NENANA
FAIRBANKS HEALY
PALMER ANCHORAGE WHITTIER SEWARD
Convention Recap THE NRHS EXPLORES ALASKA
float plane taking off and landing near the boat, much to the delight of those onboard. Other highlights of the boat ride included a dog sled demonstration (on the shore, not on the boat) and a demonstration of local Athabascan na- tive culture.
From there the tour moved to Pio- neer Park where the Tanana Valley Railroad Museum put on a show using 0-4-0 No. 1, built by Porter in March 1899. The locomotive and its two open cars continuously circled the park, al- lowing attendees to both ride and pho- tograph the train. The Alaska Salmon Bake, located in the park, provided some local cuisine during the visit (for more on the Tanana Valley Railroad Museum and Pioneer Park see the dig- ital extra in last month’s R&R). After an evening reception at the Fountain- head Antique Auto Museum, where re- freshments were served amongst 84 pre-World War II automobiles), it was back to Pioneer Park for a night photo session featuring No. 1. The next day the pre-convention ac- tivities continued with a ride on the Alaska Railroad, where a just-after- sunrise departure (8:00 a.m. actually) kicked off a trip on freight-only track- age to North Pole (not the North Pole). On the point was ARR GP40-2 No.
3003, wearing its original as-delivered black and yellow paint scheme. To fa- cilitate backup moves, cab control car No. 32 (an EMD F40 with its traction motors removed) was on the rear of the train. A photo stop was made at North Pole, followed by a photo runby at Cha- pados, some 17 miles from Fairbanks. More rare mileage was in store as the train traversed the branch to the Fair- banks airport before returning to town. During
the afternoon the NRHS
teamed up with the railroad to operate trips for the general public, heading southward on the ARR main line. On Monday, September 16, the con- vention began its southward two-day trek to Anchorage, heading from Fair- banks to an overnight stop at Denali Park. SD70MAC No. 4324 had the hon- ors of leading this trip. The tracks cross the Tanana River on the Mears Memo- rial Bridge, a massive through truss bridge at Nenana, and several photo opportunities were presented here, in- cluding the train posed on the bridge, a runby coming into town and a static shot at the station (now a museum). Continuing south, multiple runbys were held at the site of Moody Tunnel beneath the Parks Highway in Healy Canyon. After unloading at Denali Park, the train continued a short dis-
tance south to pose on the Riley Creek Trestle. The night was spent at the somewhat tired McKinley Chalet Re- sort.
The second half of the trip to Anchor- age started right at 8:00 a.m. once again, and the first photo opportunity was held at Broad Pass, the site of many ARR publicity photos over the years. It was then on to Curry where a quarry is served by a balloon track. Ob- viously, the collection of rare mileage meant the passenger train had to tra- verse the balloon. A brief stop was made at Curry to photograph a rotary snow plow and other equipment on dis- play, and another stop was made at Talkeetna, the small town with a cat for a mayor that was the inspiration for the show Northern Exposure. Arrival in Anchorage was greeted by several mas- cots who attempted to hug many of the detraining passengers.
The primary activities on Wednes- day were a pair of behind-the-scenes tours that quickly sold out when the convention was announced. The morn- ing tour featured Alaska Railroad oper- ations, including the yard tower, pas- senger station and impossible-to-access dispatching center. The afternoon tour covered the locomotive and shop com- plex. Unfortunately, the nature of the
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