For this Steam Sunday special Christmas Eve edition here's another from this very memorable day nearly a dozen years ago in 2011 when there was a true Christmas miracle in the Last Frontier that delivered a wonderful present for all Alaskans! This is the day that the Alaska Railroad's last active steam locomotive, #557, returned after a 46 1/2 year hiatus in the lower 48. #557 is a Baldwin Locomotive Works class S-160 2-8-0 Consolidation built for the US Army Transportation Corps. and diverted to Alaska in December 1944. Retired and shipped out of state in 1965, she was purchased by a wealthy Alaskan philanthropic family, repatriated to the Last Frontier, and donated back to the ARR with the provision she must be returned to active service within 8 years. To learn more about her and see many historic photos click here to check out John Comb's excellent site on all things ARR. This particular link will take you specifically to the section on #557 to learn her history and see status and progress reports. While the 8 year timeline obviously hasn't been met, progress has been remarkable and is ongoing so please check if out. Here she is in the morning blue hour gloom (at 11 AM!) in Whittier as a pair of GP40-2s have coupled up and are readying to depart north thru the mountains via the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel to Portage and then up along the shore of Turnagain Arm to her ancestral home of Anchorage. Portage, Alaska |
