Alaskan Branchline Railroading
Here is another from the way back machine and the caption I wrote long ago back when I posted on railpictures.net.
On a dreary Sunday afternoon the Alaska Railroad's Palmer Turn (train 140W) trundles east (railroad north) up the ARR's Palmer Branch line. The little local can be seen shoving past the Alaska State Fairgrounds in the verdant Matanuska Valley bounded by the Talkeetna Mountains in the top left of the photo and the Chugach Mountains in the top right. The conductor and brakeman can be seen riding in the rear gonondola as the train shoves up the branch with three loads for JD Steel at the far end of in service track. Service on this branch is unscheduled and generally runs a couple times a month beyond the gravel pits.
**Note: since the date of this photo much has changed. The MP15s were sold off. The ARR stopped running Palmer Turns and elected to transload the last customer's (JD Steel) freight in Anchorage and pay for trucking. CPP was sold and this gravel pit shut down shipping by rail and the loop was eventually taken out of service. And the outer end of the Palmer branch itself beyond the fairgrounds and the airport spur were also taken out of service leaving only seasonal gravel trains and the 10 or so Fair Train specials to use the branch with it being entirely shut down in winter.
Oh, and I also saw the legendary Charlie Daniels Band perform on that very stage in the background at the Alaska State Fair in 2011. Alas the legendary fiddle player and southern rocker passed in 2020....
Everything changes...and the march of time can not be abated...
Palmer, Alaska
Sunday June 15, 2008
Alaskan Branchline Railroading
Here is another from the way back machine and the caption I wrote long ago back when I posted on railpictures.net.
On a dreary Sunday afternoon the Alaska Railroad's Palmer Turn (train 140W) trundles east (railroad north) up the ARR's Palmer Branch line. The little local can be seen shoving past the Alaska State Fairgrounds in the verdant Matanuska Valley bounded by the Talkeetna Mountains in the top left of the photo and the Chugach Mountains in the top right. The conductor and brakeman can be seen riding in the rear gonondola as the train shoves up the branch with three loads for JD Steel at the far end of in service track. Service on this branch is unscheduled and generally runs a couple times a month beyond the gravel pits.
**Note: since the date of this photo much has changed. The MP15s were sold off. The ARR stopped running Palmer Turns and elected to transload the last customer's (JD Steel) freight in Anchorage and pay for trucking. CPP was sold and this gravel pit shut down shipping by rail and the loop was eventually taken out of service. And the outer end of the Palmer branch itself beyond the fairgrounds and the airport spur were also taken out of service leaving only seasonal gravel trains and the 10 or so Fair Train specials to use the branch with it being entirely shut down in winter.
Oh, and I also saw the legendary Charlie Daniels Band perform on that very stage in the background at the Alaska State Fair in 2011. Alas the legendary fiddle player and southern rocker passed in 2020....
Everything changes...and the march of time can not be abated...
Palmer, Alaska
Sunday June 15, 2008