Wednesday, April 16, 2008

Ghost Trains in Nome AK

There are still Bones of The Past left from the Gold Rush. These trains - left behind after a failed attempt to create railroad - stand as idle testament!
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3 comments:

  1. AnonymousApril 16, 2008 at 6:07 PM

    Very Interesting.

    Also, there are still those that are proposing railways in that area to this day, mainly for the potential of a Bering Strait crossing(I doubt that will ever happen myself), and I believe one of the proponents is a former Governor.

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  2. UnknownApril 16, 2008 at 9:35 PM

    Interesting thought, connecting Alaska with Russia through the Bering Sea. I can imagine it would be a railroad of astronomical expense, and one that would need round-the-clock maintenance. Still you have to wonder if the costs would be offset by the convenience it would create, linking the Old World to the New. Certainly people thought this way about the Panama Canal before it went in.

    Thanks for the comment!

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  3. AnonymousApril 16, 2008 at 11:32 PM

    The costs would be astronomical, and even worse than the challenges with the Channel Tunnel. At least they had a pretty good(for the most part) rail network in France, but the British Rail system was not as good, and only now is the Eurostar getting better. Most of the track on the American Side would be new, but the Russian Rail network, although probably better than us in some cases(the Trans Siberian being electrified), leaves a lot to be desired. It takes over a week for a passenger train to traverse the Trans Siberian. Then there is the Russian Gauge, 5 feet.

    The Governor promoting it is an interesting politician, Walter Hickel, a Republican during his first tenure, Alaska Independence Party the second time(the Republicans had a problem with who won the primary, he ran for AIP, despite being just as fierce proponent of Alaskan Statehood as he was when he was part of the drive for statehood in the Fifties. )

    http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&refer=home&sid=a0bsMii8oKXw

    One thing I like about the ARR though, is that although their passenger service is not much during the winter, just the monthly Hurricane Turn, and the weekly Aurora, they promote it. I listen to podcasts of the nightly news on Alaska Public Radio Network(I get curious), and when they say "brought to you by" and mention Alaska Railroad Corporation, they mention the weekly flag-stop service Anchorage-Fairbanks.

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