Welcome aboard the Trains–Special Interest Tours 2024 Alaska by Rail outing. Please join us as we travel on the Alaska Railroad for 9 days from Sept. 8 to 17, heading south from Fairbanks to Anchorage, Alaska.
No train travel today, just our bus Pendleton with driver John for a 45 minute run from Girdwood back into the big city — Anchorage. Since we have been riding trains all week, it would only be right that we spend part of our last day with the railroad. The Alaska Railroad welcomed our group for a tour of the locomotive, car, and heavy equipment shops at their headquarters.
First a quick aside before the shop tour. With all the tour buses running around Alaska, how do you tell one from the other? How do you know you are getting on the right one? Our bus company named all their coaches after mountain peaks. All week we just looked for Pendleton and Mr. John, and knew our group was in the right place. For our geographers in the audience — Mount Pendleton is a 7,605-foot mountain in the Alaska Range, inside Denali National Park and Preserve. It is about 30 miles east-northeast of Denali. Mount Pendleton was named the U.S. Geological Survey for topographer Thomas Percy Pendleton in 1961.
Back to the shop tour: The Alaska Railroad heavy-duty shops are located behind the train station and corporate headquarters. Because of the railroad’s relative isolation, its shops are equipped to tackle just about anything that needs to be repaired, replaced, or rebuilt. The Alaska Railroad rebuilds its generators, assembles wheel-axle sets, and deals with weather-related issues other railroads don’t face.
Steve Hupe, Alaska Railroad director of locomotive logistics, led us through the facilities and addressed our endless questions. Why an all-EMD fleet? How long have people worked here? What challenges does the weather pose? How many locomotives are on the roster and how much down time does the railroad encounter? Why is there a four-wheeler ATV in the heavy equipment shop? How do you get the passenger car fleet so clean?
The all-EMD fleet is a simple preference for what has worked for the railroad. Additionally, adding GEs to the mix would mean stocking another line of parts, which would involve shipping the additional parts to Alaska — more shipping and logistics.
The weather can be rough on equipment, Hupe explains. Snow and water will accumulate in the most unusual places, keeping the shop team busy year around.
There are around 80 locomotives on the Alaska Railroad roster, which Hupe proudly indicates are available 92 to 94% of the time.
The Alaska Railroad uses all type equipment including four-wheel ATVs. When they need work, they go to the heavy equipment shop. Logical, but not as heavy-duty as the Kershaw ballast regulator rigged for snow removal sitting next to it.
And, how are those passenger cars kept so clean? They are hosed and scrubbed by hand every night after they have been on the road.
We discovered one other unusual piece in the heavy equipment shop — a Freightliner three-axle chassis with track and road wheels. It was a roll-off type truck that would accept different load-carrying attachments. Look back to Day 5 when we rode the flag-stop Hurricane Turn. Remember that some of those folks were heading to their cabins only accessible by rail for the winter. They may need, in this case, various petroleum products during the winter months. The Alaska Railroad will dispatch this truck and its fuel tank unit to supply fuel purchased by residents along the line. Yes, this is a different kind of railroad.
Pendleton and Mr. John have just pulled up. We have a lunch date at the Anchorage Museum and an opportunity to spend time exploring Alaskan arts and culture.
Tomorrow — So long for now, Alaska. Our group bids farewell to the Last Frontier and travels for home. We’ll share a few final thoughts and extra photos from the adventure.
