Day 24: A Train to Nowhere

Cloudy with a Certainty of Showers

Alaska Railroad Glacier Discovery Train-- In The Rain

Today it rained.  And rained.  And rained.  And rained some more.  Happily instead of an outdoor activity like mountain climbing and motorcycle riding, we had planned a scenic ride on the Alaska Railroad.  So we did stay nice and dry, even though what is probably a spectacularly beautiful ride in bright sunshine was a cloudy overcast ride today.

Actually, it was partly a rainy, cloudy and overcast ride-- and partly a rainy, cloudy, and overcast sit. What was billed as a four hour round trip ride was actually about half riding and half sitting on the tracks. The trip began in the middle of nowhere at the Portage Station and terminated at Grandview Station, another spot so far into the middle of nowhere that the train was the only way to get there.


We rode in the top section of the car, in row 3 (so we could really admire the rain)

Sometimes we sat in the train in the middle of nowhere waiting for hikers and rafters to depart for their other adventures (or return from them-- we felt pretty sorry for the group going rafting in the rain), and sometimes we just sat, killing time I think to keep the train running on its very slow schedule.

But, it was all fun--  here is a video montage of driving to the train station in the rain:






We could have caught the train in Anchorage early in the morning, but instead opted to drive to the Portage stop-- another hour further down the road--in the middle of nowhere (catching a theme here?) to save ourselves an extra 6 hours (of both riding and stopped time).  That was a good call.

During the trip guides kept coming over the PA announcing things to watch for outside the train-- but no one ever knew where to look.  Seating was two and two with a table between-- so if the announcement said "look right" half the people looked one way and half the other (so I guess 50% of the time, people saw what they were supposed to see).  

At one point in the trip, we stopped for about a half hour (again in the middle of nowhere), and were all encouraged to take a short hike in the rain.  Here is the picture we took (from our warm and dry perch in the train) of those foolish souls who took the bait:


Grandview Whistle Stop (foolish people hiking in the rain)

This video compilation includes some of the highlights from the trip, which was really an enjoyable time, despite the rain.  Notice that the first part we are moving backward, and in the second half forwards-- they simply ran the train to the end of the line, then sent the engineer outside to run to the other locomotive to take the same route back to the station.






You'll have noticed from the video that we went through a large S curve in front of a glacier.  That was because the grade was too steep to run the tracks in a straight line.  Here is a still of that section of track, and the glacier:


Track S-curve in front of the glacier

You probably also noticed that we went through several tunnels.  Here are a few artsy shots Bob took of those tunnels:


Headed into the first tunnel

Exit Tunnel 1, Enter Tunnel 2

On the way home, we stopped for dinner at a definitely not touristy Asian restaurant-- we found it in one of our off-the-beaten path tour books.  Lisa had very good sushi and sashimi, and Bob had Thai.  Here he is trying to eat it with one chopstick, as he waits forever for the waitress to return with a fork (which was not provided by default-- but in his defense, Thai is typically eaten with a fork).


Bob Attempts to Banish Zucchini with One Chopstick


As we headed home the weather cleared a little-- here's a shot of that. 


Drive Home to Palmer from Eagle River, AK


We also saw our very first moose on the highway. (Well, a little moose next to the highway.)  He went by so quickly that we didn't get a picture.  But I'm sure we'll capture one of these guys eventually.

Tomorrow we take to the air again with a morning helicopter ride and glacier landing, right out of Palmer.

We need to get up early (right in the middle of the eclipse) for that one-- so, off to bed now.

--Lisa

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