No. 4002 the "Spirit of Seward" was assembled at EMD's Juniata Plant in Altoona, Pennsylvania.  It  traveled with sister units 4001 and 4003 from Seattle, Washington to Whittier, Alaska on the Crowley Marine barge Bonita.  It arrived in Anchorage on February 10, 2000.

Frank Dewey's photo conveys the exciting first test run of the SD70MACs on February 26, 2000.  Numbers 4002, 4003 and 4004 pulled 66 hoppers loaded with coal from Anchorage to Seward.  The total length (including consist) was 3893 feet while the total weight (including consist) was 8579 tons.  Initial departure time was 4:00 p.m. and arrival in Seward was approximately 2:00 a.m.  A minor disappointment occured at Divide when the train took the hill at 2.5 mphr instead of the predicted 7 mph.

The return trip was fairly uneventful.  One hopper was set out due to troublesome brakes.  With 4004 in the lead, the three locomotives pulled the 65 empties back to Anchorage.

On March 15, 2000, the SD70MAC fleet suffered its first road failure as the Spirit of Seward sopped pulling a coal train.  The problem was soon fixed.

 

For more information, see my ARR SD70MAC page.

 

 
 

Photo courtesy of Frank Dewey

Photo taken approaching Beluga Point (MP 95.5) on February 26, 2000