The train was inside the Portage Tunnel, which is 4,905 feet long, waiting to perform the photo runby.
The photo runby in Bear Valley crossing Placer Creek. We all reboarded the train.
Glacier above Bear Valley. We continued our journey east to the Whittier Tunnel.
Entering the Whittier Tunnel, also known as the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel. It passes under Maynard Mountain and is the second longest highway tunnel and longest combined rail and highway tunnel in North America. The rail line was originally opened on April 23rd, 1943, linking Whittier to the Alaska Railroad's main line at Portage In the mid 1960's, the Alaska Railroad began offering a shuttle service for automobiles through the tunnel between Whittier and the former town of Portage. As traffic to Whittier increased, the shuttle became insufficient, leading the 1990's to a project to convert the existing railroad tunnel into a one-lane, combination highway and railway tunnel. It opened on June 7th, 2000. Traffic is scheduled in twenty minute blocks - twenty minutes each for eastbound highway traffic, westbound highway traffic and the Alaska Railroad.
We ran to the end of the track at Whittier.
The train at the end of the track.
Whittier scene.
Diamond Princess cruise ship.
Our engineer getting ready to board for our trip west.
Tank cars in front of Glacier.
Whittier scene.
The glacier outside Whittier.
Whittier scene.
Running through the town.
Our engineer is hard at work.
Mountain across the channel.
The railroad yard.
Taking a curve here.
The Buckner Building, an abandoned former United States military building. During the early stages of World War II, General Simon Buckner commanded the defense of Alaska and was concerned they would be attacked by air. To protect the troops, General Buckner recommended a facility that was independent from local power plants, bomb-proof, and that had sufficient storage spaces. Whittier, Alaska was the perfect place to have this military base.
The Cold War triggered the United States Army Corps of Engineers to quickly build housing and recreational spaces for 1,000 soldiers moving to Whittier. The Composite Bachelor Housing Service and Recreation Center, also known as the Buckner Building, was completed in 1953. This combined building had a mess hall, sleeping quarters, movie theatre, bowling alley, small jail and tunnels connecting the town of Whittier, Alaska. The six-storey building used to be one of the largest in Alaska, often being referred to as "the city under one roof".
Whittier scenes.
The Diamond Princess.
The train pulled into the static photo location.
U.S. Coast Guard Auxiliary Station Whittier caboose No. 1076, formerly Alaska Railroad, built by Pacific Car and Foundry in Renton, Washington in 1949. We detrained for a photo opportunity.
The posed picture with the Diamond Princess and the train.
Passengers returning to the train. We made an impromptu photo line and received a bonus photo runby.
Impromptu photo runby in Whittier after which we reboarded.
We left the Buckner Building behind.
Another view of the Diamond Princess.
The Whittier station.
The Diamond Princess.
Leaving Whittier behind.
The glacier to the north of the Whittier tunnel.
We had a red signal at the Whittier tunnel and would have to wait our turn.
Three views of the Diamond Princess.
The glacier north of the Whittier tunnel.
The automobiles and busses came east out of the Whittier tunnel as we waited.
Can you spot the bear in the picture?
Finally we had a green signal which meant go to the Whittier tunnel.
Here we began CTC.
Entering the 14,361 foot long Whittier tunnel.
The train returned to Portage after passing through the two tunnels.
We had a red over green signal at Porter which allowed us to get on the Seward line, and this piece of the wye would be my last piece of new mileage in Alaska.
The lake at Porter. The train started over my last piece of new trackage in Alaska.
The trip over the southeast leg of the wye at Porter, which ended my new mileage on this trip. From here the train took us to the Spencer Whistle Stop in the Chugach National Forest and we detrained for photos of our train and the Blues Train.
The reverse move of our train.
The photo runby.
The train left the Spencer siding to clear and everyone walked down the trail to the bridge over the Placer River to set up for the Blues Train.
The 200 foot through truss bridge at MP 54.1, Placer River. The river drains Spencer Lake which was created by Spencer Glacier.
Spencer Glacier, 11 miles long and 2,234 feet high. It was named in 1909 by U.S. Grant and D.F. Higgins, United States Geological Survey, for a Mr. Spencer, paymaster of the Alaska Central Railroad, who fell in a crevasse in the glacier in 1906 and whose body was never recovered.
The photo line at Placer River.
The Placer River bridge.
The photo runby of the Blues Train at the Placer River. This was an annual tradition on the Alaska Railroad which ran right after the end of passenger season and sold out fast every year. It went from from Anchorage to Seward on a Saturday afternoon with passengers enjoying live music, catered food and cold beverages enroute before arriving on Resurrection Bay for a night of music and fun before returning the next day.
Our group hiking back to the boarding location at Spencer.
The train returned from Spencer and picked us up. It was hard to believe that this was our last train trip of the convention. A big thank you to Bart and Sarah Jennings, all the car hosts, behind-the-scenes people and the Alaska Railroad for all of their hard work to make this convention a success. From Bart Jennings, I learned that we had served 428 people on the two public trips out of Fairbanks and that we had 370 registered members, so we had almost 800 participants at this year's convention. He also said "They said it was impossible but we did it!" and "We were so well planned that the train crews had almost nothing to do". It had been a great convention and I look forward to next year's in Springdale, Arkansas.
After returning to the station in Anchorage, we detrained and thanked our passengers for riding with us today and throughout the week. Elizabeth and I walked back to the hotel and had our last dinner at the Sizzlin' Cafe before we returned to the room, packed, finished this story then called it a night.
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