Trifecta At The Tunnel
The railfan coveted three scheme lashup is a true treat and quite the rare event on the Alaska Railroad. In the decade I lived in Alaska I can count on one hand the number of times I got to photograph it happening. By this late date there were only three GP40-2s in the old 1970s black and gold scheme with the rest of the fleet wearing the current 'Baby Mac' paint and the only units left liveried in the 1980s 'Alaska Bold' scheme were GP38-2s that were mostly relegated to yard service in Anchorage and Fairbanks. But once in a while one would get out on the road such as happened on this picture perfect late winter day.
The geep trio are leading a 120N from Whittier to Anchorage seen emerging from the north end of the 13,338 ft long Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel at MP F5.6 on the Alaska Railroad's Whittier Branch.
The tunnel which is the only land based access to the important port community of Whittier on Prince William Sound is a marvel of engineering. Originally built by the US Army and opened in 1943 it was converted to dual use more than two decades ago and is the longest shared highway/rail tunnel in North America and is essentially a 2.5 mile long grade crossing.
For those of you interested in learning more about this fascinating tunnel click here to visit the Alaska state DOT's official web site on the tunnel:
www.dot.state.ak.us/creg/whittiertunnel/history.shtml
Bear Valley, Alaska
Sunday March 12, 2017
Trifecta At The Tunnel
The railfan coveted three scheme lashup is a true treat and quite the rare event on the Alaska Railroad. In the decade I lived in Alaska I can count on one hand the number of times I got to photograph it happening. By this late date there were only three GP40-2s in the old 1970s black and gold scheme with the rest of the fleet wearing the current 'Baby Mac' paint and the only units left liveried in the 1980s 'Alaska Bold' scheme were GP38-2s that were mostly relegated to yard service in Anchorage and Fairbanks. But once in a while one would get out on the road such as happened on this picture perfect late winter day.
The geep trio are leading a 120N from Whittier to Anchorage seen emerging from the north end of the 13,338 ft long Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel at MP F5.6 on the Alaska Railroad's Whittier Branch.
The tunnel which is the only land based access to the important port community of Whittier on Prince William Sound is a marvel of engineering. Originally built by the US Army and opened in 1943 it was converted to dual use more than two decades ago and is the longest shared highway/rail tunnel in North America and is essentially a 2.5 mile long grade crossing.
For those of you interested in learning more about this fascinating tunnel click here to visit the Alaska state DOT's official web site on the tunnel:
www.dot.state.ak.us/creg/whittiertunnel/history.shtml
Bear Valley, Alaska
Sunday March 12, 2017