Work Train Trifecta

Here is another from this fun chase long ago and one of the only times I got a three scheme locomotive consist.

On a cold crisp Saturday afternoon an Alaska Railroad company work train of yellow side dump gondolas rolls south along the ARR mainline at about MP 68.5 on the causeway between Girdwood and Portage where they will set out some cars before turning around and coming back north. The three bought new GP40-2s provide a history of the ARR in paint - from the austere black and gold of the mid 1970s Federal days to the bold blue and yellow of the 1980s and transition to state ownership to the sophisticated scheme of today that debuted at the dawn of the millennium on the SD70MACs and which is now the standard.

Note: since this photo was taken 3002 and 3012 have joined their sister and received the current ARR scheme leaving no GP40-2s in the Alaska Bold scheme and only three in old school black and yellow.

Near Portage, Alaska
Saturday November 14, 2009