Freight traffic resumed along Alaska Railroad tracks late Tuesday afternoon.

Repair crews have repaired a 500-foot section of track adjacent to the Susitna River some 35 miles north of Talkeetna. Heavy rainfall washed out the rail bed there last week, leaving track dangling and exposed. Some 35 workers rebuilt the bed using large rocks and fill material bulldozed to the site at Gold Creek. 

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Alaska Railroad freight service between Anchorage and Fairbanks resumed Tuesday afternoon following the recent string of destructive Alaska flooding.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Washouts of railroad track after heavy rains and revenue lost because of idled trains are likely to cost the Alaska Railroad more than $1 million, a spokeswoman said Monday.

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FAIRBANKS - The raging Nenana River began to settle down Monday as Department of Transportation workers continued to repair erosion damage that reduced the Parks Highway near Denali National Park and Preserve to just one lane for the better part of three days.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Alaska Railroad says a washout from flooding left 500 feet of mainline track dangling about 35 miles north of Talkeetna.

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Track washouts and lost revenue likely will cost the Alaska Railroad more than $1 million, an railroad spokeswoman said.
But Stephenie Wheeler says the state-owned railroad is progressing faster than projected in repairing damaged track from a major washout north of Talkeetna.

About 500 feet of mainline track were left dangling Saturday near Gold Creek.
Wheeler says repair crews have been working around the clock and the main line could open as early as Tuesday, a day earlier than projected.

The area is in a 70-mile stretch of rail corridor between Willow and Gold Creek where high water from heavy rain has affected track and several bridges.

Trains between Anchorage and Fairbanks have not operated since Wednesday.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Alaska Railroad officials said Sunday night that track repair crews continue working day and night to repair a major washout that has left 500 feet of the mainline track dangling just south of Gold Creek, about 35 miles north of Talkeetna.  Officials say once the washout is repaired train traffic can resume north of Wasilla. Crews estimate repair will be completed by Wednesday.

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FAIRBANKS - Floodwaters have stopped all train traffic between Anchorage and Fairbanks, closed out the Richardson and Denali highways and caused serious problems on the Parks Highway.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Talkeetna officials called for evacuations in the face of major flooding Friday, the most serious crisis in a day that saw the city of Seward recovering from Thursday flooding, Matanuska River waters rising in Butte and Gov. Sean Parnell declaring a disaster in much of Southcentral Alaska.

Parnell flew into Talkeetna by helicopter to see the flood damage firsthand during a tour of the Mat-Su Valley. He subsequently declared a disaster in both the Mat-Su and Kenai Peninsula Boroughs, as well as other areas affected by to this week's widespread flooding, according to spokesperson Sharon Leighow.

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"Widespread flooding persists across the Susitna Valley with nearly all rivers and streams swollen and out of their banks," the warning says.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska — Passenger and freight train traffic has had service interruptions since Tuesday, September 18, due to extreme weather, including high winds and high water events. Currently, train traffic scheduled to travel north of Wasilla is cancelled at least until Monday due to damage from rivers flooding in the Matanuska-Susitna Valley. Alaska Railroad (ARRC) crews are addressing washouts and bridge damage in several areas impacted by high, fast water along a 70-mile stretch of the rail corridor between Willow and Gold Creek.

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WASILLA, ALASKA - Monte Holm's old steam whistle is about to blow again.
If the current owner of the engine, Engine 557 Restoration Company, has its way, that sound will be heard very soon.
The 557 has embarked on an extensive overhaul that will see it once again running under its own power to the delight of those in both Alaska and the Columbia Basin.

The story of the 557 goes back to World War II. The US Army Transportation Corp commissioned a total of 2,120 steam locomotives between 1942 and 1945, the biggest single class of steamers ever built in the United States.

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A proposed 36-mile Alaska Railroad extension to Port MacKenzie in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough has cleared a regulatory hurdle. The Army Corps of Engineers on Monday issued a permit allowing the railroad to fill in nearly 96 acres of wetlands for the line that will start near Houston and run south to the port across Cook Inlet from Anchorage.

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FERRY, Alaska —- Whether residents of Ferry support or oppose the Eva Creek Wind Farm, they seem to agree on one thing: The project has changed this tiny community forever.

The estimated 33 residents who live in Ferry, 14 miles north of Healy, chose to settle here for a reason. It is remote yet accessible to the Parks Highway. To get across the Nenana River, where most homes are located, residents must walk or ride an all-terrain vehicle across a narrow footbridge attached to the Alaska Railroad bridge.

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It's been a long journey home for Alaska Railroad Engine 557. This week a semi-truck carried the steam locomotive to a railroad shop in Wasilla for restoration, but her odyssey began in 1944, when she first arrived in Alaska, as part of a World War II effort to move troops and supplies.

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WASILLA —- Vic Jansen recalls his early morning excursions through the Valley.

Along with brother Jim, the Jansens own and operate Lynden Inc., including Lynden Transport, which used to have a contract to haul locally produced milk to Matanuska Maid during the dairy's heyday 30 years ago.

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The sights along the Seward Highway attract visitors from all over the nation, but they're those same sights that's drawing people, perhaps too close to the edge.

"We saw some children, family members sitting on a railroad track, taking pictures," said tourists Derrell and Dot Dore.

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FAIRBANKS —- A Fairbanks-based contractor has won a $12.2 million contract to build or replace nearly four miles of railroad tracks at Eielson Air Force Base.

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