The federal Surface Transportation Board has finished work on an Environmental Impact Statement for the state railroad’s plan to extend track to Delta Junction.

[See story]

A rollicking Alaska tradition that began in the 1940s is over.

On the same day this week that it announced 127 layoffs, the Alaska Railroad Corp. told the Nordic Skiing Association of Anchorage it has canceled next spring's ski train.

[See story]

FAIRBANKS — Job cuts announced by the Alaska Railroad earlier this week affect 18 positions in Fairbanks, six of them year-round slots.

Pat Gamble, the railroad’s president, sent an e-mail to employees on Tuesday announcing 127 layoffs throughout the state. The Alaska Railroad previously had about 700 year-round employees and an additional 100 seasonal workers.

[See story]

On the same day it announced 127 layoffs, the Alaska Railroad Corporation told the Nordic Ski Association of Anchorage it had canceled next spring's ski train.

The highly popular ski train has for years been a signature event of the association. For 37 years, the train has carried skiers into the remote backcountry of Grandview, south of Anchorage, or Curry, to the north.

[See story]

...Later that afternoon I met with both my boss and his boss and told them the same thing.  I could and would find further savings, in part by eliminating jobs, but if they wanted additional cuts I'd recommend taking my job prior to going after those I hadn't cut – I felt the remaining people were simply too important to daily railroad operations.

[See story]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The Alaska Railroad has laid off 127 employees.

Railroad CEO Pat Gamble announced the move in a company letter late Tuesday afternoon.

The layoffs affect everyone, from high-level managers to workers on the front lines, and include people across the state.

[See story]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Alaska Railroad has laid off 127 employees.

The Anchorage Daily News and television station KTUU says Pat Gamble, the railroad's president, sent an e-mail to employees Tuesday. In it, he says 127 funded positions have been laid off.

[See story]

The Alaska Railroad Corp. is planning to lay off about 20 percent of its workforce because of declining revenues, the state agency said.

The railroad's board of directors on Aug. 24 approved a restructuring of the corporation to reduce costs. Final announcements are expected by the end of the year.

[See story]

The Alaska Railroad Corp. stands to lose millions if nothing is done.

Railroad officials say a decline in tourism meant a significant drop in revenue this summer. And the Flint Hills petroleum refinery in North Pole has cut production as demand for its product decreased at the Anchorage airport, which in turn means the railroad is transporting less freight from the customer that represents more than a third of its business.

[See story]

A dandelion grows between the railroad track at Indian, Alaska, south of Anchorage on Wednesday Sept. 9, 2009. The Alaska Railroad has applied to spray glyphosate-based herbicide on the Seward rail yard and 30 miles of track south of Anchorage to kill dandelion and other weeds that grow between the rails.

[See story]

FAIRBANKS — For years, Susan and Hal Osborne dreamed of owning a quirky little coffee shop in Ester. The trick was coming up with something that could fit in with the neighborhood around their business, Gold Hill Imported Beer and Fine Wines.

[See story]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Alaska Railroad managers presented their plan for job cuts to the board of directors Wednesday, but it happened behind closed doors.

Pink slips are expected for next week, and 140 people could be laid off.

[See story]

Alaska Railroad Corp. employees are due to receive word of layoffs early next week following an hours-long closed door meeting of the board of directors Wednesday.

[See story]

The number-two pick was a scenic train tide to Spencer Glacier with Whistle Stop Tours via the Alaska Railroad.

"You come around the corner there and suddenly this comes into view - it's pretty impressive" Whistle Stop Tours guide Margaret Windsor said.

[See story]

The Alaska Railroad Corp., faced with dwindling revenues in recent years, is preparing to lay off an estimated one-fifth of its work force in an attempt to rein in costs, according to a memo sent to employees by its chief executive.

[See story]

FAIRBANKS — Fairbanks North Star Borough officials have put the historic Harding Car at Pioneer Park under wraps.

When Labor Day festivities were under way at the park on Monday, the historic car was encased in heavy plastic. A work crew sealed it off while it paints a newly built roofed area that protects the Harding Car from the elements.

[See story]

GLACIERS GALORE

Route: Anchorage to Seward, Alaska

Duration: Four hours

The Alaska Railroad debuted its luxury 114-mile Coastal Classic this summer with double- decker domed cars and white-tablecloth dining.

[See story]

Back in mid July a collision occurred in Whittier between locomotive numbers 3003 and 3008. Shown above is #3008 on September 1 sporting a new plow and front steps. Number 3003 appears to be okay. Robert's August 5th photo above shows it doing just fine and dandy in Portage. Currently, she's been up at Cantwell on a work train but came back into town last night.
.

Top contributors to last year’s $1.3 million campaign included Fairbanks Memorial Hospital/Denali Center, Design Alaska, Mt. McKinley Bank, Golden Valley Electric Association, Usibelli Coal Mine, ConocoPhillips, First National Bank of Alaska, Flint Hills Resources, the Alaska Railroad and Utility Services of Alaska.

[See story]

For your amusement, I was passing the Anchorage depot just after the trains arrived. The consist was:

Locomotive 4323
Locomotive 4327
Power/baggage 101
Goldstar 651
Goldstar 653
Diner 451
Coach 205
Dome 521
Dome 501
Wildness Express RCIX 1004
Wildness Express RCIX 1003
McKinley Explorer HALX 1054
McKinley Explorer HALX 1055
McKinley Explorer HALX 1056
McKinley Explorer HALX 1057
Princess MSEX 7087
Princess MESX 7082
Princess MSEX 7083
Princess MSEX 7089
Princess MSEX 7085

A pretty reasonably sized train.
.

WILLOW, Alaska - Troopers say one person is dead after an Alaska Railroad train collided with an SUV Thursday.

The accident occurred near Mile 69 of the Parks Highway at what Alaska Railroad calls the Willow Depot Crossing.

[See story]

WILLOW -- A car driver died Thursday evening in a collision with an Alaska Railroad passenger train in Willow, about an hour north of Anchorage, railroad and emergency services officials said.

[See story]

The Alaska Railroad Fair Train will be making two runs on Saturdays and one run on Fridays and Sundays. The price for a round trip train ride from the Anchorage depot to the Palmer Fairgrounds, which includes admission to the fair, is $54 for adults, $47 for seniors, $27 for children age 6-12 and $22 for children younger than 6. Fair Train tickets must be purchased from the railroad. Call 265-2494.

[See story]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The railroad is fighting a war with weeds, but it keeps getting stopped in its tracks.   

The railroad applied again for a permit in July to start using weed killer on its tracks between Indian and Seward.

[See story]

Here are some photos from the first revenue gravel train to load at the new Granite Birchwood pit. Less than two months ago this was all woodlands and now it is an active mining operation with a state of the art conveyor system able to load 83 car trains at the rate of 2 minutes per car. The very first train departed Anchorage at 0730 on this past Tuesday the 4th of August for Birchwood and successfully loaded 80 cars and made a turn to South Anchorage in under 12 hrs. The second train ran today (8/6/09) and starting next week this facility will be actively loading 5 nights per week.

Note: the photographer is a railroad employee and was wearing all required personal protective equipment. The ARRC does not permit the general public on to their private property without permission.
.

The Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation is holding hearings this week on the Alaska Railroad's request to use herbicides along parts of its track between Seward and Indian.

[See story]

It's one of the longest trips that you can take here in Alaska. It's also one of the most scenic.

It's almost impossible to find a child who doesn't get a thrill from a train trip. Fortunately, none of us seem to grow out of the excitement of a train ride. And when you combine the train ride experience with access to the backcountry of Alaska, it's even better. That's the idea behind Alaska Railroad's Whistle Stop Service.

[See story]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Alaska Railroad is resuming passenger rail service between Anchorage and Seward.

The service has been on hold since Tuesday after a rock slide covered the track about 11 miles north of Seward.

[See story]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Flooding in Seward eased Thursday but the popular tourist town braced for more rain ahead of an influx of thousands of anglers competing in a salmon fishing derby.

The National Weather Service issued a flood watch for the Kenai Peninsula area - a move taken after torrential rains earlier this week dropped more than 2 inches on the town.

[See story]

The Kenai Peninsula has been inundated with rain over the past couple of days that has washed out roads, closed part of an airport and put a damper on the tourism industry.

Seward has been hit the hardest.

[See story]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Alaska Railroad is busing passengers between Anchorage and Seward while crews repair damage from a rockslide that covered the tracks near Seward.

Rains on the Kenai Peninsula may have caused the rockslide that was discovered Tuesday by an approaching train that was forced to stop.

[See story]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A spokesman for the state Department of Transportation says high water closed a runway at the Seward airport but all roads on the Kenai Peninsula remain open.

Heavy rain contributed to a rock slide Tuesday that shut down the Alaska Railroad into Seward.

[See story]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A rock slide on Tuesday will interrupt train service from Anchorage to Seward.

The Alaska Railroad Corp. says the slide near Divide was apparently caused by heavy rain in the area, near Mile 11.

[See story]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Police in Anchorage say a motorist struck the side of a train while fishing for his cell phone.

The Anchorage Daily News reports that the man told police he had dropped his phone and was trying to find it when he lost control of his vehicle.

[See story]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- It's been a controversial issue for the Alaska Railroad, for years, and the railroad has applied again for a permit to use weed killer on its tracks.

And some local environmental groups are ready to fight it -- again.

[See story]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- The Alaska Railroad says it's being hurt by a drop in shipments from the Flint Hills refinery in North Pole.

The refinery accounts for 35 percent of the railroad's revenue. Flint Hills officials say the decline is related to a drop in demand for jet fuel at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport due to the slow economy.

[See story]

The Alaska Railroad is revisiting the longest-running controversy in its 20-plus years as a state-owned carrier with a new application to use weed-killing herbicides on some sections of its track.

[See story]

SPENCER — For longtime Alaskans, it was a frigid flashback.
Gazing across iceberg-choked Spencer Lake, with the glacier of the same name in the background, it was easy to recall Portage Glacier of decades ago — before the glacier receded beyond sight from the Begich Boggs Visitor Center, leaving the lake with less ice than a frozen daiquiri many days.

[See story]

I didn't have to whistle to get the Alaska Railroad train to stop for me and my son Sunday afternoon. We were two of about 50 people who had spent the glorious, cloudless, almost-scorching summer day checking out the Spencer Glacier area of Chugach National Forest. Round about 4:45 p.m., the Alaska Railroad train, complete with elegant double-decker car, rolled to a stop at our rustic little depot in the wilderness. Known as Spencer Glacier Whistle Stop, the recently built outpost is a civilized jumping-off point for a semi-wilderness experience nine miles from the nearest pavement.

[See story]

FAIRBANKS — It always sounds a bit trite when an entrepreneur says it was her dream to start a business, but in the case of Sue Wilson, she insists it really was a dream that made her open the Aurora Express Bed and Breakfast.

"My grandmother and I were very, very close and then she died, and I knew she would always come back from the other side to tell me what was happening, but she didn't," Sue said while giving a tour of the blue and gold Alaska railroad cars that make up the bed and breakfast just off of Chena Ridge Road.

[See story]

FAIRBANKS — An expected drop in visitors to Fairbanks this summer is proving to be true, preliminary numbers show.

City bed tax receipts for the month of May are down by about 30 percent compared to last year, according to the city of Fairbanks Web site.

The number of people riding the Alaska Railroad to Fairbanks slipped by 12.2 percent comparing the first halves of 2008 and 2009, the railroad spokesman said.

[See story]

FAIRBANKS — The Army’s plans to permanently station an aviation task force at Fort Wainwright could bring as much as $125 million in new construction to the post as early as next summer.

The Senate and House Appropriations Committees also included several other items for local military installations:

• A new $26 million rail complex at Fort Wainwright would allow more railcars to be loaded per day. The existing facility can load 49 cars per day with Stryker vehicles, trucks and containers, but an expanded facility would boost that to as many as 100 per day.

[See story]

I spotted a passenger car in the BN yard today that may be connected with the ARR. It was named "YELLOWSTONE PARK" on a stainless steel board and had MRLX 8750 painted at one end. It looked like it might be a diner or club car.

Webmaster note: The ARRC is returning the last of the leased Montana Rail Link cars (no. 323). Number 353 is gone as well.

An Alaska Railroad passenger train slammed into a Chevy pickup that was stuck on the tracks near Eklutna at about 7:25 p.m. Sunday, according to the railroad.

No one was hurt, neither the nearly 700 passengers on the train nor anyone in the truck, which railroad officials say was driving illegally on the track.

[See story]

Students from Alaska and beyond get an opportunity of a lifetime on the working with tourists, wildlife and trains.

[See video]

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A man struck and killed by a train north of Wasilla on Independence Day has been identified as 42-year-old Brett Miller of Anchorage.

[See story]

ARR #3005 was on Harbor Island this morning.
.

FAIRBANKS — If you need a gift for the train buff who has everything, the Alaska Railroad might have the perfect answer — a well-worn caboose, waiting in the Anchorage rail yard for a new home.

The ARR has four old cabooses up for bid. And for a price as low as $8,000, it could be yours.

[See story]

TRAPPER CREEK -- A 42-year-old man was killed Saturday afternoon while trying to rescue a dog from a train track south of Trapper Creek. The man's family was still being notified so his identity was not immediately available.

He was reaching to pull a Labrador retriever to safety off the tracks when the passenger train struck him, according to Alaska Railroad spokesman Tim Thompson.

[See story]

PALMER -- City officials have said they want to turn the railroad corridor that splits Palmer into a green space that includes meandering trails, trees, outdoor concert spots and interpretive signs that discuss the city's history and setting.
Palmer city officials want to get permission from the Alaska Railroad to tear out the '60s-era tracks between a spur line that runs to the Palmer Municipal Airport and the end of the rails at Eagle Avenue. But first they need permission from the Palmer City Council.

[See story]