The train I worked was Alaska Railroad's weekly winter passenger service between Anchorage and Fairbanks, known as the Aurora. This train runs north on Saturdays and south on Sundays. The 358 mile trip is scheduled to take 11:30, with the majority of the stations being flag stops, where the train only stops if there is someone boarding or disembarking at that particular station.
Unlike freight crews, passenger crews come on duty only 15 minutes prior to the scheduled departure of the train. The yard crew gets the train to the depot and several of the depot staff handle passenger ticketing and boarding before the road crew comes on duty. In that 15 minute window, the crew has a job brief, during which they talk about any conditions that will affect train operation, such as temporary speed restrictions. They also talk to the dispatcher to verify that the paperwork is all up to date and correct. After that, the Conductor goes into the depot and gets the passenger manifest from the ticket window, and then it is off to the train. Once everyone is on the train, just before departing, the crew must complete an air test. The 15 minutes get used up very quickly. It is a whirlwind of activity right at the start of the day, and lots of hurrying to make sure the train departs on time. Once the train is underway, the pace slows down a little. There is still paperwork to be done, but the Conductor has all the way to Fairbanks on the northbound trip to take care of it.
Once the Aurora gets underway, the Conductor has to look over the passenger manifest and figure out what stops will be made. Since the Aurora is a flag stop train, the station stops can change quite a bit from one trip to the next. The only stop that happens pretty much every time is Talkeetna. After figuring out the stops, there really is no paperwork that has to be completed right away, but I found it was easier to start on everything early, so that I would remember to do it later. It also meant I had less paperwork to do at the end of the day, so if I got sidetracked by something else, I was not in such a hurry to finish the paperwork. Once the paperwork is started, there is some down time.
I had expected there to be a bit of paperwork, although I had not expected the whirlwind to get going in the morning. Prior to working the passenger train, I had thought that passenger Conductors have it pretty easy. I mean, you never hear about a passenger train breaking a knuckle, and they certainly do not have to switch en route industries! I figured passenger service consisted of eating free dining car food, socializing with the passengers, and relaxing. What I learned is that there is some down time on the job, but it is hard earned! Between station stops, there can be quite a bit of down time, but at each stop, it is definitely go time.
Our first stop on the northbound trip was Wasilla. We had a just a few people boarding there. Since the Wasilla platform is only about the length of two coaches, the Engineer cannot see exactly where to stop to get the appropriate door at the platform. So the Conductor has to go back to the door to be used and count the Engineer down to the stop. Usually the countdown is done in coach lengths to a stop, starting about four coaches from the stop. Once stopped, we had one person get off, and then several who wanted to get on the train. Since Wasilla has no ticket office, we were given the tickets for the passengers boarding there with out manifest, prior to departing Anchorage. The easiest way I found to distribute tickets on the platform like that is to announce to everyone to have their ID out, and then call out the last names on each reservation. As each name is called, the person or group can approach the side of the train, show their ID's, at which point I would give them their tickets and allow them to board. In addition to boarding people, we had luggage to stow in the baggage car. We also had one person stop by with a package for a family that lives off the railroad in Sherman, which is only accessible by train. Once all the passengers and their luggage were on board, we continued heading north. Despite all the activity, the entire stop was only a couple of minutes.
When we left Wasilla, we had more down time before our next stop, which would be Talkeetna. Somewhere in there was time for breakfast too. Talkeetna is always a stop, but you never know what is going to happen there. Some days, it is just a quick one, and other days over a hundred people get on or off there. We only had a few people with reservations to there, but that still does not guarantee anything about that stop. Talkeetna serves as the jumping off point for people who have cabins or homes between there and Hurricane, some 60 miles to the north. In that area, along the Susitna River, the railroad is the only means of access. Because of that, the train will stop anywhere to pick up and drop off people. There are no passenger depots between Talkeetna and Hurricane, but there are a lot of trails that lead to cabins out in the woods. If people need to get on the train out there in the woods, they come out to the tracks and flag the train down. Train crews that have worked in passenger service a while generally have a pretty good idea of where the trails are, because those are where we usually stop, but the railroad will pick up someone flagging down the train at any location between Talkeetna and Hurricane. Because of the locals that live out there, Talkeetna can be quiet if no one is going out there, or it can be very busy if a lot of the locals are traveling at once. I had heard stories from other student Conductors that made it sound like thousands of people boarded every week at Talkeetna every week, so I was a bit anxious to get that stop over with.
As it turned out, Talkeetna was not the complete zoo that had been described to me. There were about a dozen people that boarded there, for whom we had the tickets, and three locals. The boarding and luggage handling was basically the same as it had been in Wasilla, it just took a few minutes longer. We also received more items, mail, and newspapers to deliver to some of the locals who were not riding the train. Once everyone and everything was on the train, we headed out. Because locals can flag down the train anywhere between Talkeetna and Hurricane, I stayed in the baggage car, where there is a makeshift office, since I would have to load items for anyone we picked up. I would also have to unload items for the locals on board when we got to their stop. It was just easier to ride in the baggage car and be in position instead of the dining car, which was four cars away.
My Conductor told me I got off pretty easy that day with the local traffic. We had a few people to drop off, but no one flagged down the northbound train. Once the three who boarded in Talkeetna were off the train, we were done with the local stops. All we had to do was deliver the newspapers, mail, and a couple of other items. Once we were north of Hurricane, I went back to the makeshift office in the dining car. There was still some paperwork to be completed from the locals' tickets.
Our next stop was another small one in Healy, and then we went to our final destination of Fairbanks. Healy only had four people disembarking, and would have been quick and uneventful except that just before pulling into the station, we learned that the checked luggage belonging to the four people getting off had been mislabeled as going to Fairbanks. Since most of the passengers were going to Fairbanks, we had quite a few suitcases to look through in the baggage car. We ended up having a fairly lengthy stop in Healy, but we did find the luggage in question!
In Fairbanks, everyone who was still on the train disembarked. There we did not have to handle luggage because there are people there full time who load and unload luggage. We just pulled in and got everyone off the train. By then, our 12 hours to work were up, so once everyone was off, we collected our stuff and got off the train ourselves. The train just sits at the depot all night anyway, and it is able to be serviced right there at the platform. As we were collecting out stuff and getting ready to get off, we ran into the CEO of the railroad, which surprised us a little. He had not been riding the train, but was apparently in Fairbanks for something and decided to check in with us. He was surprised at the crowd getting off in Fairbanks. Over 150 people had disembarked there, which is quite a lot for the middle of the winter. Usually few people go to Fairbanks in February!
Once we had collected our stuff and gotten off the train, it was off to the hotel for a good night's sleep before returning to Anchorage on Sunday.
1 comment:
Great article. I just saw the show about the Alaska Railroad and it is great to hear what goes into making those trips.
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