticketing will still be available at the Anchorage Historic Depot at Ship Creek.

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The Anchorage Provider was in Thursday morning. I think she was loading rail cars. The ARR #2001 & 2006 were not on Harbor Island. I assume they went onto the barge. She was gone by Friday morning.
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DENALI/FAIRBANKS -- A wildfire possibly started by sparks from locomotives closed off the Alaska Railroad Friday, according to a news release from the railroad corporation.

Railroad traffic between Denali and Fairbanks was suspended because of three wildfires about 10 miles north of Healy. Travelers were bused between the two locales, the release said.

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The Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly on Thursday shelved a proposed agreement between railroad and borough officials, a deal intended to further efforts to remove future train traffic from the city’s core.

The borough and Alaska Railroad Corp. have drafted a memorandum of understanding to "aggressively pursue funding for planning and design" for a plan to lay miles of new track between the city of Fairbanks and the Tanana River.

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JUNEAU — Coal trains could be rumbling daily through downtown Anchorage under a plan approved by the Legislature May 12.

The state-owned Alaska Railroad Corp. now has the lawmakers' permission to issue $2.9 billion in tax-free revenue bonds to finance a major coal gasification project at Agrium U.S. Inc.'s ammonia and urea fertilizer plant in Nikiski, near Kenai. The project also includes construction of a 200-megawatt coal-fired power plant.

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It’s been more than a year since railroad and local government officials began a public wrestling match over how best to plan for future train traffic in and around Fairbanks.

The disagreement could reach a notable measure of resolution tonight, when the Fairbanks North Star Borough Assembly meets to consider a tentative deal between the borough and the railroad. The two organizations would team under the draft agreement with an eye on eventually removing some or all train traffic from the core of Fairbanks — a goal that, if possible, would assuredly take decades to complete.

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JUNEAU — The state Legislature has approved authorization for the state-owned Alaska Railroad Corp. to sell bonds for a 38-mile rail spur from near Willow to the Matanuska-Susitna Borough's Port MacKenzie, a bulk commodities port on Knik Arm, across from Anchorage.

Track-laying crews aren't about to start work, however. The railroad must first find a way to pay for the estimated $300 million cost of the spur line.

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The Alaska Shield portion of the Northern Edge Emergency Preparedness drills continue through this week. Over the next few days we are going to look at the importance of holding large exercises like Alaska shield and what local agencies hope to gain by participating.

Newscenter 11's Chelsey Schell starts out by taking a look how the Alaska Railroad used the exercise to practice their response to a disaster.

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For nearly 100 years, the Chugach National Forest has remained a dramatic backdrop in Southcentral Alaska -- the stepping-off point for boating Prince William Sound or hiking the Kenai Peninsula. In the winter, telemark skiers and snowmobilers explore its backcountry. In summer, anglers seek its lakes and rivers.

And while recreation is a big reason people come to this 5.5 million-acre forest, getting to the best areas can be a challenge. Other than flying in to remote areas or trekking by map and compass, access is limited, keeping most visitors just along the forest's edges.

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State lawmakers will not deal with greenhouse gas emissions in a bond package for the Alaska Railroad Corporation. House Bill 229 authorizes the corporation to issue up to 2.6 billion dollars in bonds, a portion of which could help finance Agrium's coal gasification project. Anchorage Democrat Les Gara tried to amend the measure to add a limit to the amount of carbon dioxide any future plant built with railroad bond proceeds could emit. His amendment failed 11-26.

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JUNEAU – Legislation that would allow the Alaska Railroad Corp. to finance, tax free, $2.9 billion for Agrium’s proposed coal gasification project in Nikiski was reported out of the Senate Resources Committee yesterday and is now in the Senate Rules Committee – one stop short of final passage by the Legislature.

The bill is House Bill 229, sponsored by Rep. Mike Chenault, R-Kenai.

The bill includes authorization for $300 million for an extension of rail track from Willow to the port at Point MacKenzie in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough, although Agrium proposes to ship coal through the Port of Anchorage.

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The Fairbanks North Star Borough would drop its opposition to a railroad reroute on Fort Wainwright Army post under an agreement with the Alaska Railroad Corp.

The agreement, tentatively penned by borough and railroad officials, would also commit the organizations to jointly study a larger project aimed at rerouting all future train traffic south and around the city of Fairbanks.

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Brushing off global warming concerns, the state House gave a boost to Agrium's Nikiski fertilizer plant Wednesday when it authorized the Alaska Railroad to sell $2.9 billion in tax-free bonds for construction of a new coal gasification facility.

Agrium is studying whether to build a coal-conversion plant as a way to provide feedstock for its factory in the face of declining natural gas supplies. The tax-free railroad bonds would provide a financing mechanism for the plant and for new rail facilities necessary to haul coal from Healy.

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The legislature and the Alaska Railroad are looking at an innovative way to build the area’s economy by using coal gasification to create a new feedstock for the Agrium fertilizer plant in Nikiski.

If initial studies are encouraging, the railroad would sell $2.6 billion in tax-free construction bonds for the project, with Agrium repaying the bonds.

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WASILLA - An amendment Monday from the state House floor would authorize the Alaska Railroad to finance a 43-mile Port MacKenzie rail extension earlier than officials in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough had hoped.

State representatives Mike Chenault, Bill Stoltze and Les Gara tucked an additional $300 million for a rail extension from Willow to Port MacKenzie into House Bill 229, which is scheduled for a third reading on the House floor today. If approved, it moves to the Senate.

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A pair of retired engineers and a former state transportation manager on Thursday backed local lawmakers’ effort to accelerate a review of a possible reroute of future train trips south of Fairbanks’ city core.

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The Alaska Railroad failed to prevent unacceptable levels of sooty dust at its Seward coal loading center from drifting across the seaside town, regulators said this week after investigating complaints from scores of residents.

" I think everyone can agree this is the worst year ever," said Bob Morgan of the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation. The agency cited the state-owned railroad for two emissions violations following an inspection of the 34-acre facility 75 miles south of Anchorage.

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There are no trains to the North Slope, but events related to the state's largest oil patch had major impacts — both helpful and painful — on the financial bottom line at the Alaska Railroad Corp.

The railroad released its 2006 financial statements late last month, and reported a net income of $10.4 million, a 17 percent decrease compared to the year before.

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Timing is behind Agrium Inc.'s preference for the Port of Anchorage over Port MacKenzie to ship coal from Healy to the company's Nikiski fertilizer plant.

But Matanuska-Susitna Borough officials contend they can get a new railroad spur built to vast -- and largely empty -- Port MacKenzie in time to make Agrium Inc.'s deadline of 2012.

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The Legislature is weighing whether to aid the troubled Agrium fertilizer factory in Nikiski by authorizing the Alaska Railroad to sell $2.6 billion in tax-free bonds for construction of a new coal gasification plant.

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Today there were two Nordco model CX hydraulic spikers loaded on ARR flat
#17003 setting on Harbor Island. They were:

C/N 410752-07 February 2007
C/N 410753-07 March 2007

Both consigned to the Alaska RR.
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Al Choy, majority owner of a gaudy bar on the Old Seward Highway, sued the city this week, claiming muni bureaucrats ran a bait-and-switch on him over an Alaska Railroad train car sitting in his parking lot.

Choy intended to hoist the train to the second story of Al's Alaskan Inn and connect it to the building.

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The Alaska Railroad is reporting a 17 percent drop in profit from the previous year. The state-owned railroad says in its annual report that it had a profit of 10.4 million dollars in 2006.

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