This Ain't Right! Do you know what's wrong with this picture? This is another oldie that I didn't remember taking till I was going thru old albums looking for something different to post. For a moment I thought this was a northbound empty 182N coal train until I looked at the date and then noticed the hoppers were loaded. The last coal train ever had rolled south just about three months prior as seen here. This train is actually a 110N Seward Freight with LOADED coal hoppers. The train was loaded with leftover coal from the stockpile that Usibelli was shipping all the way back north to burn in one of the interior power plants after being unable to solicit anymore spot market business and realizing that the export coal trade was done for. While certainly disappointing it makes for a unique and interesting photo as three blue and gold SD70MACs lead the train over the silty turquoise water of the Trail River that connects Upper and Lower Trail Lakes. They are at MP 25.7 on the ARR mainline as they roll over the 360 foot long timber trestle and ahead of them is the 2% climb nearly 600 foot to the crest of the Kenai Mountains at Grandview Summit, right at MP 45. Crown Point, Alaska |
