Alaska, August 2009

Ice sculptures and vintage cars add to the more oft-seen sights of Alaska. My time was marred by some poor weather but I did at least see Mt McKinley from the train.

The Chena River, which runs through the city of Fairbanks.
Bridge Clouds Grass northamericatravel River Summer Trees rhjf 20090825 2604
The Lend-Lease Monument in Fairbanks commemorates the collaboration between the USA and Russia during WWII, when equipment and supplies were transported across Alaska and Russia to reach the eastern front.
Memorial northamericatravel Statue Summer rhjf 20090825 2607
The route of the Alaska-Siberia Lend-Lease Airway during WWII.
Memorial northamericatravel Sign Statue Summer rhjf 20090825 2610 skew
‘We flew in the same sky’, commemorating the operation of the Lend-Lease Airway across Alaska and Siberia during WWII.
Memorial northamericatravel Sign Statue Summer rhjf 20090825 2612 skew
The Lend-Lease Monument in Fairbanks commemorates the collaboration between the USA and Russia during WWII, when equipment and supplies were transported across Alaska and Russia to reach the eastern front.
Memorial northamericatravel Statue Summer rhjf 20090825 2617
Ice sculptures in the Fairbanks Ice Museum. Visitors are invited to go into the glassed-in freezers where the sculptures are kept to look at (but not touch!) them up close. For the record, 20ºF is cold.
Ice sculpture Museum northamericatravel Summer rhjf 20090825 2618
An ice sculpture of a dog-sled team in the Fairbanks Ice Museum.
Ice sculpture Museum northamericatravel Summer rhjf 20090825 2635
A 1906 Compound Model 7.5 Light Touring. (In the Fountainhead Antique Car and Auto Museum, Fairbanks.)
Antique car Car Museum northamericatravel Summer rhjf 20090825 2638
A 1908 Rambler Model 31 5-passenger touring car, built by the Jeffrey Company of Kenosha, Wisconsin. The manufacturers claimed that one man could easily convert the vehicle into a flat-bed truck. (In the Fountainhead Antique Car and Auto Museum, Fairbanks.)
Antique car Car Museum northamericatravel Summer rhjf 20090825 2664
The inside of a 1912 Rauch & Long Electric Brougham car, which is described as ‘a drawing-room on wheels’. The driver sits on the bench at the right of the photo—the back of the car—and two of his passengers can sit facing him at the front of the car. (In the Fountainhead Antique Car and Auto Museum, Fairbanks.)
Antique car Car Museum northamericatravel Summer rhjf 20090825 2671
The 1912 Rauch & Lang Electric Brougham ‘drawing-room on wheels’. (In the Fountainhead Antique Car and Auto Museum, Fairbanks.)
Antique car Car Museum northamericatravel Summer rhjf 20090825 2672
A 1917 Ford Model T Snow-Flyer. The Snow Flyer aspect (skis and chains) was a custom retrofit for the stock Model T by a third-party. (In the Fountainhead Antique Car and Auto Museum, Fairbanks.)
Antique car Car Museum northamericatravel Summer rhjf 20090825 2686
A 1917 Owen Magnetic model M-25 tourer. At $3,650 when new, this car was one of the most expensive of its time, when the average price of new cars was about $1,000. (In the Fountainhead Antique Car and Auto Museum, Fairbanks.)
Antique car Car Museum northamericatravel Summer rhjf 20090825 2701
A 1933 Auburn model 12-161A custom Boattail Speedster, which was one of the fastest sportscars of its era. (In the Fountainhead Antique Car and Auto Museum, Fairbanks.)
Antique car Car Museum northamericatravel Summer rhjf 20090825 2720
Detail of the bonnet of the 1933 Auburn Model 12-161A. (In the Fountainhead Antique Car and Auto Museum, Fairbanks.)
Antique car Car Museum northamericatravel Summer rhjf 20090825 2723
The Healy Clean Coal Power Plant in central Alaska.
Clouds Factory Grass northamericatravel Power station Railway River Summer Trees rhjf 20090826 2766
My train travelling south from Fairbanks to Denali Park in Alaska.
Clouds Grass northamericatravel Railway Summer Train Trees rhjf 20090826 2793
Alaska.
Clouds Grass northamericatravel River Summer Trees rhjf 20090827 2818
A river in central Alaska.
northamericatravel Railway Summer rhjf 20090827 2863
An Alaska Railroad train passes through central Alaska on the line from Fairbanks to Denali Park.
Lake northamericatravel Railway River Summer rhjf 20090827 2893
Hills in Alaska.
Lake northamericatravel Railway River Summer rhjf 20090827 2921
The Alaska Railroad’s Denali Star train runs between Anchorage and Fairbanks, taking 12 hours to cover the 350-mile trip. The train runs once daily in either direction during the summer months; at the half-way point—south of the Denali Park station—the two trains meet and stop to transfer some of the staff.
northamericatravel Railway Summer Train rhjf 20090827 2940
Waitresses on the Denali Star train which I took south from Denali Park to Anchorage lean out to greet their colleagues on the north-bound train.
northamericatravel People Railway Summer Train rhjf 20090827 2961
Waitresses on the Denali Star train which I took south from Denali Park to Anchorage lean out to greet their colleagues on the north-bound train. For some reason this is possibly my favourite photo from Alaska.
northamericatravel People Railway Summer Train rhjf 20090827 2964
(Some of) Mount McKinley as seen from the railway. At this point we were about 60 miles from the mountain’s peak. McKinley is the highest mountain in North America.
Mountain northamericatravel Railway Snow Summer rhjf 20090827 3020
Mount McKinley disappears behind my train as we travel south.
Mountain northamericatravel Railway Snow Summer Train rhjf 20090827 3025
Tourists on my train in the (covered) open platform at the back of the upper level of our carriage, taking advantage of the (somewhat extraordinary) clear weather allowing us to see the peak of Mt McKinley from the train.
northamericatravel People Photographing Railway Summer Train rhjf 20090827 3034
The Mt McKinley massif, about 120 miles from the peak.
Lake Mountain northamericatravel Railway River Snow Summer Train rhjf 20090828 3047
The Mt McKinley massif, about 120 miles from the peak.
Lake Mountain northamericatravel Railway River Snow Summer rhjf 20090828 3054
A cargo vessel in the Gompertz Channel, just outside of Anchorage.
Lake northamericatravel Railway River Summer rhjf 20090828 3063
View across Chickaloon Bay in the rain.
Lake northamericatravel Railway River Summer rhjf 20090828 3075
The Buckner Building, a disused (and condemned) federal building in Whittier, Alaska.
northamericatravel Rain Summer rhjf 20090828 3078
A road-sign to Anchorage in the rain in Whittier. ‘Click it or ticket’ seems to be catchier than ‘Clunk click, every trip’.
northamericatravel Rain Sign Summer rhjf 20090828 3079
The Alaska Railroad station in Anchorage.
northamericatravel Railway Railway Station Summer rhjf 20090829 3081