Something Old, Something New, Something Borrowed, Something Blue....and Gold! - This is indeed something new for the ARR. A borrowed three section drawbar connected double stack well car (DTTX 620612) is tested for the first time between Anchorage and Fairbanks. Here a vintage blue and gold GP38-2 (EMD blt. 1968 as a straight GP38 for Penn Central) switches with the car as it builds the rear end of the nightly train 130 to Fairbanks. Over the last couple of years line changes and infrastructure improvements (pen ultimately, the daylighting of Moody Tunnel) have sufficiently improved clearances to permit two domestic high-cube containers (9'6" high) to clear between Alaska's two largest cities without restrictions. Unfortunately, clearances are still too tight to Whittier (specifically the Bear Valley Tunnel) to permit this car to operate from origin. Hence the bottom tier of 53 ft containers was loaded in Whittier and then the top tier was added at the AWE (Alaska West Express - Lynden) yard in Anchorage. By all accounts the test was a success, now the hard work of analyzing the economics begins. Will regular stack train service ever become a reality in Alaska? Only time will tell....Note: the photographer is a railroad employee with permission to be on the property and was wearing all required PPE while taking this photograph.
