Railfanning in Alaska

[pedrop]

After read the December 2011 Trains magazine article on Alaska railroad , I had an idea to visit that railroad. I would like to know if somebody here have already being there and could give me hints to railfaning there. Are there other railroads there?

 

[B_Kosanda]

I went to Anchorage for a work assignment a few years back. I did some railfanning around the Anchorage area. There are some nice places to catch trains between Anchorage and Seward. Only one railroad there and the number of trains was not great. If you went in the summer, you could catch the tourist train which I'm sure runs up to Denali from Anchorage.

Bill

 

[Track Tester]

There are quite a few crossings were you can get your shots on that RR. From anchorage all the way to Talkeetna routes 1 and then 3 run pretty close to the RR. I think it's in Wasilla that there's a crossing that has a nice big parking lot next to/up hill from the RR. South from ancorage the RR runs right next to the highway all the way down to Portage, then you can run out to Whittier, or take the highway south and catch back up to the RR at Moose Pass. From there down to Seward they run together again.

 

[Eastern Railfan]

I would love to get up to Eielson Air Force Base on temp duty one of these days to get a shot of the Air Force GP they have there.


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[bcp]

In Anchorage, with a telephoto lens, there are some good views of the shop area from the bridge sidewalks and the roadside on the hill.

Bruce

 

[pedrop]

Thanks everybody for these hints. I took notes on all them.

Pedro

 

[B_Kosanda]

I would love to get up to Eielson Air Force Base on temp duty one of these days to get a shot of the Air Force GP they have there.


The view from Elmendorf is awesome. Big snow covered mountains right behind the runways.

 

[railfan44]

ARR is extremely easy to railfan. Do it in the summer when all the cruise ship related passenger trains are running. Only around the RR headquarters and station in Anchorage do you have to worry about staying on public property but don't trespass anywhere. Ride the trains, as many as possible, for sure. Visit the transportation museum just west a Wasilla. Allow at least two weeks.

To show you what's possible, my photos are at http://railfan44.rrpicturearchives.net/locoList.aspx?id=ARR

There are no other RRs in the state.

 

[MJLriak]

To cold for trains here - they all fly south in the winter...

(here - read this entire webiste - It will answer questions you didnt even know you had...)
http://www.alaskarails.org/

Cheers!
Matt

 

[pedrop]

To cold for trains here - they all fly south in the winter...

(here - read this entire webiste - It will answer questions you didnt even know you had...)
http://www.alaskarails.org/

Cheers!
Matt

Thank you very much for the link. I will study the website carefully.

 

[akprodr]

Especially the trip reports! Unfortunately, his friends in Alaska let him go places the ordinary Joe just can't (like railfanning via airplane!) but he also does a lot of stuff from ordinary locations too.

You can look at my videos and ask me questions if ya want.

 

[pedrop]

I posted a reply in a wrog forum. Since it is there, look this link here http://www.railroadforums.com/forum/showthread.php?t=38085

 

[Rader Sidetrack]

After read the December 2011 Trains magazine article on Alaska railroad , I had an idea to visit that railroad. I would like to know if somebody here have already being there and could give me hints to railfaning there. Are there other railroads there?

Alaska does have a second active railroad. The White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad is based in the port city of Skagway, Alaska. It currently does not connect with any other railroad, although some of their locomotives have been barged to the Seattle area in recent years for rebuilding.

http://www.wpyr.com/railfancorner/

 

[railfan44]

Right, but as different as railroads come!

 

[HDSDcouple]

Well they should have some good snow removal Equipment, any pictures of that?

 

[bcp]

Rotary plow and Cats.

Scroll to the bottom of this page:
http://www.wpyr.com/explore/traintype.html

Bruce

 

[pedrop]

The WPY site do not tell us how to arrive there. Is it necessary to go to Canada? Ist there another site to railfans where I can get hints about a trip there?

 

[bcp]

http://skagway.com/gettinghere.html

http://www.yukoninfo.com/skagway/info/gettinghere.htm

http://www.frommers.com/destinations/skagway/1736010002.html

http://wikitravel.org/en/Skagway

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/whitepassfanlist/

 

[Geared Steam]

I would love to get up to Eielson Air Force Base on temp duty one of these days to get a shot of the Air Force GP they have there.

I was visiting my daughter at Eielson 2 years ago, her place was close to the rails.

The Geep was working that day with a ballast car.

 

[Geared Steam]