# Railroad Alaska



## chrsjrcj (Dec 22, 2013)

Saw this series on a channel called Destination America last night. Fun to watch if you're a railfan. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they are streaming full episodes online, but there are some short clips. It does make you appreciate all the work required to make a railroad run smoothly.

http://america.discovery.com/tv-shows/railroad-alaska/railroad-alaska-videos/sneak-peek.htm


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## Bob Dylan (Dec 22, 2013)

chrsjrcj said:


> Saw this series on a channel called Destination America last night. Fun to watch if you're a railfan. Unfortunately, it doesn't look like they are streaming full episodes online, but there are some short clips. It does make you appreciate all the work required to make a railroad run smoothly.
> 
> http://america.discovery.com/tv-shows/railroad-alaska/railroad-alaska-videos/sneak-peek.htm


Good Stuff, Thanks for Posting! :hi:


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## Rail Freak (Dec 22, 2013)

Interesting, Thanx


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## jis (Dec 22, 2013)

The passenger train Conductor and OBS person that appear in the show were both on the train I was on a few weekends back . They are really nice and friendly folks, and I got to know them well during the ride from Anchorage to Fairbanks and back.


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## the_traveler (Dec 22, 2013)

I agree! I finally caught it last night, but sadly the episode at 10 pm Eastern was the season finale.  I hope there will be more.


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## June the Coach Rider (Mar 18, 2014)

I just finished watching 5 shows that were on Animal Planet. Amazing what they have to go through to keep the rail line open.


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## JayPea (Mar 18, 2014)

I caught three of them, but at the hour they were on in my area, two of them were past my bedtime and our local TV guide didn't list the program at all. I totally agree how amazing it is what they go through to keep the line open. I'm thinking about flying to Anchorage next summer and taking the train to Fairbanks and back so I took notes.


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## jis (Mar 18, 2014)

JayPea said:


> I caught three of them, but at the hour they were on in my area, two of them were past my bedtime and our local TV guide didn't list the program at all. I totally agree how amazing it is what they go through to keep the line open. I'm thinking about flying to Anchorage next summer and taking the train to Fairbanks and back so I took notes.


Do it in the winter. It is much more impressive as far as the difficulty of keeping the service going and the remoteness of the thing goes. I did it over the last Thanksgiving weekend and enjoyed it immensely.


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## MattW (Mar 19, 2014)

According to a post on another forum, they are indeed filming a 10-episode season 2.

I also enjoyed the episodes and can't wait for more!


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## railiner (Mar 19, 2014)

Rode the AuRoRa from Fairbanks to Anchorage back in September of 1970, before the tourism really exploded., due to the popularity of Alaska cruise-tours.

Back then, they had old equipment, including some surplus hand-me-down Army Hospital cars , similar to the ones Amtrak received and converted to lounge cars for the Heritage fleet.

The ARR one I rode, had a jukebox, and some University students actually danced away enroute. 

The next time I rode that train, in 1991 while on a Princess cruisetour, I rode in Princess's new doubledeck dome cars, rebuilt from old gallery commuter cars.

I highly recommend it!


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## JayPea (Mar 21, 2014)

jis said:


> JayPea said:
> 
> 
> > I caught three of them, but at the hour they were on in my area, two of them were past my bedtime and our local TV guide didn't list the program at all. I totally agree how amazing it is what they go through to keep the line open. I'm thinking about flying to Anchorage next summer and taking the train to Fairbanks and back so I took notes.
> ...


I may do that at some future date, but, generally speaking, if I go somewhere in the winter, I want it to be in a place that has LESS snow, not more of it!   Plus I want to go when there is as much daylight as possible to see the scenery. And, especially if I go in late June, I'll have all the daylight I could want! Plus I've already looked into things to do in and around Anchorage and Fairbanks and would like to do those activities during the summer months. But I may well take the trip in winter, especially if I enjoy the summer trip.


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## jis (Mar 21, 2014)

Yes, of course there is a different set of reasons to go to Alaska during the summer, and certainly you can do much more in the summer.

What I have found is that the utter sense of desolation is much more palpable in the winter. And of course those Northern Lights, they are oh so pretty in the long winter nights, even more so when they sing gently in the utter stillness of the night. You do have to go a little north of Fairbanks to get the best of them though. There are resorts that specially serve those wh are into them. Seems like there are hoards of Japanese in addition to many Europeans and Americans who show up there. The winter Alaska Railroad weekend passenger service from Anchorage to Fairbanks and back is named Aurora after them. And of course, winter being the "low" season, everything is half price or less too.


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## printman2000 (Mar 21, 2014)

Until I started watching this series, I never knew the Alaska Railroad ran passenger trains other than special tourist trains.


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## jis (Mar 21, 2014)

Alaska Railroad runs a unique flag stop service between Talkeetna and Hurricane, in which anyone can walk upto the track and wave the train to stop. Similarly anyone on the train can notify the Condeuctor, a very nice guy who appears in the series, to be dropped off at any of the various points usually marked by a single post and nothing else. As you saw, it is the lifeline for these folks who live off grid along the Talkeetna Range in that area.

On my trip north there were 5 flag stops on the way north and 6 on the way back. The snow was deep. The folks had come in on snow mobiles on trails that come upto the tracks. One of them even loaded up his snowmobile in the baggage car!

A very unique service, very popular with the local folks, the few that there are.....


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## Bob Dylan (Mar 21, 2014)

The Canadian does the same thing while traveling through the " Big Nowhere" across the Great Shield and the Prairies! Other VIA trains also do the same! Sounds like a Bucket List "must" for sure!


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## Devil's Advocate (Mar 21, 2014)

I wonder what the "off grid" rough riding hard scrabble snowmobile-as-luggage guy brings with him in the summer.


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## jis (Mar 21, 2014)

The difference with the Canadian is that on the Canadian you have to notify them well in advance and all the flag stops are listed in the timetable.

On Alaska RR you don't have to notify them in advance. You just go and stand by the track and wave. And the potential stopping points are too numerous to list on timetable. So nothing is listed on the timetable after Talkeetna, until past Hurricane in the winter. Local people just know the rough time when either the weekend Aurora or the even less frequent Hurricane Turn comes by in the winter. And then there is of course the freight delivery truck service, which is even more unique. In summer of course there is the Denali Park Station listed. That station close around Sept 20 or so with the winter schedule going into effect and reopens sometime after April AFAIR. And of course in the summer timetable there is daily service in addition to any tourist trains that might show up aligned with Cruises arriving at Whittier or Seward.

I think Alaska RR is a must ride at the same level as the California Zephyr. The views of Denali Peak (Mt. McKinley and the Alaska Range are spectacular to say the least. And the section between Whittier and Anchorage with the mountains and glaciers meeting the sea, is also something to behold. Due to avalanche danger in the winter there is no passenger service on that route in the winter. Only freight and that to kept open with enormous effort as is evident in the series.


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