Aurora Winter Train

 It was a great day for a train ride from Fairbanks to Anchorage.  And after a pleasant night at Pikes, who not only provided a free shuttle from the airport last night but a free shuttle to the Fairbanks Depot, my pals and I were ready to do just that.

Alaska Railroad Depot Fairbanks Alaska

 The depot was warm and comfortable as we waited to board our ride. The railroad crew had three  4000 horsepower SD70 mac’s idling outside the station, ready to pull and push our consist of 8 cars. Railroad Armageddon could occur, and we would still have power to spare.

Coaches Warm And Ready To Roll

 We got out of Fairbanks right on time, but would not arrive on time in Anchorage, as we had a lot of stopping to do.

Some of the stopping is what makes this train so uniquely Alaskan, as this is the only train left that does flag stops, for the people that live close to the tracks but far from the road.

Several of the stops we made were for the crew to inspect the cars. Apparently the blizzard we were traveling through was causing the “detectors” to send a alarm and when that happens a inspection in mandatory.

The first of these “inspections” they must not have liked the fellow much as they made him walk out into chest deep snow to watch the train go by him, first backwards, then forward. The other inspections were made by the conductor at crossings, where he barely got snow on his shoes.

Conductor Lee And His Keys To The Railroad

Usually traveling to Fairbanks on the Parks highway the railroad offered a different perspective to this familiar route, and a few things that you do not see from the road.

Healy Coal Plant

Golden Valley Electric burns coal in Healy, Fairbanks, and the University of Alaska for electrical power generation, and the railroad delivers coal to all three plants. Antiquated dirty fuel, but providing jobs…

This winter the interior is covered in very deep snow. We saw several large moose getting away from the sound of the train with snow up to their backs. At some of the flag stop cabins we could see from our seats, between 6 to 8 feet of snow were piled up on roofs and equipment.

Long Idle Rotary Snow Plow

 The vestibules remained closed throughout the trip, so getting shots of the train in corners was limited to glare through the coach windows, but had they been open they would have filled up with snow as we rode through a blizzard most of the day.

Mile Post 415

The trains  brewed coffee was good. The food was tasty reasonably priced, and came with  good service.

The ride could have been not as long, but there is really nothing not to like about riding the Alaska Railroad.

Alaska SD 70 mac Summertime At Bird