There is
a section house here at Tunnel (MP 51) to house workers who maintain
the railroad through here. We were placed onto a siding for the
benefit of the Grandview train which caters to cruise ship
customers. It is based in Seward and does a round trip most
days stopping at the Ted Stevens International Airport and the Alaska
Railroad Anchorage Depot. Morning northbound passengers depart
Seward from their cruise ship and southbound passengers are heading to
their cruise ship.
The Coastal Classic was backed out of the track and proceeded southward
again.
Above the Tunnel area, the railroad enters the loop district. The
Coastal Classic continues to climb through the loop
district in a series of "s" curves, engineered to replace the costly to
maintain loops. In the age of steam, locomotives were
limited to a 1% grade climb with a loaded train. The advent of
diesel locomotives changed that to 3% and thus the loop district was
re-engineered to abandon the loops. There were two loops, which
allowed elevation gain to climb out of the Tunnel area to the
south. Trains could loop over track that they had just
traversed.
Remnant parts of he lower loop are still
visible. To the left of the present route, one can see a portion
of the old mainline with a gap where a trestle bridge used to be.
Other remnants are visible including bridge piers and other overgrown
abandoned mainline. The track continues to climb and run by the
Bartlett Glacier, named for Frank Bartlett, an Alaska Central Railroad
(predecessor company to Alaska Railroad) civil engineer. Bartlett
Glacier is just 800 feet away from the track, the closest glacier to
the railroad. Above Bartlett, Deadman Glacier is visible.
Most of the items mentioned here will be shown in other views in the
return train trip to
Anchorage.
Page 4 Alaska Railroad Coastal
Classic
