Alaska vacation 2003

[Bbags]

Hi All

I have just returned from a 10 day visit to Alaska.

My daughter and her family live and work in Alaska.

She has been living there for the past 5 years but this is the first time that I have visited the 49th state.

While I did not go there specifically to railfan I did get a chance to take some pictures of the trains.

I will be adding photos of Alaska both trains and some scenery once I get a chance to edit my pictures.

So if this topic interests you please check back often.

I am making it a sticky and locking the thread until I have completed it.

Thanks for looking.




This picture was taken by my daughter Kathy.

More later.

[Bbags]

Hi

Since this is a railroad forum I thought I would post a picture of locomotive 3009 up close and personal.

[Bbags]

While on vacation we spent one day at The Museum of Alaska Transportation and Industry (MATI) for short in Wasilla.

This museum has exhibits of aircraft, trains, boats, cars, trucks, snow machines, construction equipment, and farm tractors.

While we looked at all of the exhibits I spent most of my time looking at trains.

The indoor exhibits are housed here.




The first train is EMD F7 ARR #1500. This locomotive starred in the movie "Runaway Train"





The next locomotive is an ALCO Model RS1 ARR #1000



More later

[Bbags]

Here are some pictures of equipment stored outside at MATI

2 pictures of a crane.






An old station that was moved to this site



Some ore cars



An old boat



More later

[Bbags]

Hi again

We visited "Alaska Big Game Wildlife Center" which is a refuge for sick and injured animals that one day can be released back into the wild.

A couple of pictures for those who like wildlife.

The first 2 pictures are of moose which are found throughout Alaska.



The next is a bear which was found with its paws filled with quills and missing its mother. Unfortunately since it will not be able to survive on its own this bear will remain in the center.

[Bbags]

Hi again

One day we decided to travel to Seward to see the Alaska Sealife Center.

Instead of driving home with my daughter and my grandson my son and I decided to take the train from Seward to Anchorage.

This was a train ride of 114 miles with some spectacular scenery.

Seward is the starting point of the Alaska Railroad and many people travel to the 49th state by cruise ship




The train we rode was pulled by 2 locomotives #3009 which was posted earlier in this thread.

The second locomotive was #3013 which is shown here.



Next is a close up of the cab for #3013

Both locomotives are EMD GP40-2's



More later

[Bbags]

Hi again

About 18 miles north of Seward is Kenai lake which is more than 16 miles long.

As roads in this area are few and far between most people on the lake own seaplanes.

I can hear it now "Dear lets fly down to Seward so that I can do the grocery shopping".




Then as we travel North we see an old section house where people who take care of the track used to live and work in the days of the steam engine.

Today no one actually lives here but it is still used for maintenance of the track.

Each section house was responsible for about 20 miles of track.

Located near the house is an old artillery gun which is used in winter to start small avalanches before a large dangerous one would cover the tracks and maybe a train.

Many men lost their lives in the early days because of avalanches.


From here to Anchorage I was using a video camera so no more pictures until we reached Anchorage city limits.

More later

[Bbags]

Hi again

Well after a great ride we arrived in Anchorage.

Anchorage is the largest city in Alaska and 60% of the residents of the 49th state live in the city of Anchorage.

It was about 10:30 at night when we arrived and the sun had just set.

First is a picture of Alaska RR #1.

This locomotive is on display in front of the Anchorage Depot.

It was first used on the construction of the Panama Canal Railroad and then on the ARR construction.

It started life as a narrow gauge locomotive.



And to complete our very enjoyable trip on the Alaska Railroad is a picture of the front on the station.


Stay tuned more to come.

[Bbags]

Hi again

My daughter works for the National Forest Service in Chugach National Forest.

One of the services that the forest service provides is that of placing tour guides on the sightseeing train that travels through Chugach Forest.

Since she is a supervisor and must do reviews on the tour guides we were able to ride the tour train for free.

The entire ride lasted for 4 hours.

The train was lead by locomotive #2002 and contained 3 tourist coaches.

#2002 is an EMD GP38-2 for those that care.




On the back of the train was a Rail Diesel Car (RDC) #701.

The following is from John Combs web site.

A RDC is powered by two 275 h.p. General Motors diesel engines mounted under the floor. Currently, there are less than 50 RDCs in operation and they can be found in Texas, New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Ontario and Alaska.id="red">



As the train was being pulled by #2002 the conductor allowed yours truly to sit in the cab for the RDC as long as I did not touch any controls.



More to follow.

[Bbags]

Hi again

Our first stop would be the city of Whittier.

Until July of 2000 there was no road access to Whittier.

The Alaska railroad used a shuttle train to take vehicles and passengers to Whittier.

Now the railroad and vehicles can share the Anderson Memorial Tunnel (at different times).

Whittier is a small city of approximately 300 people.

The town is composed for the most part of large buildings constructed by the U.S. military.

During the earthquake and tidal wave in 1964 the entire town was destroyed except for 2 large concrete buildings which still stand.

The tunnel to Whittier is 2 1/2 miles long and is the longest combined rail/highway tunnel in use in North America.

The town of Whittier which is on Prince William Sound is an ice free port and all rail barges from the lower 48 are unloaded in Whittier.

The following is a picture of the entrance to the tunnel.

This picture is from John Combs web site.

www.alaskarails.org



Inside the tunnel are safe houses which can be accessed in case of breakdown or worse a fire in the tunnel.

They are supplied with fresh air from outside in case there is a fire.



When the train emerges from the other side of the tunnel the first thing you see is a new resort that is being constructed.

This is supposed to open in 2004 as cruise ships will be docking in Whittier nest year.



Many people leave the train in Whittier as this is the starting point for many different glacier cruises.

The food is also excellent here as the fish is all fresh.

We ate at Swiftwater Seafood Cafe and I had some of the best fish that I have ever eaten.

This is a picture of the part of the city near the docks in Whittier.



More later

[Bbags]

Hi Again

On March 27, 1964 at 5:36 PM an large earthquake struck Alaska.

The epicenter was 60 miles west of Whittier and this city suffered total devastation.

Only two buildings survived the earthquake and the tidal wave that followed.

They were the Buckner Building and the Hodge Building.

At this time there were 70 residents in Whittier and 13 died from the quake and the tidal wave.

The Buckner building was constructed by the United States Army to provide housing for the over 1000 military personal.

It was abandoned by the military in the 1960's.

After the quake the building was never restored and stands today many years later as a permanent reminder of that fateful day.

Here is a picture of a rear section of the building.



We proceeded inside and this is a picture of the interior.



The next picture is taken from inside the building toward the railroad yard and wharf.




The other building to survive was the Hodge now known as Begich Towers.

It was a 14 story building with 177 apartments for military families.

This building was restored and today houses about 90 percent of Whittiers residents in apartment units.

This is Begich Towers today



More later

[Bbags]

Hi again

Here is another picture taken from the abandoned building of the small boat harbor in Whittier.

There is a 7 year waiting list to get a boat slip here.

That is the new hotel that is under construction in the background.



While in Whittier 2 things caught our attention.

The first is a new self powered rail car that was being tested for use on the Alaska RR.

The deserted building is in the background.



The second was the unloading of a rail barge.

Unfortunately I could not get close enough to get a good picture but you can see the barge with its cargo and the tugs that pulled the barge here from Seattle Washington.

Rolling cars are on the lower level of the barge and containers are on the upper level.

[Bbags]

Hi again

The barge that was being unloaded in Whittier was then made into a train one car at a time.

This is the engine that is used to make these trains.

It is number 3006 and is a EMD GP40-2



The 2 blue locomotives are leased units. Since passenger travel is greater in the summer the Alaska RR every year must lease extra locomotives.



As we left Whittier there was an old caboose which is now used as an auxiliary station for the U.S. Coast Guard.



More later

[Bbags]

Hi again

After leaving Whittier we then proceeded to drop off people who would be white water rafting.

It was then on to view a glacier up close and personal.

Since I was using my camcorder I do not have pictures of these areas.

On the return to pick up the rafters we had about a 10 minute wait.

This is an excursion train so we had no schedule to keep.

We were able to get out and stretch our legs.

This is a picture of my grandson Connor sitting on grandpa's knee in front of the passenger car we were on.



While we were waiting, the conductor and tour guide decided to pick some raspberries which were everywhere along the tracks.




Since we were a tourist train we had to pull off on a siding and let the train from Anchorage to Seward go through.




More later

[Bbags]

Hi again

To complete our trip we returned from picking up the rafters to Girdwood.

There are 2 points of interest in the section.

First is a section known as "The Loop".

Back in the days of steam, A huge wooden trestle was constructed so steam engines could pull the loads up the steep mountain grades (steam engines could only pull up a 1% grade).

In so doing the tracks actually looped over one another.

The loop was hailed as an engineering feat in its day.

The loop trestle was abandoned in 1951 due to high maintenance costs and the introduction of diesel engines which can pull up a 3% grade.

Here we can see the locomotive from the rear of the train as we proceed through part of the loop.



Next is a series of 5 tunnels all in less than a mile of travel. These tunnels appeared in the movie "Runaway Train"

This is a picture of the train entering one of these tunnels.



This completed this trip on the Alaska Railroad.

More later