Gov. Sarah Palin recently made the following appointments to business-related state boards:

• Alaska Railroad Corp. -- Jack Burton of Moose Pass to the board seat reserved for a railroad-union member. He is a longtime railroad employee.

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The Alaska Railroad Corp. canceled plans to host open houses in Fairbanks and Anchorage this spring. Railroad officials usually host the events in May. A corporation spokesman said construction at the railroad’s Anchorage transportation center erased the chance of hosting an open house, an issue that caused logistical problems for plans for an open house in Fairbanks.

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Last Monday morning there was a barge in to unload cars. On Tuesday morning the Nenana Provider was in to unload. Sometime Wednesday a barge loaded cars and went north. It had spikers SP288 & SP289 on board.

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The Alaska Railroad Corp. announced it will conduct emergency preparedness programs in a tour along the Railbelt, aimed at preventing and preparing for various emergency situations.

The tour, also sponsored by the Alaska Departments of Environmental Conservation and Health & Social Services, is primarily focused on training emergency responders but also hopes to provide the general public with potentially life-saving information.

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The Alaska Railroad will be conducting a whistle stop training tour for emergency responders in 10 communities in coming weeks.

The tour also will provide information through a mobile "fair" for interested members of the public.

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WASILLA - A contractor hired by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough says moving building material for the Alaska Natural Gas Pipeline through borough-owned Port MacKenzie will save from $122 million to $176 million compared with other Alaska ports .Analysts with Northern Economics say the state saves by shipping pipeline materials through Port MacKenzie rather than from Seward by rail or from Valdez by truck - provided, of course, that a rail link is built linking Port MacKenzie to the main line of the Alaska Railroad in time to accommodate pipeline construction. Building a rail line is estimated to cost as much as $300 million.

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The ARR has four new Nordco spikers ready to send north. #SP587 and 588
are on ARR flat car #17005 and the other two are on ARR flat #17000.

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PALMER — A pair of reports received by the Mat-Su Borough this past week say savings on shipping costs through Port MacKenzie over other Alaska ports will far outweigh the costs to build a rail line to get there.

The reports compare shipping through the Borough’s nascent Port MacKenzie to shipping through Seward and Valdez.

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PALMER, Alaska -- A plan to build a new rail line in the Valley is quickly chugging along.    
Matanuska-Susitna Borough officials say two new studies were recently completed for the Port MacKenzie rail extension project.

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June 7 - 18, 2008 - Alaska Railroad
Motorcar Operators West is pleased to announce the Alaska Railroad Excursion for June 7, 2008 through June 18, 2008. The excursion will take motorcar operators and guests from Anchorage to Seward to Denali National Park to Fairbanks and return. Participants will travel eight days on the rails with three days devoted for sightseeing in Seward, Denali National Park and Fairbanks. Rail travel will total 984 miles. Fifteen motorcars are invited to attend. Cost of the excursion is $5500 which includes railroad, lodging, bus shuttle, fuel, and affiliated fees. The excursion fee must be paid in full by November 1, 2007. This early payment date is necessary to reserve lodging for the busy tourist season. All lodging has been reserved and deposits are to be paid by December, 2007. Alaska Railroad Excursion Schedule
Day 1 Saturday, June 7, 2008 Anchorage, Alaska - (Seton & Orientation)
Day 2 Sunday, June 8, 2008 Anchorage to Seward (111 miles)
Day 3 Monday, June 9, 2008 Seward Sightseeing
Day 4 Tuesday, June 10, 2008 Seward to Whittier to Anchorage (135 miles)
Day 5 Wednesday, June 11, 2008 Anchorage to Talkeetna (112 miles)
Day 6 Thursday, June 12, 2008 Talkeetna to Denali (121 miles)
Day 7 Friday, June 13, 2008 Denali National Park Sightseeing
Day 8 Saturday, June 14, 2008 Denali to Fairbanks (149 miles)
Day 9 Sunday June 15, 2008 Fairbanks Sightseeing
Day 10 Monday, June 16, 2008 Fairbanks to Denali (123 miles)
Day 11 Tuesday, June 17, 2008 Denali to Talkeetna (121 miles)
Day 12 Wednesday, June 18, 2008 Talkeetna to Anchorage (112 miles)
This is a NARCOA insured excursion, and all NARCOA rules will apply. For trip details please contact Dan Berg........

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The 2805 and 2808 are on the move bound for Pasco, WA then up to Spokane, WA. They are moving as box cars meaning they are not running and are basically treated like "box cars", the same as any other loaded car. They left Seattle as the 2nd and 3rd cars in the train behind one real box car on the way to Pasco. They are currently in Whitcomb, WA waiting to be switched into another train to continue their journey.
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ARR 2808, 2805, and 351 are still setting in Seattle. It doesn't look like they will leave real soon. When they do start moving the dinner 351 will go to Tacoma on the BNSF and then to the TMBL (Tacoma Municipal Belt Line Railway) and then to the rebuilder. The 2808 and 2805 will go from Seattle to Spokane, WA then to Sandpoint, ID where they will head down the MRL (Montana Rail Link) to Laurel, MT where they will go back to BNSF and head to Fort Collins, CO and then down to interchange with the PTRA (Port Terminal Railroad Association) in Houston, TX.
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- There are stories to be told and towns to explore -- one just needs to take a closer look.

The model railroad displays are back at the downtown depot as part of the annual Fur Rendezvous exhibit. 

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Six public meetings are scheduled over the next two weeks to take public comments on a plan by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and Alaska Railroad to link Point MacKenzie by rail with the main line.

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I wanted to bring you up to date on ARR 2809 and ARR 2802 which are down in the states. They were tied up in Seattle for a long time with what I believe were mechanical issues. They got the ok to leave and went to Longview Wa yesterday (2/21) where one of them got bad ordered for some reason. It was fixed and as of 2/22 they had arrived in Pasco, WA. The final destination on the BNSF shows to be Wallula WA and Simplot Feed. At one time they were supposed to go to NRE but then it changed to Simplot. I am not sure if that means they were leased to the Simplot plant or what.

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The last two GP49s (2805 and 2808) left Anchorage on 02/15 along with diner ARR 351. They all arrived in Whittier that afternoon around 1630 and left on ARMS for Seattle. The ARR 351 is being sent to CEECO in Tacoma for repainting and then will be shipped back.

Also thought you might find it of interest that the railroad is in the process of scrapping some older cars. All cars are being cutup at Alaska Metals Recycling here in Anchorage. Currently the ARR 10815 and 10819 boxcars have been cut up along with hopper ARR 16504, air dump ARR 15761, and just last night caboose ARR 1071 was shipped there.

Besides the 1071 the plans are to also scrap the following cabooses (ARR 1039, 1074, 1072, & 1084). Six will be retained for MofW use and one will be retained for transportation and the 1086 will go to static display in Curry.

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The first of five planned coal shipments left in January from the Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy, bound for electrical power plant consumption in Chile, an increase in the number of annual deliveries and tonnage for the emerging South American market.

With the first vessel already sailing toward Chile, Usibelli Coal Mine officials anticipate sending in 2008 four more shipments, for a total of 385,000 tons of ultra low-sulfur Healy-mined coal.

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Two rulings have all but derailed Allen Choy's plans to keep a small locomotive in the parking lot of his South Anchorage bar and his efforts to collect damages from the city.

One of the rulings against the owner of Al's Alaskan Inn will cost him the small locomotive in his parking lot.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Avalanche danger remains elevated in the Chugach National Forest backcountry and along avalanche zones on the Seward Highway.

That elevated risk prompted the Alaska Railroad and the Dept. of Transportation to blast the mountain with explosives in an attempt to prevent a dangerous slide.   

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WASILLA -- The Alaska Railroad expects to spend about $100 million of its own money and federal dollars on capital projects between Seward and Fairbanks this year.

In the Valley, much of that will address congestion, plan for future traffic and analyze a rail line 25-40 miles from the main rail line to Port MacKenzie.

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A Virginia firm has been selected by the Alaska Railroad Corp. and the Matanuska Susitna Borough to conduct an environmental study for the proposed Port MacKenzie rail extension project.

The proposed $300 million extension of the Alaska Railroad to Port MacKenzie within the Mat-Su Borough is still in the early planning stages.

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The Alaska Railroad invites the public to open houses tonight in Anchorage and Thursday in Wasilla to discuss plans for capital improvements during 2008.

Each open house will include continuing and proposed projects that are in various stages, from conceptual to construction. Project managers will be on hand to explain projects that are located along the railroad system, from Seward to Fairbanks, but emphasis will be on those in Southcentral Alaska.

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Plans to build a rail spur between Alaska Railroad's main line and Point MacKenzie have passed a crucial checkpoint as the federal government selected a contractor to draft an environmental impact statement, the Mat-Su Borough reports.

The $300 million extension, a joint project between the Borough and Alaska Railroad, will bring freight from the state's Interior to the Borough's fledgling port, Borough spokeswoman Patty Sullivan said.

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Some state lawmakers are pushing for creation of an independent authority to run the troubled Alaska Marine Highway System.

Other ferry advocates are doubtful about such an authority, which would be modeled after the successful Alaska Railroad Corp.

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Archie Giddings, the city's public works director, said having a new train station at the airport would not only would provide a stop for air-bound rail riders, but also relieve traffic congestion created by the downtown station.

"At some point the railroad is going to have to leave the station [in downtown Wasilla]," Giddings said.

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The Alaska Railroad is planning an open house in Anchorage next week to collect comments on capital improvement projects.

The event is scheduled for Jan. 23 at the historic rail depot in Ship Creek.

Similar events are planned for Seward on Saturday, Wasilla on Jan. 24, and Fairbanks on Jan. 30.

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The North Pole City Council last week approved a resolution asking the Alaska Legislature to help fund environmental assessments needed for a proposed railroad realignment.

The project, part of a larger reroute proposed by the Alaska Railroad Corp. for the greater Fairbanks area, would eliminate a number of road-to-rail intersections in and near North Pole. North Pole officials asked the Legislature to include $1 million for the assessment in next year's statewide spending plan.

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ARR #2802 & 2809 came off of a barge yesterday and were on Harbor Island at 7AM today.

Addiionally from Paul Duncan - I took this picture on the way home from work today (1/8/08) at BNSF's Stacy Yard in Seattle.
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Officials from the city of Fairbanks raised another red flag Monday over the railroad's plans for town.

The Fairbanks City Council passed a resolution that pressed the state-owned corporation to remove train tracks from the center of town, reroute trains south of the city, and issue bonds to pay for the multimilion-dollar project.

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Meet Davenport Flagstop. Occupation: detective.

A gumshoe living in the shadow of his father, Flagstop has big shoes to fill, especially for a puppet. Out to show the citizens of Alaska what a good detective looks like, Flagstop embarks on his latest quest to uncover the famous golden spike that marked the completion of the Alaska Railroad and rescue Betty Meers' sister from her kidnappers. His quest will take him from snazzy nightclubs in Anchorage to the Usibelli Coal Mine in Healy as he delves into the history of the railroad to find the missing golden spike.

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