Steady is the Hand

The Steady Hand

ARR's #1 seniority engineer, Frank Sheppard applies his 40 years of experience as he gently guides ARR's weekly passenger train, the Aurora - train 235N, north along the frozen shore of the Big Susitna River in the roadless wildlands of Alaska north of Talkeetna near MP240 on the Alaska Division Mainline.

With an "office" view like this from the cab of SD70MAC 4328, it's no wonder that the highest seniority crews elect to work this all daylight run, one of very few on the mainline in winter. Out the window can be seen Mount McKinley (since officially renamed Denali), North America's highest peak at 20,310 feet. All in a day's work...

Somewhere north of Chase, Alaska
Saturday February 12, 2011

Photo courtesy of Dave Blazejewski