The Last Ride South Another look back 11 years and four cameras ago to the early years of my time in Alaska. A pair of Budd RDCs bring up the rear of a 110S freight from Anchorage to Seward. ARR 702 and 711 were built in 1953 and 1952 respectively as New Haven Railroad RDC-3 129 and RDC-2 121. Sold to Tri-Met for the startup of the new WES commuter operation in Portland, OR they were intended as back up for the new Colorado Railcar DMUs, they continue to see regular service more than a dozen years later. They are making their last trip south after 22 years of service in the Last Frontier as they cross the Twentymile River bridge at MP 64.7 on ARR's mainline a half mile north of the junction with the Whittier Branch. The high peaks of the Chugach Mountains form a massive bulwark between Cook Inlet and the waters of Prince William Sound. It's only 20 miles in a straight line to Harriman Fjord on the other side. The massive ice field feeds Twentymile glacier flowing west down this side and Harriman flowing east on the other as well as many smaller unnamed rivers of ice. Portage, Alaska |
