Although it appears to be going south, yesterday’s empty northbound gravel train passes by the big Caterpillar 773 dump trucks in the Quality, Asphalt and Paving lot just east (southbound) of Pittman Road.

Quality Asphalt and Paving carried out all the roadwork I photographed the train passing through in the summer of 2021 and completed it all in time for winter. This summer, they have been busy working on a long stretch of highway north of Pittman.

With Sancho’s help, I also shot images of the Denali Star and Denali Express passenger trains passing through this Giant Tonka Toy Wonderland. I thought about posting them now, too, but even though the setting is the same, they tell a different story so I will continue to save them for another time.

There's A Prototype For Everything!

Here's a fun "Freight Car Friday" offering for you.

There truly is a prototype for everything as they say! This is one is for my modeler friends out there. So save this photo, and when someone comes to your layout and gives a bit of an eye roll when they see this on one of your trains you can provide proof as to your authentic operations!

While not a model railroader myself this was too interesting to just let pass by, and I couldn't resist taking a photo of these loaded flat cars fresh off the barge up from Whittier in this view looking down from the yardmaster's deck atop the Alaska Railroad's Anchorage Operations Center (AOC).

Some nice new prefabricated outhouses are strapped to flat decks and pinned to this COFC flat (the old 129 series wood deck flat cars were modified with IBC locking lugs for containers and flat racks like these) and destined for a state or national park, forest, or campground somewhere. I wonder where these ended up and if I ever paid one a visit in later years?!

Anchorage, Alaska
Tuesday August 11, 2009

Shop Scene

Just a simple shop scene inside the Alaska Railroad's heavy repair back shop. ARR 4009, is part of a string of three SD70MACs the crew was using as they hostled about some power.

Something abut the 90 degree angles and intersecting lines of this view always appealed to me with the bold blue and gold and the big dipper on the flank of the EMD contrasting nicely with the muted rusty hues of the shop. I hope you like it too.

Anchorage, Alaska
Friday May 27, 2011

One Of Each Flavor Please

Three EMD GP40-2s rest on the roundhouse lead south of the Alaska Railroad's system diesel shop. While all three are the same model and all were built new for the ARR they all wear different schemes.

3003 in the middle is the oldest of the group having been built in 1975 as part of ARR's first order for seven units. She continues to wear her as delivered black and gold freight scheme from that era.

3011 dates from the ARR's second order in 1976 for five more and she originally wore black and gold as well. Rebuilt in 2000 in Livingston, MT she was outfitted with a 300kw HEP generator and a new paint scheme.

And on the point here is 3012 which dates from the third and final 1978 order for four more GP40-2s. She was delivered in the Alaska Bold scheme but with a US Department of Transportation nose medallion originally. In 2011 she was repainted right here in Anchorage by a local contractor into the current scheme but kept her giant oversized front plow.

Note the iconic Purina Chow style water tank atop government hill which is owned by the railroad and now serves as an antenna base station. My home was almost exactly 500 ft to the left and up the hill and across the road from the 3012.

Anchorage, Alaska
Saturday October 30, 2010

On May 6, 2023 Matt Leistico visited the Alaska Railroad open house in Anchorage. For more photos from his visit click here.

[Webmaster's note: The young girl seems awestruck by those huge treads!]

Shortly before 10:00 PM last night, the northbound freight rolled beneath Dog Wash Overpass and continued on various elements of the work train parked in the siding by the Engine 557 Restoration Company. I suspect this means there will be much maintenance and repair work happening along the tracks in Southcentral this summer. 5/16/23

Patrick Durand, CEO 557 Restoration Company, adds, "Yes, John, that is our switch.  The track crew is just hiding on the stub to stay out of traffic. They are doing ballast and track work South of here now but eventually they will be positioning the switch and connecting to our stub in the bottom right of the photo. This will take about 6 feet of fill to get to grade."

Hmm. What is an Alco unit doing in the Anchorage yard? Has the Alaska Railroad acquired a used switcher to do its hostler bidding? Actually, this unit belongs to Marathon moving up to 90 tank cars per day at the three track balloon loop tank farm in Anchorage. When the six month service interval on this little unit is required, the Anchorage locomotive shops gets the job done. Even more curious is the fact an SD70MAC is handling the hostling duties. Why? Well, she just happened to be in the area so it saved sending out another unit. 'Hey, I just happened to be in the neighborhood and thought I'd lend a hand." This photo was taken from railroad property by an authorized to be there HAP employee. 5/2/23

For more information regarding this Alco unit click here.

Windy Perfection

Initially I was a bit disappointed when I showed up at this location as I was expecting more sunshine. However it was windy and very cold. I still believe the wait was worth it Taken on February 21, 2013

It was a train ride my wife and I will never forget! It's one thing to spend 26 years recording the Alaska Railroad's history, but quite another to be a part of it. Yes, we had an exclusive invitation riding on the Alaska Railroad's VIP Centennial Train from Fairbanks to Nenana and back! Even as I write this I am still pinching myself.

As we emerged from the Fairbanks depot, our jaws hit the ground as the lead locomotive glided gracefully past in a brand new explosively amazing paint scheme (1, 2). Colonel J.P. Johnson (General Manager 1946-1953) would undoubtedly be grinning ear-to-ear as he looked down from the Great Beyond at SD70MAC #4328's drop dead awesome attire hailing from the bygone days of the 1947 AuRoRa "Moose Gooser".

The ARRC did an admirable job keeping this paint scheme under wraps (pun intended) as a special surprise for the day's festivities. Whoever created this design should receive a healthy bonus in their next paycheck! The Alaska Railroad's Business Car Aurora #2000 and dome coach #500 made up the two car consist with SD70MAC "Spirit of Seward" 4002 adorning the opposite end. Due to my handicap limitations, the Aurora with its ADA compliant access, became our magical ride to Nenana. Terry and I felt we were walking among giants with a who's who lineup of ARRC President and CEO Bill O’Leary, ARRC COO Clark Hopp, ARRC Director of Freight Sales and Marketing David Greenhalgh, ARRC number one conductor Warren Redfearn, ARRC Crew Dispatch Frank Keller, ARRC Board Chair John Shively,various ARRC vice presidents, Federal Railroad Administrator Amit Bose, US Senator Dan Sullivan, Governor Mike Dunleavy, representatives from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and many more. Also aboard was a wide variety of unlimited yummy snacks. Train service was provided by engineers James King and Sean Korshin with conductor Michele Flanagan.

The City Of Nenana hosted a wonderful celebration, but you'll need to wait for my future trip journal posting to hear the details.

Fairbanks Depot
Fairbanks, Alaska
Saturday, July 15, 2023

Fueling up these three locomotives for a work train. GP40s typically hold 2500 gallons while GP38s hold 2000 gallons. The fueling apparatus slows the flow down to 50 gallons per minute. Why do they fill locomotives in the field as opposed to the fuel racks at the yard? It’s all for the sake of time. They don’t want to go back to the yard if they don’t have to.

For more information regarding the Anchorage fuel racks, read the railroad's fact sheet.

Bumped Off Budd

The northbound Hurricane Turn flagstop train is momentarily paused at the platform beside little 'downtown' depot at the section house right in the tiny little village. In just a moment they'll head north across the Talkeetna River bridge and strike off for 50 miles through the roadless wilderness stopping as needed to drop off locals, fishermen, and others striking off into the wildlands of Alaska before traveling as far as their namesake bridge and then turning back.

Leading the little train is ARR cab control/power car P32 (former AMTK F40PH #268 originally built Dec. 1977) which was acquired and rebuilt by NRE in Mount Vernon, IL in 2003 along with sister P31 and equipped with an 800KW Cummins HEP engine. And providing the horsepower here on the rear is GP40-2 3009 which was bought new by the railroad in April 1976.

At right tucked away in the 1518 foot long siding for the weekend is a company work train with sister GP40-2s 3012 and 3011. Trailing is RDC 701 now relegated to duty as the work train's 'caboose' and tool car after herself having held down Hurricane Turn duty for decades. She was built as an RDC-3 for the New Haven Railroad in 1953 as their number 126 and came to Alaska in 1985 from SEPTA who'd acquired her second hand from NH successor Penn Central.

If you'd been here the prior summer you'd have seen 701, but not in such an ignominious role. 2008 was the last summer of the 'Budd cans' as the crews called them and this marked the first year of a conventional locomotive hauled consist on the famous little train. To see 701 at work on the turn the prior summer check out this shot: https://flic.kr/p/KbpBpf

And she's still in Alaska today, albeit far from the ARR's rails down on the Kenai peninsula: https://radiokenai.com/flag-stop-train-finds-hill-top-home/

Talkeetna, Alaska
Sunday July 26, 2009

A Long Time Ago On A Bridge Far Away

Here is today's IG post and FB repost again at this most famous of Alaska Railroad bridges but nearly a decade earlier than the one I posted yesterday.

A pair of classic RDCs (#s 701 & 712) on the Hurricane Turn pause on the train's namesake bridge to allow passengers to get off and walk around. As you can see a decade and a half a ago things were much more casual on the Alaska Railroad than they are now.

701 is an RDC-3 built for the New Haven Railroad in 1953 as their number 126.

712 is an RDC-3 built for the New York Central in 1953 as their number M380.

This would be the last season for the classic "Budd Cans" as the railroad's crews called them as time and the increasing popularity of this train finally caught up to them.

Hurricane, Alaska
Sunday September 7, 2008

10 units, or 35.7% of the fleet of SD70MACs in the State! - count 'em - curl north with 113 empty coal hoppers along the icy shores of Turnagain Arm beneath the snowy peaks of the Chugach Mountains.

This is by far the largest unit train ever run by the Alaska Railroad. It is, in fact, 1½ normal trains combined. Two days prior to this shot, due to high winds, unloading operations were suspended in Seward with one train only half empty. The road crew turned out with 4 units and half the train. Meanwhile, the following day the other consist (ARR at the time two 75 car unit coal trains cycling around the clock each operating with 7 units over the hill between Anchorage and Seward) showed up. It was dumped successfully and doubled up with the other half still in Seward and came north to Anchorage as a monster train stretching 7000 feet in length that you see here stretched out beside the icy waters of Turnagain Arm near MP 88.5.

I was the Superintendent of the railroad at the time and in conjunction with my chief dispatcher (an ex-Espee man that wasn't scared of big trains) and with approval of our Director of Operating Practices (an ex-BN Powder River man) we did the unprecedented. 

My boss...the VP and COO (who had never worked anywhere else) was not amused however (despite the flawless run) and a train of this size was not ever repeated.  Fast forward to today and export coal trains are but a memory and the hoppers have almost all been sold off.  This was truly a once in a lifetime occurrence!

Indian, Alaska
Sunday December 12, 2010

Monday, 10 July 2023: Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARRC) train 110S heads South over the Snow River Bridge located at MP 14.5 on the ARRC main line. This Seward bound freight started its morning in Anchorage Yard before making the 114 mile trip South with almost a solid train on empty flats it would have one gas tanker bringing up the rear. This is a drastically different railroad from the North End and is what you would expect to find in the lower 48 and almost looks like a modern day class 1 railroad. However, freights to Seward are far and few between now a days with export coal trains long gone. It was a pleasant surprise to be able to catch one of the few freights that still call on Seward every year.

Rick Leggett adds this historical tidbit: A B&B crew was working on this bridge in October of 1986, when they left on Thursday for their 3 day weekend. Unknown to anyone, leaving their welder on a high & dry sandbar like they had been doing for weeks, would turn out to be a not so good move when a 1 in 500 year flood started on Friday, October 10...and the welder was never to be seen again. For the next few days, the remnants of a Pacific typhoon inundated the ARR and shut down the railroad for about two weeks between Seward and Gold Creek. Every department on the ARR had employees helping out in the field, in one form or another and through dedication/hard work and almost 24/7 shifts, were able to get the mainline open just ahead of winter freeze-up (which is always unpredictable). Had the temporary repairs not been completed before freeze-up, trains couldn't operate from Anchorage to Fairbanks until the following spring and the majority of employees would have been out of work all winter.

WASILLA, ALASKA: WHERE THAT LONESOME WHISTLE BLOWS  

Yesterday’s northbound ARR AuRoRa Winter Train. 

 When I launched this Lonesome Whistle essay 3.5 years ago my goals were, 1: Give Sancho the drone something fun to do; 2: Describe Wasilla through trains that roll through it. 

 I believe I have since photographed every coffee shop, bar, fast food restaurant, pizza joint, brewery, thrift store, grocery store, cannabis shop, bank, massage parlor, campaign banner, liquor store, Frequent School Bus, snow machine/jet ski dealer, office building, beauty salon, military recruiter, Malibu beach, ice rink, medical facility, gas station, steam locomotive restoration shop, air dancer, clock tower, dog wash, car wash, float plane, fishing and diving dock, tax service, etc. within range of the tracks.  

I have fallen short on churches. Only one of Wasilla’s many churches can be identified as a church in any picture I have been able to take: the Mormon Church. It’s thin, white, steeple rises from a street lined with churches but all the others are all too short to be seen. 

 Even the Mormon Church is so tiny in past posts that my Mormon friends and relatives doubt it is there. Through his short telephoto lens, Sancho’s new partner Quixote is able to make the church larger in the frame. 

 I discovered Quixote’s telephoto can pick out the Catholic Church, too, but it’s harder to see than the Mormon Church. I intend to photograph the Catholic Church with the train, too, but I likely must wait for spring light. I will also give King’s Alaska another try. Some might recall how the giant cross King’s originally planned to raise over the huge chapel above Walmart caused so much controversy its completion was delayed by years. King’s recently raised a much smaller cross alongside the chapel, placed to face motorists driving into Wasilla on the Parks Highway. The cross stands at a right angle to the distant tracks and might be invisible from the tracks even with the telephoto. I have been thinking about it. I have an idea that might work. It might not. The light of spring will tell. 11/19/23

WASILLA, ALASKA: WHERE THAT LONESOME WHISTLE BLOWS

This morning’s northbound ARR AuRoRa Winter Train, rounds the last curve before Dog Wash Overpass. When it returns tomorrow as the southbound AuRoRa it will arrive well after dark. The northbound will arrive three more times in waning daylight and then it too will makes all its runs in the dark. Wasilla will have no more daylight trains until late January.   

We can expect some brilliant northern lights nights but that doesn’t mean the timing of the aurora and the arrival of the AuRoRa will coincide. We can hope. 

There looks to be some big time snow in the mountains!

The snowfleet rests overnight in Portage (1, 2, 3, 4, 5) in anticipation for a blustery trip to Seward. Seward, you say? Yes, the railroad has been running one to two trains a week to Seward. This past Thursday (12/14/23) saw a train loaded with pipe and Frac sand.

Two of the hardest things that railroad employees encounter are the work schedule and the weather. Train service employees experience both the beauty and brutality of Alaskan winters. From personal experience, I can still remember witnessing a brakeman wading through waist-deep snow tying up 50 railcar handbrakes to the end of the train and then back.  It was so cold that the snow was like sugar and filled back in with each step the brakeman made. Similarly, while I was on a snowfleet in March 2004, I hopped off to get photos of the Jordan Spreader. I got waist deep in the snow and could barely move. How did that brakeman do that 50 car magic? 12/6/23

Here's an oldie, but a goody from my archives. This was the Picture of the Week for the week of December 20, 2004.

As the population of the world continues to increase dramatically, it should come as no surprise to find Santa has chosen an SD70MAC over a sleigh to deliver the tons of toys from the North Pole to all the good girls and boys. Eight tiny reindeer are just no match for a 16-cylinder 4,000 HP work horse with WhisperCab and heated crew area.

"Is this an awesome machine or what!" Santa hoghead was heard to exclaim as he highballed it down the track.

Happy holidays from John's Alaska Railroad Web Page! I hope Santa brings you much happiness and good health for 2023 and beyond. -- JC