Trip Report: Alaska Railroad's Coastal Classic

Several weeks ago, I had a day off, and Sarah and I decided to take advantage of it, by taking a day trip to Seward. The weather was nice, and it had been quite a while since either one of us had visited Seward. The southbound Coastal Classic train left Anchorage on time, at 6:45am. It is about a four hour trip to Seward, with one intermediate stop in Girdwood. The trip is quite scenic though, and the time passes very quickly.

Cook Inlet, just outside the Anchorage depot.
All photos by James Ogden

After the train pulls out of the Anchorage station, it comes along the shore of the Cook Inlet almost immediately. A coastal biking and walking trail parallels the tracks, and early morning joggers and bikers can be seen, enjoying the beginning of the day. After a short time, the train turns inland, to cross Anchorage. The city of Anchorage is built on a triangular piece of land, with the north and south sides along the Cook Inlet, and the east side along the Chugach Mountains. The train cuts south across the west side of town, rather than following the coast out to the point. The neighborhoods the train passes through are mostly either residential or industrial, but both are quiet at this time of the day.

The view from the dome, passing Potter Marsh.

As the train nears the south end of town, it goes by an aviation club, which is nothing more than a grass strip across several backyards, and then the Cook Inlet once again comes into view. The train crosses Potter Marsh as it leaves town, and then starts up a branch of the Cook Inlet, known as Turnagain Arm. The train hugs the rocky shore of Turnagain Arm for over an hour, until it gets to Portage. With the water in a fjord between two mountain ranges, Turnagain Arm offers some stunning scenery in any kind of weather. We were fortunate to have a nice day though. It was along this stretch of railroad that we decided to enjoy breakfast, in the Dining Car. The Dining Car has some delicious meal options, with some local touches, such as reindeer sausage. There are even real flowers on each table!

One of the horseshoe curves, near Tunnel.

Once in Portage, the train accelerates onto some relatively straight and flat track, as it heads up the Placer River Valley. As the train heads up this valley, the scenery changes from a coastal fjord to a lush green valley, and then into a mountain pass. At the south end of the valley, the train begins a ten mile ascent into the Kenai Mountains, passing Spencer Glacier. This is the steepest grade on the Alaska Railroad, at three percent. The short passenger train climbs up it with seemingly little effort though. There are five tunnels, in an area known, appropriately, as Tunnel, and a spectacular gorge, at the bottom of which the Placer River flows. By this time though, the Placer River is little more than a rushing mountain stream. By the top of the grade, at Grandview, the scenery is rugged mountains, with steep drops, cliffs, and small, winding streams. There are several glaciers in the area as well, and Trail Glacier makes a for an impressive sight. At this point, the engineer usually slows the train to a crawl, to afford a good view of the glacier to all the passengers. From there, the train begins to follow the Trail River, named for the glacier at its headwaters.

Trail Glacier, near Grandview.

The train follows the Trail River through Moose Pass, and nearly until reaching Kenai Lake. In spots, the river is narrow, and the mountains occupy most of the view out the window. In other spots, the river widens out into large,  deep green, lakes, and the mountains take a more distant place in the scenery. Eventually, the train reaches Moose Pass.  While only about 25 miles from Seward, the train will spend another hour winding through the mountains to get there. At Moose Pass, the train begins to follow the Trail River less closely, and the highway comes back into occasional views, for the first time in over an hour. Shortly after Moose Pass, another lake on the Trail River comes into view, and then Kenai Lake appears on the other side. Kenai Lake is big, and the train runs along its jagged shore for several miles. Because of its size, the scenery almost looks like it did along Turnagain Arm, but the lake is a blue green color, and Turnagain Arm was grey.

Trail River.

Once the train passes Kenai Lake, it starts following the Snow River, and starts uphill again, to Divide. Divide is just a short distance from Seward, and the trip down from Divide to Seward is heavily wooded, mountainous, and includes another tunnel. Pretty soon, the train picks up speed, gets out of the tight mountain pass, and comes along the highway again, for the last few miles, into Seward. At the end of the trip, the train pulls up to the depot, which overlooks the harbor, and there is a flurry of activity as various buses and shuttle vans wait for passengers to disembark, so they can be taken to the various adventures and tours they have planned for the day. Seward is, however, a small town, and there is a lot to see, even just traveling around town on foot. It takes only about ten minutes to walk from the depot, at the north end of town, to the Alaska Sea Life Center, at the south end of town. Seward was rainy on our trip, but still quite enjoyable.

Along Kenai Lake.

That evening, at 6:00pm sharp, the train began moving northward, beginning the return trip to Anchorage. The northbound trip is five minutes shorter than the trip south, and despite seeing the same scenery again, it feels like a different trip, with the sun lighting up the opposite sides of all the mountains and valleys. The train arrives back in Anchorage at 10:15pm, making this one of the best day trips available in Anchorage!

The Coastal Classic operates daily in the summer, usually from around May 15 to September 15. There is no regular passenger service between Anchorage, Girdwood, and Seward, during the winter, although some charters and excursion trains do operate over parts of the same territory occasionally during the winter months.

Departing Girdwood, on the trip back to Anchorage.

The Alaska Railroad operates two classes of service on the Coastal Classic, Gold Star and Adventure Class. Adventure Class consists of a reserved coach seat. Full meals are available for purchase in the Dining Car, and snacks and lighter foods are available in the Bistro Car. There is always at least one dome car, which Adventure Class passengers can use. Dome seating is unreserved and is available on a first come, first served basis. When there are a lot of people wanting to use the dome, passengers are asked to limit their time in the dome to about 20 minutes, to give everyone an opportunity to ride there. Additionally, passengers are permitted to ride in the vestibules. Side doors are Dutch doors, and the top portion is usually left open, when the weather cooperates, to allow for better pictures.

Turnagain Arm, near Bird Point.

Gold Star service is the equivalent of first class. Gold Star passengers have a reserved seat on the upper level of a bi-level dome car. Beverage service is available at seat, and full meals are available for purchase on the lower level. Passengers can also purchase snacks in the Bistro Car. The upper level of the Gold Star cars also feature an outdoor viewing platform at the rear of the car. Both classes of service feature a narration provided by on board guides, throughout the trip.

The Coastal Classic offers a full service Dining Car, a Bistro Car for snacks, drinks, and lighter meals, and checked baggage service. The Alaska Railroad does offer charters for groups, in either class of service, that can operate on this train.

For more information about the train, or to make reservations, please visit www.alaskarailroad.com or call 907-265-2494.

Kenai Lake, near Victor Creek.

Upper Trail River, between Grandview and Moose Pass.