The first Denali Star passenger train of the tourist season passes through Wasilla’s Willow Lakes area on its way to Fairbanks.

The Aurora Winter Passenger Train has ceased operations until next fall. Fortunately, today the Denali Star passenger train train has taken over the same route. The schedule shows it passing through Wasilla either north or southbound every day but Sunday; Sunday it goes both north and south. This means I will have at least two trains available to photograph every day, three on some days if am out and set by 5:30 AM.

This is a skin of the teeth picture. Just after 9:00 AM this morning, I began to prepare my post on last night’s freight train, complete with a flashback to the train I posted on May 19. I completed the entry in my picture journal in the nick of time, but didn’t post it, because I knew if I took the time and the Denali Star was even a few minutes early, I would likely miss it. I reached downtown Wasilla ten minutes ahead of the Denali Star schedule and found the train parked at passenger pickup, about ready to depart.

I made a U and headed north. I thought about this lake, the name of which I cannot find on any map. I turned off the highway onto Pittman and looked down the long, straight stretch, of tracks. If I saw the train, I planned to planned to pull off the road right there, send Sancho up and see what kind of picture I could get. If not, I would continue on to this place. This is exactly what I did. I then flew Sancho to the opposite side and end of the lake, heard the Denali Star whistle as it passed through Pittman and turned Sancho’s eye back toward Pittman just as the train rolled into the picture.

Now take a close look at the lily pads by the tracks. You will see a tiny frog atop each one. I JOKES! There are no frogs. There had been, but they all hopped onto last night’s freight and now they are in Fairbanks, dining on mosquitoes, even more abundant there than here. 5/29/21