Foamin' in Alaska

[TrainNut]

Howdy all. I had the rare opportunity to visit our northernmost state this week for a short notice business trip. Since I had quite a bit of spare time to goof around and go sightseeing, I managed to chase a few trains!

Cut to the chase...
As with any dedicated foamer, my first stop was the railyard in downtown Anchorage...
A true workin' engine, #2004, sitting outside the shop...


That same night, since it doesn't get dark up there right now till about 10pm, I ended up driving south down the Seward Hwy a bit and came across a small rail museum right off the Turnagain Arm. Unfortunately, they were closed but still had some goodies outside!
An ol' rotary used to clear the line in the old days...


Just around the corner from the rotary was a little speeder. The sign in front of it said the guys used to use this regularly in -10F and 50mph winds. Brrrrrrr...


Looking left, or south, it started to rain just a bit and with the sun low on the horizon, a brilliant, complete, double rainbow appeared...


Of course, the only way to take a beautiful picture like that and make it better is to put a scantily clad, sexy woman in the shot. Since I did not have one of those on hand, I had to settle for the evening commuter from Whittier that just happened along at that exact moment!...


And, a look back towards the north after the train has passed...


The next day, I again headed south from Anchorage to Whittier. Along the way, I came across some neat stuffs. At the junction, just north of Portage Lake, a shot down the tracks. This line actually heads off to Seward...


Continuing on to Whittier, I came to the entrance of the Anton Anderson Memorial tunnel. It's 2.2 miles long and one lane. It alternates direction every half hour for traffic and shares the tunnel with the trains. Obviously, the trains get priority.




As I entered Whittier, I passed by this caboose...
I know nothing about it and saw no signs so if anyone knows anything, please, chime in!


The day after that, I again headed south, but this time headed towards Seward instead. Along the way, I happened to spot a very immaculate looking engine, #4324 working it's way towards Seward as well. The chase was on!




Once in Seward, I got some still shots...




Even the trucks on the generator unit were sparkling clean!


I thought the stars of the dipper were a nice touch...


On the way back to Anchorage, I caught up to another commuter train pushin' its way along... again from Whittier. This train was nearly empty except for a handful of people in the lead observation car.






My final day was spent in the mountains east of ex governor Sara Palins hometown of Vasilla. I came across the old gold mine of Independence and also discovered some trains of a different sort!
An electric locomotive...


And another...


...and the tracks they used to travel on...

[ngauger]

WOW!!!!! Lots of neat stuff! I like the Big Dipper (That's the state flag, I think) and the rainbow too! The mine equipment was a great find too! Hope you had fun!

[ezdays]

Sounds like you had a great time there. How can you not when you've seen and done what you show here. Fantastic pictures, thanks for sharing them with us.

[Herc Driver]

REALLY nice pictures. I'll give Alaska RR credit, they've got a nice looking paint scheme. I wish their engines and passenger cars were modeled in Nscale more often. Bachmann makes a set but uses the much older paint scheme. Kato produced the newer paint scheme engine, but trying to find it is almost impossible since it was released so many years ago. I'd run an Alaska train on my layout (more representing the Carolina's) just 'cuz it looks good.

[RobertInOntario]

Those are AWESOME shots -- they make me want to go there !

Rob

[eightyeightfan1]

Nice pics. Always liked the Alaska RR paint scheme myself. Probably one of the nicest in North America.

Uh...Anyone notice that truck on the generator car?

[Russ Bellinis]

Train Nut, the Coast Guard Auxiliary is not affiliated with the U.S. Coast Guard. They are also not like the National Guard in that they have no government affiliation. They are a volunteer service organization made up of mostly of boat and yacht owners who help out by putting on safe boating classes and offering inspections to people's boats to make sure they meet all of the Coast Guard safety standards. If you take a boat out on a public waterway, it is required to meet state registration requirements as well as U.S. Coast Guard safety regs. By being on a public waterway, any boat is subject to the Coast Guard conducting an inspection at any time to make sure the boat is properly registered and in safe operating condition with all required safety gear on board. The auxiliary will do free inspections or perhaps for a small fee to make sure your boat and equipment will pass a Coast Guard inspection so that when you take it out, you don't have to worry about being cited for a safety violation. Even more important, since as far as I know there are no fines connected with safety violations, they will let you know of any unsafe conditions or any lack of safety equipment like an adequate supply of emergency floatation devices on board the boat. As a non-profit service organization, I think they qualify as a charity for tax purposes. That caboose may have been donated by the Alaskan Railroad when cabooses became obsolete, or it may have been available cheap, and easily moved to that location to be painted up for a sign for the local chapter.

[viperman]

Those are some GREAT shots! I've always wanted to visit Alaska, now I do even more so! And that one lane tunnel, I saw that in "Tougher in Alaska". I actually have an uncle that lives up in Alaska, but I really don't know where

[doctorwayne]

Great pictures, Tom.

Uh...Anyone notice that truck on the generator car?

Looks like a regular Blomberg Type B truck, with roller bearing journals - the generator car appears to be a former B-unit, so not too surprising. Or am I missing something?

Wayne

[viperman]

Nice pics. Always liked the Alaska RR paint scheme myself. Probably one of the nicest in North America.

Uh...Anyone notice that truck on the generator car?

If you follow the L straight down it looks like a big crack on the truck

[Sumpter250]

"...and the tracks they used to travel on..."

In about the same condition as when they were "traveled" on.......

Excellent reference shots for "mine rails"!

[eightyeightfan1]

- the generator car appears to be a former B-unit, so not too surprising. Or am I missing something?
Wayne

No...I missed it. You're right.

[TrainNut]

Well, thank you for the replies everybody. It was a lot of fun! According to the locals, I experienced the last two seasonal days of summer weather and the first couple of fall. Evidently fall only lasts about a week up there and I have to say it was rather abrupt to see the trees changing from green to yellow in a matter of days. They are expecting their first average snowfall in the next three weeks or so.

Thanks Russ for that info on the caboose. Interesting information. I wish I'd had more time to stop and check it out a little better but we were racing the tunnel. That may sound strange but you see I had just enough time to go on into Whittier and have a quick bite to eat before getting back through the tunnel before it closed for the night.

88, I'm going to take a logical guess and say that I think what looks like a crack might actually be a little bit of oil running down the side.

I'm glad you all enjoyed them as much as I enjoyed sharing them. In the time I was there, I drove 700 miles and took 500 pictures so I averaged about 1 picture every 1.4 miles.

[sgtcarl1]

Beautiful pictures!! Rreally great photos! I think I'm in love with Alaska!! .

[cn nutbar]

Really enjoyed this thread---thanks Trainnut