Sunday, 22 June 2025: Alaska Railroad Corporation (ARRC) Train 130S the Southbound Night Freight starts their 12 hour trip to Anchorage. Although it’s a perfectly sunny day the air is filled with smoke from multiple nearby wildfires. Out of the three large fires the crew will pass by, the only active fire they will traverse is the Goldstream Creek Fire just South of Fairbanks. Today’s train had a healthy 4 MACs for power that sounded great as they throttled up to track speed. This would my last trip south of Fairbanks for some time as days later the only road South (The Parks Highway) would be closed on and off due too one of the fires. When open one could expect hour plus delays in both directions waiting for pilot cars with no grantees of getting through. Alaska Railroad Corporation, 130S |
