Beautiful Treachery
The challenges of railroading in Alaska!
News out of Alaska yesterday reported that a freight train derailed when it collided with an avalanche. If you missed the story check out this link: www.adn.com/alaska-news/2023/01/17/alaska-railroad-employ...
I knew both employees involved and thankfully both were uninjured despite their lead loco twisting off the rails down hill toward the lake. This is not the first time a train has come to blows with mother nature here, and the railroad even has sensors high up on the mountain that send an alert to the train dispatcher, but alas like all technology it's not foolproof. To read about it here's an interesting older story: www.alaskajournal.com/community/2001-12-17/railroad-aims-...
The train in the news story above is at the exact same location as this photo, a spot I've photographed and ridden the rails over countless times.
A solo SD70MAC ARR 4325 leads a little five car charter passenger train near MP 71 on the Alaska Railroad mainline just north of Kern Creek. Kern Creek was the endpoint of ARR predecessor Alaska Northern Railroad (itself a successor to the Alaska Central) a private enterprise that built north from Seward and reached Kern around 1911 before succumbing to bankruptcy. Ultimately the 71 miles of railroad were purchased by the Federal Government and pushed north to become what is today's Alaska Railroad.
The train is an annual event each March operated on behalf of the Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau and is seen northbound passing through SZ72 at Kern, one of the most treacherous and active avalanche areas on the length of the railroad. The train is slicing through the massive piles of snow that had already buried the tracks a couple times this season. Springtime is just around the corner and soon even more slides will come down in this location leaving piles of snow and ice visible well into July and August!
If you care to know more about the science of snow fighting check out this paper by the ARRC's full time avalanche coordinator:
arc.lib.montana.edu/snow-science/objects/issw-2009-0533-0...
And you can learn even more from the railroad's permit issued by the US Forest Service:
www.alaskarailroad.com/sites/default/files/Communications...
South of Girdwood, Alaska
Saturday March 7, 2009
Beautiful Treachery
The challenges of railroading in Alaska!
News out of Alaska yesterday reported that a freight train derailed when it collided with an avalanche. If you missed the story check out this link: www.adn.com/alaska-news/2023/01/17/alaska-railroad-employ...
I knew both employees involved and thankfully both were uninjured despite their lead loco twisting off the rails down hill toward the lake. This is not the first time a train has come to blows with mother nature here, and the railroad even has sensors high up on the mountain that send an alert to the train dispatcher, but alas like all technology it's not foolproof. To read about it here's an interesting older story: www.alaskajournal.com/community/2001-12-17/railroad-aims-...
The train in the news story above is at the exact same location as this photo, a spot I've photographed and ridden the rails over countless times.
A solo SD70MAC ARR 4325 leads a little five car charter passenger train near MP 71 on the Alaska Railroad mainline just north of Kern Creek. Kern Creek was the endpoint of ARR predecessor Alaska Northern Railroad (itself a successor to the Alaska Central) a private enterprise that built north from Seward and reached Kern around 1911 before succumbing to bankruptcy. Ultimately the 71 miles of railroad were purchased by the Federal Government and pushed north to become what is today's Alaska Railroad.
The train is an annual event each March operated on behalf of the Anchorage Convention and Visitors Bureau and is seen northbound passing through SZ72 at Kern, one of the most treacherous and active avalanche areas on the length of the railroad. The train is slicing through the massive piles of snow that had already buried the tracks a couple times this season. Springtime is just around the corner and soon even more slides will come down in this location leaving piles of snow and ice visible well into July and August!
If you care to know more about the science of snow fighting check out this paper by the ARRC's full time avalanche coordinator:
arc.lib.montana.edu/snow-science/objects/issw-2009-0533-0...
And you can learn even more from the railroad's permit issued by the US Forest Service:
www.alaskarailroad.com/sites/default/files/Communications...
South of Girdwood, Alaska
Saturday March 7, 2009