The destination of one of this year's DGEG (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Eisenbahngeschichte - German Railway Historical Society) tours is the only federal railway of the USA, the Alaska Railroad, and the famous White Pass & Yukon Railroad. The DGEG travel group consists of five persons. The overall group strength is 27.
Friday,12. Sep 1997
The journey starts with a Eurowings flight from Düsseldorf to
Amsterdam, then with KLM to Chicago from there to Anchorage by
Northwest Airlines, with another change at Minneapolis.
Saturday,13. Sep 1997
Today is a day of leisure where we visit the town of Anchorage. Before the railway station a tender locomotive is placed as a monument.
Sunday,14. Sep 1997
The tour with the Seward Southbound train from Anchorage through the most impressive landscape of the scarely inhabited Kenai peninsula to Seward starts early in the morning. After arrival we have the opportunity of visiting the driver's cab of the Alaska Railroad locomotive GP 40-2 After lunch a minibus takes us from Seward to the Exit Glacier. After a short walk, we take the opportunity of savoring the glacier from close-up.
Monday,15. Sep 1997
The scheduled Alaska Railroad Express Northbound takes us through 356 miles of Alaskan wilderness to Fairbanks, passing Mt. McKinley in the Denali National Park.
Tuesday,16. Sep 1997
We lineside the down train, The Express Southbound to Anchorage, by
minibus. We can observe the train at various places where the road
crosses the track, as at Nenana and in the Nenana River Gorge in the Alaska Range near Milepost 353. We can also spot it near the highest stretch of line between Cantwell and Colorado, near Milepost 302, as well as the and the northbound train.
Wednesday,17. Sep 1997
Prior to our flight from Anchorage to Juneau by Alaskan Airways a visit of the Museum of Alaska
- Transportation & Industrie at Wasilla in our program. Following
this, time remains to visit a model railway display at Anchorage.
Thursday,18. Sep 1997
This morning of poor visibility, we board a ferry of the Alaska State
Ferry Company bound for Skagway, a spectacular 6 1/2 hours tour through
the famous Inland Passage, the Alaska Marine Highway. Arrival at Akagway is in the afternoon.
Friday,19. Sep 1997
With a special train
formed of engines #108 and #109 and passenger and freight carrying
wagons of the White Pass & Yukon Railroad we travel from Skagway to
Fraser Station in British Columbia (Canada). On the return journey the depot and workshops of the WP&YR can be visited, were steam engine #73 is seen shunting a steam operated rotary snowplough.
Saturday, 20. Sep 1997
On this second day, two trains have been laid on for us. The passenger train pulled by the diesel engines #90 und #91 is followed by a freight train hauled by steam loco #73. The passenger train turns to Fraser. This allowes for nice pictures to be taken of the passenger train and the freight train on an impressive wooden trestle.
Sunday, 21. Sep 1997
On our last day on this extraordinary line we travel by steam hauled passenger train along Tutsi Lake to Bennett, where the trails over the White Pass and the Chilkoot Pass meet up again.
Monday, 22. Sep 1997
The journey back home starts with a bus transfer to Whitehorse. From
here, we are taken to Vancouver by Canadian Airlines, where we transfer
to KLM for Amsterdam.
Tuesday, 23. Sep 1997
At Amsterdam, we have to change planes again. Eurowings take us back to Düsseldorf which ends our tour to Alaska.