First up, we took the Hurricane turn train (we usually do). I guess the two things worth mentioning are the gnome, at twin bridges, spotted by Cynthia on the way up (but not there on the way back!), and the "pruning", again at twin bridges.
Warren, the conductor, explained to Cynthia that there is some kind of game going on with the Gnome. It travels mysteriously up and down the line, as illustrated by it being on the Indian River at Twin Bridges (on
a surfboard?) when we went up, but it was gone when we got back. Warren was very nice and let everyone off during the trip back to Talkeetna at Twin Bridges. The thing to see there are the salmon in the river. Warren is very keen that everyone see the fish, so he brings along some pruning shears, and trims the willow, so that they can be easily seen by the tourists. Some of the passengers helped him with this task!
A couple of weeks later we went on the Glacier discovery, and I enclose also some shots from that. 3015 again on the cruise train at Grandview siding. The shot of 751 in the loop district would have been really nice if the weather was a touch better. I asked the engineer on the train what he thought of the DMU 751. He was not very positive (to say the least). He seemed to think a couple of SD70MACS and a few conventional coaches would have been a better investment!
A few co-incidences on this trip: The current POTW, I saw the same train as Randy Thompson, however I was driving a 32 foot RV at the time down the park road (opposite side to Randy's pic), so I couldn't stop or get a shot. You posted on Facebook about Frank Keller's rainbow shot of the Glacier Discovery, we saw the same rainbow from the airport, as we were checking in to come home (although I'm starting to think Alaska needs to be "home").
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© 2013 Terry Douglas