A locomotive used to haul coal from the mines south of Sutton down a narrow gauge railroad track to the main line of the Alaska Railroad stands on permanent display at the train depot in downtown Palmer. The locomotive was used in the 1920s and 1930s and given to the city of Palmer in the 1960s.

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Transportation officials took steps last week to advance a plan to reroute almost 20 miles of train track in Fairbanks, North Pole and in between.

The group, the Fairbanks Metropolitan Area Transportation Systems Policy Committee, voted Wednesday to set aside $1 million apiece for two legs of a proposed reroute project — one leg near North Pole and the other around Fairbanks — that has sent a charge through parts of town during the past year.

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The mayors of Anchorage and the Matanuska-Susitna Borough vowed Friday to work together to improve mass transit for the thousands who commute between their communities.

About 14,000 people commute daily between Anchorage and the Mat-Su. That number is projected to rise to 30,000 within 15 years, Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich said.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Every day some 14,000 people commute from the Mat-Su Valley to Anchorage. As gas prices continue increasing to record levels, it's a ride that's getting more expensive by the week.

Friday, the two communities signed an agreement that could give those commuters a new option for getting to work. Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich and Matanuska Susitna Borough Mayor Curt Menard signed a memorandum of agreement in support of a commuter rail project.

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It’s not every day that tourists arrive in Fairbanks in their own railroad cars.

About 15 small rail cars are expected to pull into town Saturday on the tracks of the Alaska Railroad.

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Alaska Railroad officials say the length of flatcars was a contributing factor in a train derailment along a sharply curved section of track.

Three cars in a 40-car train derailed Thursday near downtown Anchorage.

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Downtown traffic is back to normal after two Alaska Railroad cars went off the track near the Port of Anchorage this morning.

A train carrying equipment for Fort Wainwright's Stryker Brigade derailed and closed access to the Port of Anchorage briefly just after 11 a.m., according to the Alaska Railroad. Two cars of the 40-car train derailed; none were flatcars.

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An Alaska Railroad freight train carrying military vehicles from Fort Wainwright’s Stryker Brigade derailed at approximately 11:00 a.m. today as it neared its destination at the Port of Anchorage. Three of the train’s 40 flatcars derailed at 4 mph in the yard, stopping the train, and blocking traffic on the road entering the port and the road to the Boat Launch.

Alaska Railroad crews responded immediately and were able to clear the road blockages within approximately 45 minutes. Railcars were re-railed within two hours.

The derailed flat cars sustained minor damage, however, none of the military cargo was damaged and no one was injured. The track also sustained minor damage and crews are currently working, with repairs expected to be completed by this evening. The incident will not impact the military’s planned unloading, scheduled tomorrow morning.

The train was carrying approximately 200 pieces of military equipment – primarily Stryker vehicles along with a few support vehicles. It is the third of five trainloads involved in the mobilization. The brigade’s military equipment will be loaded onto one Navy ship and two private freight contractor ships late next week. The ships will head to the West Coast, where soldiers will engage in pre-mobilization training prior to a deployment for a mission in Iraq.
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When Lt. Nicolas Duimet was transferred to Fort Wainwright this time last year, he knew it meant a deployment to Iraq was imminent.

But the first visible sign of the deployment of the 1st Brigade 25th Infantry Stryker Brigade Combat Team has become more apparent to the rest of Fairbanks this week as thousands of tons of Army vehicles have been loaded onto rails, eventually destined for the desert sands of Iraq.

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Warmer weather always means one thing in Alaska — construction season. The Alaska Railroad’s $90 million capital projects program is in full swing from Seward to North Pole and beyond. The Fairbanks area continues to be a hotbed of rail activity, as in previous years. We thought a factual update to the community might be appreciated.

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FAIRBANKS - The Stryker Brigade at Fort Wainwright has begun shipping its equipment to the Mideast in preparation for its fall deployment to Iraq.

The 1,100 vehicles used by the 1st Brigade 25th Infantry Stryker Brigade Combat Team - including the eight-wheeled armored Strykers from which the unit gets its name - were put on trains for the first leg of the journey.

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The 1st Brigade 25th Infantry Stryker Brigade Combat Team has begun the long process of shipping its equipment to the Mideast.

This week, the 1,100 vehicles used by the brigade, including the eight-wheeled armored Strykers from which the unit gets its name, were put on trains for the first leg of the journey. The 1-25th is scheduled to deploy to Iraq sometime this fall.

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WASILLA -- Officials in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough are breathing a sigh of relief this week after reviewing Gov. Sarah Palin's state spending vetoes Friday.

Palin cut $268 million from the state capital budget, about 10 percent of the amount passed by the Legislature.

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WASILLA -- Carpenter Eric Wolford, 30, for nine years has commuted to work at Anchorage job sites.

Dropping off a coworker Tuesday evening at the park-and-ride lot at Trunk Road and the Parks Highway, he paused to explain why he exchanged his three-quarter-ton Chevrolet pickup truck for his wife's Honda sedan. The truck cost him $100 a week in gas: The Honda costs half that much.

"Once prices started shooting way above $3 was when I decided to stop driving the truck," he said.

Like a lot of commuters, Wolford said he'd rather take a train than drive.

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Flint Hills Resources is considering selling or reshaping its North Pole refinery operations and Alaska shipping terminals.

Company President Brad Razook wrote in an e-mail to employees in Alaska on Monday that the Kansas-based company will explore three options — selling the plant, “reconfiguring” the site and expanding operations to increase volume and reduce operating costs.

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PALMER, Alaska -- Construction crews are digging up dirt in downtown Palmer to build a community skateboard park.

The Alaska Railroad donated the land, which was an abandoned portion of its track.

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PALMER -- Kirsten Lyman gave the railroad little thought until Wednesday morning when she got an up-close look.

" Yeah, I'm thinking about working in the railroad now," the Palmer High junior said after participating in Construction Career Day at the Alaska State Fair grounds. "They have some cool equipment. I like how they put the cars on the tracks and they just go."

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ANCHORAGE, Alaska - Hazardous material teams were put to the test today.

Their mission: to get hazardous materials out of a derailed tank car with multiple crews on scene.

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For his first train ride, 5-year-old Mathias Speer rode the last passenger train through the Moody Railroad tunnel just days before the tunnel was blasted into oblivion.

His mother used to ride that same train to Denali when she was a little girl before the George Parks Highway was constructed.

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The Alaska Railroad recently announced a new "Alaska Indulgence" flight-and-rail package that carries travelers from the Arctic Circle to Seward in 12 days and includes visits in Denali National Park backcountry and fly-in lodges. The railroad is also offering a new six-day "Kenai Deluxe Adventure" and other fishing tours, which can be customized for non-fishing companion travelers. For more information, go to www.alaskarailroad.com.

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The Alaska Railroad Corp. is making plans to build rail from Moose Creek to the Tanana Flats using money originally set aside to realign rail on Fort Wainwright, U.S. Sen. Ted Stevens announced Saturday.

The Fort Wainwright project will be put on hold, pleasing critics who say it undermines separate plans to move all train traffic out of downtown Fairbanks and to the south.

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Steve Silverstein, vice president of the Alaska Railroad, said the railroad depends on the gravel industry for a large part of its business. If pits aren’t allowed to go into the water table, the business will shift away from large pits and towards smaller operations and therefore away from the railroad and toward trucks.

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HEALY — The historic Moody Railroad Tunnel is gone, blasted to smithereens Thursday by a carefully controlled explosion that left a pile of rubble on the mountainside above the Nenana River.

Almost immediately, heavy equipment operators began excavating the estimated 4,000-cubic yards of rock and debris. Trains were expected to run on schedule by today.

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The Alaska Railroad’s Emergency Response Whistle Stop Tour rolled into Fairbanks on Tuesday for the first day of a two-day stop.

Local emergency responders met with representatives from organizations such as the Department of Homeland Security and the Division of Forestry, among others, to brush up on their training. Such meetings ahead of an emergency can be key for when the different agencies need to work together for a major natural disaster such as the Nenana Fire of 2006.

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PALMER, Alaska - Passenger and freight cars pulled by the Alaska Railroad have become classrooms on rails.

The railroad, along with state and federal agencies, are rolling into Railbelt communities this week offering free emergency response training.

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MAT-SU — Look, Listen, Live.

It's good advice, and the name of a safety and emergency preparedness program for Alaska Railroad. As part of the campaign, groups of school children have fun touring a train.

Tim Thompson, spokesman for Alaska Railroad, said this year's event is the third for the company. The last was in 2006 and the railroad is planning to host tours every other year.

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An environmental analysis of a proposed extension of the Alaska Railroad to build a rail spur to a bulk commodities dock at Port MacKenzie is on a fast track and is due to be completed next year, Matanuska-Susitna Borough Manager John Duffy said.

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ANCHORAGE — The Alaska Railroad Corp. released its annual report on Thursday.
The report says the state-owned railroad corporation made $16.3 million in earnings on total revenues of $169.3 million.

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PALMER — Mat-Su Valley governments are seeking regional solutions to problems ranging from wastewater treatment to transferring liquor licenses.

Palmer hosted a meeting of the minds last week among representatives of that city, Wasilla, Houston and the Mat-Su Borough where officials also discussed the Wasilla Multimodal Corridor Project. John McPherson, a planner with HDR Alaska Inc., led the discussion about the project, which could provide an alternative route for the Parks Highway and the railroad that runs around Wasilla instead of straight through the city. The proposal calls for a joint effort between the Alaska Railroad Corp. (ARRC), Wasilla, Alaska Department of Transportation and the Mat-Su Borough.

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