ABOVE: Part of the Knik Glacier forms a dra- matic backdrop for this northbound freight at Matanuska Junction. LEFT: The southbound Denali Star crosses the trestle over the Eagle River. This shot requires a recreation pass from Fort Richardson and is deep in bear country, so be prepared.
stations were also opened in Denali Park and Palmer and new service catering to sightseers was implement- ed providing service to Grandview and Spencer Glacier.
Current Operations
Essentially the railroad, although operated as one division, can be divided into two distinct
pieces: Anchorage
north to Fairbanks and Anchorage south to Seward and Whittier. There are more than enough photo locations that can be had from public property, so there’s no need to trespass. Much of the Alaska Railroad’s traffic
mine shut down when they lost their contract with Hyundai. The state of Alaska looked to get out of the railroad- ing business during this downturn but cooler heads prevailed when it was de- termined that the railroad was integral part of the Alaskan economy. The dawn of the new century brought new high horsepower locomotives to the Alaska Railroad in the form of 16 EMD SD70MAC’s, each with 4,000 h.p. Soon
after another 12 4,300 h.p. units were acquired. Coal returned to the railroad, along with a new owner of the North Pole refinery; while production is down you can still count on seeing plenty of tank and hopper cars heading both north and south along the rail belt. A new passenger depot was built at
Ted Stevens International Airport to facilitate cruise passengers arriving and departing Anchorage via air. New
arrives in Alaska via ship and barge. In addition to the railroad-operated barges there are a number of ships that dock at the Port of Anchorage that have traffic destined for the railroad. The railroad runs an overnight freight be- tween Anchorage and Fairbanks five nights a week. There is no northbound service on Thursdays and Saturdays and no southbound service on Fridays and Sundays. Occasionally there may
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