John's ARR trip 2021

Neither Terry nor I felt a thing, but a powerful 8.2-magnitude earthquake struck off the southern coast of Alaska late Wednesday night, lasting for about two minutes. The earthquake was detected about 75 miles southeast of Chignik and was felt strongly throughout the Alaska Peninsula and on Kodiak Islands. Seismologist stated it was the largest earthquake in the United States since 1965. A tsunami warning for parts of the state were issued but lifted within hours. The Alaska Earthquake Center reported 14 aftershocks of magnitude 4 or larger in the first two hours after the quake. The largest aftershock was a magnitude 5.9, eight minutes after the magnitude 8.2.

Whenever I am in Alaska I try to link up with GP40 #3015. When Terry and I first rode the Alaska Railroad in June 1986 it was #3015 which took us to Denali National Park and back. She was my first Alaska Railroad locomotive and will always be my favorite. When I rode the Alaska Railroad with my Boy Scout troop in 2000, number 3015 took us from Anchorage to Seward. Coincidence? No way! She popped up again on my 2002 trip, wearing a brand spanking new paint job and pulling the Grandview (with me in the Aurora) from Anchorage to Seward. In 2004, she played hard to get. When I didn't even try to hunt her down, she appeared out of nowhere on the last day of my trip to say good-bye. In 2005 she met me behind the Fairbanks diesel shop and out front of it in 2006. In 2008 she was constantly passing me by at the Anchorage depot. In 2010 she followed me all the way to Portage. In 2012 I spotted her in the yard while #557 was being loaded for its trip to Wasilla. In 2014 she was leading the way on the first train I saw, the northbound Cruise Train. Honestly folks, I think she is stalking me! I just wish she'd stalk me all the way home to Clayton, Ohio.

During this trip some kind soul took pity on me and linked us up today. In her honor, I was wearing my #3015 T-shirt which I bought over two decades ago. Although I am not 100% sure, I think she was smiling as I walked up. She had a certain timeless beauty of a lady who had aged gracefully over her 43 years. Jennifer Lopez, Gwyneth Paltrow, Gwen Stefani, Jennifer Aniston, 3015 all seem to have discovered the fountain of youth.

Gwennie's Old Alaska Restaurant has been a favorite Anchorage landmark for over 30 years. This iconic restaurant has a friendly local vibe and specializes in comfort food. Portions are generous and the service is speedy. As you enter the restaurant you are greeted by a friendly taxidermied brown bear who's apparel changes during the holidays. I've always wondered what secret this bear could tell as this restaurant was once notable for having a brothel upstairs.

Today I was linking up with Alaska Railroad historian Mike Gerenday to discuss all things ARR. Mike ordered some ginormous breakfast thing, while I am always a sucker for a good cheeseburger. Our conversation mainly focused on bringing steam locomotive #557 to life and finding it a fitting route for her to roam.

Hatcher Pass is rich in beauty, history, and recreational opportunities. Terry and I visited Hatcher Pass during our first trip to Alaska in 1986. We made a brief visit in 2014, but due to deep lingering snow the road to Independence Mine Historical State Park was closed. Major league bummer! This trip predicted lots of rain, but we decided to forge on and hope for the best.

Located in the southwest part of the Talkeetna Mountains, Hatcher Pass features a wonderfully scenic drive full of mountains, rivers, wildlife and famous Independence Mine Historical State Park.


Taking a selfie at the Little Susitna River Overlook	Video taken at Little Susitna River Overlook	Independence Mine State Historical Park

"At its peak, the Independence hard rock gold mine was home to 206 workers and 16 families who lived high above tree line. Digging and blasting, these workers recovered 140,000 ounces of gold before the mine shut down in the wake of World War II. There are 1.5 miles of paved walkways." - www.alaska.org	The road to the summit is called Hatcher Pass Road and is 60 miles long. Terry and I decided to drive only to Summit Lake. This section of road was gravel with ruts, switchbacks, occasional potholes, and no guardrail.	Here is a video of the section of road from the mine up the first hill.

Summit Lake is a crystal-clear lake and leads to a bluff, offering panoramic vistas of the Willow Creek Valley, the Susitna Valley, and the western arc of the Alaska Range.	Fireweed blooms from June to September. It gets its name from its ability to quickly colonize in fire ravaged areas.

By prearrangement we met up with Casey Durand at 5:30PM and picked up Subway sandwiches for dinner. We headed to the Knik Arm Power Plant at 229 E Whitney Road for a tour of the new Central Companies facilities as well as some birds-eye view train watching.

Stuart Jacques and Shane Durand purchased the Knik Arm Power Plant in 2015. At the time of purchase the building still contained the operating equipment from when it was shut down in the early 1980s, the coal fired boilers, turbines and accessory equipment. The prior owner had also collected 30 years of junk from multiple prior businesses and tenants that had to be cleared out. The Central Companies were hired to rehabilitate the facility and spent 6 years gutting the interior, renovating the building, constructing offices and building the recycle transfer facility into what is now known as the Ship Creek Industrial Complex.

The concept for the SCIC facility was to have some office space with an outside feel due to the high ceilings and natural light. It has a big open room with trees planted inside and lots of natural light. They use containers for mobile job offices on construction sites, but they are generally outside. This has the feel of their job offices, but climate controlled inside the power plant. Eighteen shipping containers were repurposed for use as offices inside the building. Extensive work was done to modify the containers to meet building code and the municipality of Anchorage requirements. Many salvaged elements of the original building were incorporated into the construction as architectural features as well as items salvaged from CEI and CRS including, large drill bits, a bunker buster bomb casing, used dozer tracks, gears and valves. The exterior of the building got a new roof and paint, and parking and pavement was added for guests.

The east side of the building was completely regraded with a new recycle facility created with both inbound and outbound truck scales, a section of heavy duty concrete pavement and new drainage. This area now facilitates the transfer of scrap metal from trucks to rail cars and containers for export. The Central Companies consisting of Central Environmental Inc (CEI), CI Contractors, Concrete Coring Company and Central Recycling Services (CRS) lease roughly 7 acres of the yard and 40,000 square feet of the building. Alaska Industrial Paint leases another roughly 10,000 square feet of the building. The former boiler room which is about 10,000 square feet and 70 feet with ceiling height and the 5000 square feet coal conveyor rooms are currently empty and available for lease.

Casey's father, Pat, met us at the front door, and the four of us toured the offices, or, should I say, charming contemporary/rustic office space highlighting repurposed industrial items. The powerful statement was not lost on me; an environmental firm finding creative ways to reduce, reuse, repurpose office furnishings.


Shipping container used as a break room	Old metal takes on a new life as a table	Cubicle wall built from metal tracks

Shipping containers as office space	Shipping containers as office space	Shipping containers as office space

Shipping containers as office space	Eating sandwiches before heading to the roof

A series of metal steps leads to the roof of the CEI building and this provided a unique opportunity to do some bird's eye railfanning. Both Pat and Terry had other plans, so Casey and I headed to the roof, Casey carrying folding camp chairs for us both. It was a beautiful evening which provided not only a good view of the yard, but GP38 numbers 2001 and 2003 switching yard freight.

Rooftop Railfanning - If you've never done it, you should! Lots of fun, nice views, definitely out of railroad right-of-way, relaxing, powerful and a fairly unique photographic angle. We could chat back and forth while watching the work of the day. Casey's insightful saying of the day, "Trains were here before you were and will be here long after you are gone." It was a perfect evening. Now, if I had just thought to bring a bag of M&M's.