The Hurricane Train

So what the heck where we doing in Talkeetna anyway?  Well, there are a lot of ways to explore Alaska.  If you are exploring Alaska shortly after knee surgery, I highly recommend the motorized way (although in retrospect, if you are the surgeon or physiotherapist of someone exploring Alaska shortly after knee surgery, you might highly recommend the Discovery Channel way.  I believe the exact words when I showed up with a swollen leg to my followup appointment were "I meant you could walk around the block, not march off into the Chugach range!"  I never was very good at understanding implied boundaries).  So in my mind, driving to Talkeetna and hopping on board the Alaska Railroad was basically the same as resting on the couch, minus the ice pack.

So this is Warren.  He is the long-standing conductor of "The Hurricane Train," operated by Alaska Railroad.  

And this is Siobhan, who for the rest of the trip would be known as "Shib-ham" thanks to the spelling error on her ticket, which was far more amusing to me than her.

And here is the Hurricane Train.  Alaska Railroad trains are a stunning blue and yellow against the colorful Alaska landscape.  They go all the way from Seward and Homer (the southernmost tisp of the Alaska Highway system) to Fairbanks.  I have often admired them picturesquely winding around the mountains at Turnagain Arm.  The Hurricane Train is advertised as one of the most remote routes, that traverses where roads care not to go.  So we thought we would go see some wilderness.

Talkeetna is based near three major rivers, the Sustina, the Chilitna, and of course, the Talkeetna.  The Hurricane Train heads north and follows the Sustina river.  It's one of the last "flagstop" trains -- flagstop meaning you can get on, or off, anywhere you want to.  It operates on a quasi regular schedule, meaning it runs on certain days, and in a certain general time period, but no one knows who might want on or off, and where, so the schedule can be a bit random.

The Sustina River

The train had some snacks, and a coffee pot, but bringing your own lunch is highly recommended.  It's about a 7 hour journey round trip.  Warren the conductor stopped to pose for a picture with Shibham (hee hee), which seemed cool at first, but in retrospect it leaves me to wonder...who was driving the train?

Warren knew the area really well.  We were hoping to see herd of bear grazing in open meadows...this was unlikely from the start since bears don't do herds, but it was a secret wish all the same.  What we got, was a family of swans.

A little less thrilling than a herd of grizzlies...a little smaller too...this is the best zoom image I could get with a 55mm lens whilst on a moving train.

We did see a whole lot of beautiful scenery out there though.

After a few hours of the river, and grass, you start looking for something else to take pictures of.  That kind of leaves the train itself.

There are people who live up here, where there are no roads.  This couple has been living on this plot of land since the 60's.  No roads, no running water.  They probably see herds of grizzlies all the time.

This is probably my favorite picture of Shibby on the whole trip.  It made both of us laugh.

Every once in a while we would stop for a few minutes to stretch our legs.  Unfortunately, the train stops weren't like roadside turnouts overlooking a stunning vista...sometimes it was just a rare clearing where they had enough room to have two tracks between the river and the mountain...a train passing lane.  So at those spots, there wasn't much to photograph.  Still no bears, but here's some train tracks.

I did think the reflection of the scenery off the side of the train was kind of fascinating though.

Here's what oncoming train traffic looks like (still no bears).

No moose either, although I had hoped one would be in the marshy terrain.

This is how newspaper delivery works up near Hurricane Gulch.

And further to my forest fair footwear post, these feet boarded the train in the middle of nowhere.  Like thickly wooded, pathless, marshy forest middle of nowhere.  Alaskans have a flair all of their own.

One last picture of the train going around a corner.

Arrival at Hurricane Gulch...a one shack town, quite literally.  We would go just a little further down the tracks to Hurricane Gulch before turning back around.  The tracks head all the way to Fairbanks, through Denali National Park, but our little journey was almost over.