The agent was
very friendly at this early hour and gave me a special package of two
posters usually handed out to passengers on board the Glacier Discovery
train and
only those
who ride to Spencer or Grandview. Upon
reviewing the poster, I knew that I was about embark on a special
trainride. The poster was dedicated to the southern 114 miles of
the Alaska Railroad from Anchorage to Seward. I boarded the train
after I
took a few photographs of it.
The train this day had two GP-49's
and the Aurora business car attached to the end. I asked why the
Aurora car was there and the reply was that the Chinese ambassador was
on a special charter. I had intended to buy a cup of coffee in
the depot, but instead chatted with Adrie Setton, Alaska Railroad
Director of Passenger Operations . I introduced
myself and he said he knew my name. Adrie makes sure
that all trains depart without a hitch and takes care of solving
any problems that the train crew, tour guides, and caterer might
have. After a couple minutes, I looked at my watch and saw that
it was 6:44 and we were to depart in one minute. so my coffee would
have to be procured on the train. I re-boarded the car and we
departed on time.
Every railcar on the Alaska Railroad has
comfortable seats and first class legroom with bars attached to the
seat in front of you to prop your feet onto. It was of interest
to see that a freight train was working in the lead north of the depot
and it had one of the new SD-70 mac's. Soon, Conductor Harry Ross
made announcements that he would be collecting tickets. The
dining car staff also announced that they would call breakfast diners
car by car starting with the "A" car. I had a "breakfast" at the
airport since I had not had dinner the night before. The dining
staff also said breakfast and coffee could be had on a "to go"
basis. I bolted up to get my coffee. The train leaves the
depot at milepost 114.3 and by mp 104, Anchorage is history, but not
before passing through the last neighborhood on the ocean side of the
tracks, complete with its own grass aircraft landing strip.. The
railroad now passes Potter Marsh, which was created by the installation
of the railroad tracks. The tour guide announced that many years
ago, there was an idea to turn the marsh into a sanitary
landfill. The public did not allow this and now bird watchers are
able to utilize a series of wooden walkways to observe their feathered
friends.
The train parallels the Seward highway and the Turnagain
Arm of
the Cook Inlet for the next 40 miles. My first time in Alaska
found me driving this route in the rain towards Homer. Being on
the train is where
I'd rather be in this most
beautiful part of Alaska, . I returned to my seat with the coffee
and then got
the camera and started taking pictures from the vestibule. Alaska
Railroad is unique in that they allow the window part of the dutch door
to be open to view the scenery. It also makes photography results
much better quality as there is no window to reflect interior
contents. I spent much of the time in the vestibule and didn't
hear much of the tour guide narration. There are public address
system speakers in the vestibule, although the volume was low.
There is a
small town on the opposite side of the Turnagain Arm called Hope.
There was an idea to build a bridge to Hope, but the sediments are much
too thick and deep to support bridge piers. One highlight along
the way is the spot where Dall sheep like to congregate. Usually
they are spotted up the mountain on ledges, but this day there were at
least 10 of them just across the Seward Highway.
The traverse along the Turnagain Arm of the Cook Inlet is a series of
coves and then a reverse curve in the track at the point of land
jutting out into the water. The railroad and the Seward Highway
parallel one another and swap waterside locations several times.
Page 2 Alaska Railroad Coastal
Classic
Richard Elgenson
RailNews Network Page
Email me: Richard@TrainWeb.com
