Welcome to Fairbanks, Alaska, aboard the Trains–Special Interest Tours 2024 Alaska by Rail adventure. Please join us as we travel on the Alaska Railroad for the next 9 days heading south from Fairbanks to Anchorage.
Alaska — its official nickname is The Last Frontier. Considering its size and wilderness nature, the name fits. The 49th state is also known as The Great Land and The Land of the Midnight Sun. It could easily also be named the multi-modal state.
Planes, trains, road and off-road vehicles of all shapes and sizes, including plenty of tour buses, animal propulsion including dog sleds, and even walking move Alaska.
Getting just about anywhere in this massive land — 663,300 square miles, more than twice the size of Texas — requires several interrelated modes of transport. This is not just taking a car to the airport and then flying somewhere. No, catching a lift to a train station, riding the train, then hiking for miles to a cabin is not unusual. Goods coming into the state may start on a truck or train, transfer to a ship, then go by rail, moving to another truck for the final mile. Even the tourist trade relies on planes, trains, and buses, to showcase the wonders of Alaska.
Flying into Fairbanks, was full of interesting sights: A long BNSF stack train snaked away from a terminal near the Seattle-Tacoma airport as we took off from the Emerald City. Mountain tops poked up through the clouds as the plane crossed southern Alaska. On the descent into Fairbanks, the Alaska Railroad line showed as a steel gray cut through the wilderness.
Our adventure began today in Fairbanks. The group had time to explore the town, which is an interesting contrast of old and new. The city center, along the Chena River, is a heritage park and walkway that brings natural beauty into the urban setting. Despite clouds and rain, the yellow aspen and birch foliage along with pine green formed a stunning contrast against the steel blue sky. The interpretive kiosks along the riverwalk tell the story of Alaska. Across the street from our hotel — the Springhill Suites — is a statue and fountain dedicated to the native Alaskan people. In just a short walk one can study the details of Alaskan history.
Day 1 of the Alaska by Rail adventure also visited another mode of transportation: the Trans-Alaska Pipeline, an 800-mile long, 48-inch diameter conduit that conveys oil from Prudhoe Bay on Alaska’s North Slope south to Valdez, along Prince William Sound in southcentral Alaska. In 2022, the pipeline moved more than 176.4 million barrels of oil.
To end the first day, our group dined on fire-grilled, wild-caught Alaskan salmon. A meal that was concluded with ice cream sundaes — flavors of which included Alaskan blueberry.
Day 2 — we’ll chat again tomorrow after we ride the Alaska Railroad from Fairbanks to Denali Park.
Michael, thanks for the note. I will be watching for the feature you mentioned as we will be on the train all the way to Anchorage.
Enjoy the trip, Bob. I stayed in the Springhill Suites in Fairbanks many times while serving as an engineering consultant to the Alaska Railroad from 2005-2015. If you’re continuing on ARRC from Denali Park to Anchorage, check out the siding, wye track, and bridge over the Little Susitna River near Houston, AK that was constructed over 10 years ago for the junction of the Port MacKenzie Rail Extension. Funding still needed for the 35 miles of track from the wye tail to the port, but the bridges and subgrade are there.