Day 5 On the Rails

Day 5

THE ALASKA RAILROAD

In 1912 the US Government surveyed a route for the railway from Anchorage to Fairbanks. The building of the route was completed in 1923 when the 700ft Mears Memorial Bridge was built across the Tanana River at Nenana (see earlier Nenana photo). We boarded the Denali Star at about midday at Denali NP Station. The diesel-electric locomotive engine shown here which pulled the train is known as a 70 MAC.

As we left Denali we could see our hotel on its bluff across the river.

The journey was 348 miles and took 8 hrs. Top speed was 59mph but most of the time we seldom exceeded 30mph because the track winds through mountains and valleys. After 44 miles we reached Broad Pass which is the watershed of the Alaska Range and at 2,300ft is its lowest pass.

The scant trees and obvious tundra were a pointer to what conditions must be like up here during winter. After another 20 miles we crossed Hurricane Gulch by the longest bridge on the railway at 914ft and some 296ft above the river. It was built in 1921 by the American Bridge Company.

The end of the train can be seen here crossing the bridge.

In another 20 miles we crossed another river. This time it was the Susitna River and the bridge built in 1921 spans 504ft.

The journey followed on much the same and eventually we reached Anchorage.