ABOVE: An empty coal train rolls along Tur- nagain Arm at Bird Creek. Although the grade is non-existent along the shore all six SD70MACs are needed to conquer Grandview and Divide hills on the southbound journey. RIGHT: A southbound freight bound has a couple of frozen loads of coal first out fol- lowed by 75 empty flatcars for the barge op- eration in Seward. Barge operations are a winter-only occurrence in Seward.
ther loading in Seattle or unloading in Whittier. In theory this barge departs and arrives on Wednesdays in Seattle and Whittier although this can vary greatly due to weather in the Gulf of Alaska. About every three weeks or so both barges will arrive in Whittier at approximately the same time. The loading and unloading of barges varies with each barge based on the tide and weather conditions in Whittier as well as the amount of rail cars and contain- ers on each barge. Obviously during the winter months the schedules are even more erratic due to weather. Winter operations will also see some of the ship traffic that would normally use the Port of Anchorage diverted to Seward as it is a year-round ice-free port. This service runs sporadically during the winter months for both Northland Services and Spenard Builders Supply and creates additional traffic on the south end of the system that tends to be very infrequent in the winter months.
Each Seattle barge will generate two or three trains in each direction timed to arrive in Whittier to optimize load- ing/unloading based on weather and tide conditions. These trains can be
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quite long. Power is usually Geeps for the first train as they will be used to switch the barge and will tie up in Whittier and bring the last train north. Additional trains will use the newer SD70MAC’s and will usually turn with the northbound tonnage from the barge. The CN barge will generate one train in each direction unless they hap- pen to arrive at the same time as the Seattle barge in which case traffic is combined to move as needed.
Freight Traffic
Loaded coal trains currently operate south from Anchorage on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. During the summer months the crew will go on re-
lease while the train is unloaded and return to duty as soon as the train is ready to head north. In the winter months the crew will unload their own train and return north the following morning. During the winter months de- parture from Anchorage is fairly reli- able at 7:00 a.m.; during the summer months, however, there are passenger trains to contend with so the schedule isn’t as predictable. Because of the steep grades of Grandview and Divide Hills these trains operate in distrib- uted-power (DP) mode with three SD70MAC’s up front and three more pushing on the rear. For the return trip north all six units will be on the head end.
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