FAIRBANKS — Alaska’s coal exports to the Pacific have jumped following a two-year slump, according to the state’s sole producer.

The company, Usibelli Coal Mine, is optimistic exports could stay strong despite international efforts to regulate fossil fuel use.

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PALMER — What value does a set of derelict railroad tracks have to a community? Are they a reminder of what’s past and worthy of historic preservation? Or are they a nuisance and an unnecessary divide through the center of town?

After the Palmer City Council first considered a resolution to remove the tracks, and then another to restore them to working order, the city will create an advisory committee of residents to answer these questions.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Alaska Railroad Corp. says avalanche danger has prompted it to cancel the annual Holiday Train to Seward, which had been scheduled for Saturday.

Railroad President Pat Gamble says passengers will receive full refunds; the Holiday Train won't be rescheduled. Reservation agents will be calling all passengers who have booked on the excursion.

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WASILLA -- Cabin owners along the railroad tracks north of Talkeetna who flag down the train for their return trips to civilization are riding in a little more luxury these days.

Two 1950s-era rail cars that ferried passengers from Talkeetna to Hurricane Gulch have been retired.

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UPDATE 7:16 PM PACIFIC

Car 54 Where Are You?

After all the effort put forward by the crews at Hinkle, it took just one link in the chain to mess things up. How could a dome car get lost between Hinkle and Portland twice !

My boss called me around 4:30 yesterday afternoon and told me to head from Hinkle towards Portland as two of the domes had shipped westbound. 1394 was to go to Portland Barns yard for interchange with Portland Penninsula RR and the other 513 was to be set out at The Dalles for the Monday local for delivery to Hood River. The 1394 never made it to Portland yesterday....however after some help from someone at Hinkle I located it at The Dalles, still coupled to the 513. I was told that it would be picked up by the BA around 2 am and taken to Barnes Yard in Portland.

I got a call at my Dalles hotel around 2 am telling me that the two eastbound domes were coupled behind the rear DPU on the HKRO for Salt Lake. We were not expecting to go for another day. The BA stopped at the Dalles.....and took both dome cars to Barnes yard even though the paperwork says they were only supposed to take the 1394. Normally eastbound corridor trains don't cut cars out at Hood River ....so unless special arraingments are made for delivery...the car will go back to Hinkle for another day...then back to the Dalles...then on the Local to Hood River. My understanding is that XMAS Trains were already booked for this car.

These cars made it from Seattle to Portland to Hinkle to Portland passing Hood River twice....and they will have to pass Hood River one more time on the way to Hinkle and back....probably adding 3 more days. Why does it take over a week to go from Seattle to Hood River. Even with all the great people at Hinkle and the great crew at the Dalles.....one guy can screw it up so miserably for everyone. This isn't the first time cars have been lost in the cycle between Portland and Hinkle and I doubt it will be the last. It's just so unfortunate that you can actually loose a railcar in a corridor that isn't even 200 miles long! To all the good folks at Hinkle...I love you guys....but this is pretty pathetic rail service. I can see why Warren Buffet bought your competition. He could beat this on a bad day with his eyes closed and his hands tied behind his back. Someone needs to find a solution to this problem as I am sure we are not the only one's experiencing it. With all the conference calls , computers and diplomas.....you still can't get there from here.

TWO DOMES SHOULD BE IN SALT LAKE IN THE AM..............MAYBE?

AM in the Columbia Gorge westbound SLRG 1394 on the BA around dawn.

AM in the Columbia Gorge westbound from The Dalles to Hood River late morning or early pm SLRG 513.

As of 0215 two Alaska Domes have been hooked to the rear DPU of the HKRO-30 . As of 0230 crew is on board and is reported ready to leave Hinkle ( now a day earlier than expected !) YES !

SLRG 508 and SLRG 512 will be visible behind the rear DPU Eastbound in Oregon and Idaho all day today...and into Utah. If you have a chance to take photos, please send them or post them. These are awesome beautiful passenger cars! Happy viewing and thanks to the night crew at Hinkle for pulling out all the stops once again!

ARRRGH !
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FAIRBANKS - A suspected drunken driver went through the guard rail on the Johansen Expressway and landed an estimated 40 feet below in the railroad yard beside a train early Saturday, according to Fairbanks police.

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All four Alaska Budd Domes made it to Hinkle. I went out there this morning because it had come to our attention that although the new Umlers had been attached in Alaska, the new prefix on the car numbers (SLRG) had not. I contacted the folks at the hump and tower and they put me in touch with the Mechanical Department.

Special Thanks to Curtis Strzekewicz (hope I spelled that right) for taking me out to the cars and setting out blue flags to allow me to re-stencil the cars . Shortly after I finished with the stencils the consist with our cars was pulled out and shoved up to the hump. Once again....many thanks for setting our cars out and not humping them. The crew at Hinkle is absolutely top notch when it comes to handling our passenger cars. I'll post some video and photos to follow.

Our 4 cars are going to get broken up now.
SLRG 1394 is goingto Portland Penninsula Terminal RR.
SLRG 513 is going to Hood River to join the other dome car currently there.
SLRG 508 & SLRG 512 will continue on to Salt Lake, Grand Junction, Denver, Pueblo and Walsenburg unless someone changes the recipe again. Will post any activity, but I expect we will be in Hinkle for at least a couple days.

Click here for photos
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The Alaska Railroad plans to begin work next summer on a $120 million bridge, the longest in Alaska.The railroad bridge across the Tanana River in Salcha is to be about 3,300 feet long, about 1,000 feet longer than the Yukon River Bridge. The bridge is billed by the railroad as the first step in extending the railroad 80 miles to Delta.

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FAIRBANKS — The Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce asked the state to back a plan by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and Alaska Railroad to link track to industrial land near Anchorage.

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When the north wind blows in Seward, dust flies off a large pile of coal and covers the town's scenic boat harbor in black grit.

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FAIRBANKS -- The Greater Fairbanks Chamber of Commerce has endorsed a plan by the Matanuska-Susitna Borough and the Alaska Railroad Corp. to extend track to industrial land at Point MacKenzie. The Mat-Su Borough has developed a port there, on the north shore of Cook Inlet. They say it could handle exports of coal, limestone and other natural resources.

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Supposedly the Rail Grinder Train was in Whittier on Sat.. Don't know if it is still there.

Some kind of rail project going on south of Portage. There's ballast dumped in Portage with air dumps and gondolas parked on the shuttle track. There's a 988 loader in Portage for ballast moving. There's old rail piled up in the parking lot.
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November 5, 2009, Anchorage, Alaska – Governor Sean Parnell today announced the appointment of Linda Leary and Jon Cook to the Alaska Railroad Corporation’s board of directors.

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RAILROAD BOARD: Jon Cook of Fairbanks, chief financial officer of Airport Equipment Rentals, has been named to the board of the Alaska Railroad by Gov. Sean Parnell.

One of the big local issues to be dealt with by the railroad soon is whether the railroad will allow new at-grade crossings off the road behind the Bentley Mall to property on the other side of the tracks owned by developer Jerry Sadler, owner of Airport Equipment Rentals.

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"ARR RDCs #702 & 711 were setting in the BNSF Stacey Street Yard here in Seattle at about 7 AM today." Submitted by John Taubeneck, our ever vigilant northwest coast correspondent

"The 1084 has been donated to the US Forest Service for use as a cabin at Spencer. It is still here in the Anchorage Yard and will be rebuilt over the winter." Submitted by an anonymous source.

After trick-or-treating Saturday night with her great-grandsons -- one Spider-Man and one ninja -- Joyce Kusmider left her family to shoot photos at Potter Marsh, her daughter said.

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As we reported in today's Oregonian, TriMet is in the process of buying two used diesel train cars from the Alaska Railroad to "use as spares" during Westside Express Service disruptions like the one yesterday morning.

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When mechanical problems knocked out TriMet’s WES commuter rail service Wednesday morning, the transit agency had no place to turn for a replacement train. That all changes at the end of this year.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- A woman died Saturday night after being hit by a train in South Anchorage. An Alaska Railroad employee on an inbound cargo train reported the collision around 7 p.m.

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A 72-year-old woman was struck and killed by a train Saturday night near the Rabbit Creek rifle range, according to the Alaska Railroad and Anchorage police.

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SEWARD, Alaska - Three environmental groups say they plan to sue over coal dust pollution in Seward.

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Tied to the barge expansion plan is a $300 million project to extend rails from the main Alaska Railroad Corp. line between 30 and 45 miles south to Port MacKenzie so goods can be shipped directly through the port. The state in 2007 approved $10 million to complete an environmental impact statement and obtain federal permission to build the line. That process is expected to take several years.

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FAIRBANKS — The fourth annual Spooky Train Ride on steam engine No. 1, sponsored by Friends of the Tanana Valley Railroad will be held from noon to 4 p.m. Saturday at Pioneer Park.

Kids and adults who come in full costume will be given free rides on the century old train.

The center of activity will be at the Tanana Valley Train Museum, a place to warm up with free hot chocolate, cider and cookies. Photographs also will taken and judged for free prizes.

But participants beware, there will be some scary interactive Halloween characters roaming about the park and large blowup displays of witches and goblins.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- When the Alaska Railroad retired five of its cabooses and sold two in an auction, a railroad fan decided to share his passion with the rest of Alaska -- and one of these cars is making its way to a new home. In tonight's Assignment Alaska, reporter Christine Kim and photojournalist Rich Jordan follow an Anchorage man as he moves his prize onto a new track.

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The corporation formed performance improvement teams to examine the profits and losses of each of its 18 revenue streams. The teams reported to the executive management team, who passed it along to the board, Gamble said in an interview.

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The Alaska Railroad recently agreed to transfer ownership of historic records from the time of federal ownership (1914 to 1985). The new owner is the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), which has been storing these records as a courtesy for a number of years. With ownership transferred, NARA can dedicate staff time and resources to catalogue, label, store and restore the materials to facilitate access and to protect against physical deterioration. The agreement calls for these records to remain in Alaska. They are stored at the NARA facility at 654 3rd Avenue in Anchorage. The Alaska Railroad’s records offer a comprehensive look at historic events and decisions that helped shape Alaska’s political and economic climate. They are considered a very valuable resource for historians and curious citizens alike.
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MAT-SU — Between barge docks, cement shipments and rail spurs, it’s a heady time for the Mat-Su Borough’s fledgling Port MacKenzie.

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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.

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