Monday, August 1, 2021
After crawling into bed late last night, (actually early this morning) an 8:00 a.m. wake up call came far too early. I was on auto pilot mode - shower, eat a breakfast bar, pack, take the golf cart to the parking lot...whew!
Brian picked us up and we quickly returned to Denali National Park in search of wildlife. Unfortunately, all the mammals were in hiding. We did have great weather to view scenery and made it all the way to Savage River. Time was short, and soon we headed to the depot to catch our return train. The visit was short, but sweet, and we thanked Brian profusely for his hospitality. We dragged our bags to the depot's passenger waiting area and checked in with the ticket agent.
I had one job and one job only - videotape the Denali Star as it rumbled into the depot. As you watch the video below you will see, I fumbled the ball on the one yard line. As locomotive engineer Martha Conlan slowly brought the train into the depot, I stumbled to the left and muffed the beginning of the recording. Pffft!
Our railcar for the return trip was the dazzling GoldStar #654, and, without a doubt, I was so excited to be on board. For more history and some very cool photos of this rail car, click here.
We were blessed with an incredibly beautiful day with warm temperatures, bluebird skies and friendly wispy clouds. This made for some drop dead awesome views and photos.
The Alaska Railroad's current mode of operation is to combine the Denali Star and the Hurricane Turn. “This consolidation represents our ongoing evaluation of passenger needs and finding the most efficient and safest ways to meet them,” said ARRC President and CEO Bill O’Leary. For our trip, this provided for some interesting flag stops. The first stop was picking up a family with young children at the end of the Hurricane Gulch Bridge. They were probably dropped off here the day before. Where did they go when they got off the train? What did they do during the day? Where did they spend the night? For one thing, I bet they got some super fun photos of the Denali Star as it crossed the Hurricane Gulch Bridge. Very different indeed!
At Honolulu, we had a "meet" the northbound Denali Star, which typically means we were six hours into a twelve hour trip. Soon thereafter, it was time for lunch and I eagerly devoured the tasty Railway Burger and Alaska Kettle Chips in the lower level dining car. Terry opted for the Chicken Caesar Salad. You'll find the GoldStar menu here.
We picked up quite a few weekend warriors. I should have taken the time to stroll back into the Adventure Class cars and meet their dogs, but I was pretty whipped. I took a few photos of Rudd Spur from the outdoor balcony. When we arrived in Talkeetna, Terry was kind enough to get off the train and take photos of the entire consist.
We passed the Kashwitna gravel pit owned by Quality Asphalt Paving (QAP). Its siding is one of the longest on the railroad at 10,519 feet and can accommodate 100-car trains. QAP estimates an output of one million tons per year, and the pit should provide 50 years of service from its reserves.
As we pulled into Wasilla I spotted the old depot which had been moved to accommodate for better parking for those needing to ride the train. Bill Hess was flying his drone and was able to capture a photo of us standing on the outdoor balcony! How fun! We passed the Engine 557 Restoration Building, but no one was outside as it was not a work day.
Dinner quickly rolled around. Terry picked the Slow Braised Pot Roast, and I selected the Reindeer Penne Bolognese. "This is livin', this is style, this is elegance by the mile. P-O-S-H."
With all the stops to retrieve the flag waiving riders, we timed out the 12 hours of service rule and had to get a new conductor. I bid Ryan Rodriguez goodbye and vowed to connect with him in February 2022. The car steward brought around lemon raspberry sorbet for everyone's enjoyment. This sure beats flying any day!
We pulled into the depot at 8:12 p.m. We retrieved our luggage, hopped in the Pilot and headed back "home." We quickly unpacked and began packing for the busy day tomorrow.