Curry, my first Alaska Ghost Town

We were still riding the Hurricane Train.  Still no bears, but some pretty gorgeous scenery presented itself.  We didn't see any more wildlife, but I am certain that as soon as the loud, clattering train passed, some moose or bear (with an adorable nub of a tail that I would have loved to photograph) breathed a sigh of relief and went back to enjoying the tranquility of this mostly human free zone.

They probably waded though this pool as soon as we were gone.

The turnaround point for the train (and by turnaround I mean reverse) was Hurricane Gulch.  Hurricane Gulch was one of the most challenging sections of the Alaska Railroad.  The Gulch spans a distand of 900 feet.  The dept?  300 feet.

Definitely wouldn't want to fall.  Although one poor guy tried to commit suicide here a few years back.  He jumped, fell 300 feet, and lived long enough for rescuers to reach him, load him in an ambulance, and almost get to the hospital.

Shadow of the train on top of the bridge on the moutainside.  The bridge is an arch -- the whole project was completed back in 1921 in the unbelievable time frame of 60 days, start to finish.

At are rare stop, we got some photos for Shibby's Alaska scrapbook.

Pretty little river, pity we didn't stop for a bit longer.

I think Fireweed is going to mean Alaska summer to me from now on.  Since this is my first summer in Alaska, I didn't realize how short a season it would be for this plant.  It comes with the warmth of summer, and in the long Alaska days, it feels like summer is going to last forever.  But it doesn't.  It's just a few weeks later that you start to spot yellow leaves, and then the fireweed dies, and winter comes.  But I didn't know that when I took another picture of Alaska framed by my favorite purple weed.

I did find a few other tiny wildflowers.

But soon we were on our way back to Talkeetna.  I was determined to catch a picture of Curry on the way back.  We passed it so quickly on the way out that I missed it.  And it wasn't until they started talking about the history along the train line that I learned what Curry was.

Zooming very quickly past the Curry trainstop.  Population of Curry now...0 it seems.

There it is! Curry Alaska.  This story was probably the most interesting one for me on the train.  I was dismayed when I tried to find it on Wikipedia and found no mention of it, so I had to do my own research and make my first Wiki entry and make sure the story got its rightful place in the archives of the internet.



The old townsite of Curry is now an uninhabited stop along the Alaska Railroad, about 22 miles north of Talkeetna. In 1922, this remote train station in the Alaska wilderness became a briefly popular luxury resort destination. Located halfway between Seward and Fairbanks and alongside the Sustina River, Curry was billed "a wilderness palace' when the Railroad opened the first hotel in 1923. Curry was the perfect overnight stop for rail passengers, and with the hotel and renowned fishing, became a destination spot of its own. The little town blossomed, and the resort became more popular as it expanded to include a golf course, a suspension bridge, and boasted magnificent views of Mount Denali.

Curry was plagued by a series of unfortunate events leading to its ultimate demise. A fire in 1926 destroyed the engine house and power plant. The engine house was again destroyed by fire in 1933. The construction of a larger hotel in Denali National Park in 1939 drew visitors away from Curry, but the Railroad continued investing in the town, housing employees there in 1945. Disaster came again in the way of a boiler explosion in 1946, completely destroying the power plant. Curry rebuilt, and added a ski area, which would be popular for years to come. The final disaster, however, was a fire in April 1957, in which fire burned down the town's lifeblood, the 75 room hotel. Three people were killed in the blaze. The hotel was never rebuilt, and Curry faded away.

Today you can get off and explore the site on the Alaska Railroad's Hurricane Train, or take one of the rafting expeditions from Talkeetna that go up the Sustina River.

It seems hard to imagine this little spot as a thriving resort, but it's also true that one cannot tell what the woods open up to beyond the train.  At the very least, it seems like there is an area worth exploring beyond that train stop....but I think I might want to go with a group of several people.  It's pretty remote.  I would be less excited about seeing a bear once the train pulled away, that's for sure.

A little white later we passed this train stop sign, indicating more hiking paths.  And an answer to the age old question that every stumped every Canadian kid for the past 40 years..."Can you tell me how to get to Sesame Street?"  Not a bad way to finish off the train ride.

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.