Railworks America

Very Cool!!!

My lovely wife and I rode on that when we took a inner passage cruise from Vancouver to Whittier some years back. We got off the ship and then took the train to Anchorage. This will be a awesome addition to TS. Just the thought brought back a lot of great memories. The ranger that was supposed to point out the scenic stuff was out sick that day so one of the engineer/conductors did the job for us. He's been with the railroad for twenty some years and gave us a lot of railroad lore as well as telling us about the points of interest. I wonder if this will include the spot where they have a cannon that they shoot into the mountain to deliberately cause avalanches to prevent even bigger ones derailing trains?

After watching every episode of Railroad Alaska on Travel Channel and hearing on here that someone was working on the route, I was wondering when it would finally come out!!!

WOW!! I just followed the route on Google Earth. WOW!! I hope there is a full blown passenger set in the works. I'm just imagining the view from a vista dome. I bet it will be spectacular.

Does the ARR have vista domes?

Nice! Credit card ready.

Brickrail782 wrote:Does the ARR have vista domes?

Yes, both the original short type as well as full length.

After reading the article today once I got home, I'm even more excited! We're finally getting COFCs! We're also not only getting the entire Anchorage yard and facilities and the line south to port of Seward, but also the port of Whittier and Whittier tunnel!

There is a bunch of ARR engines and rolling stock in the library right now.

This is a must buy for me and I'm sure others are thinking the same thing!

NStrains wrote:After reading the article today once I got home, I'm even more excited! We're finally getting COFCs! We're also not only getting the entire Anchorage yard and facilities and the line south to port of Seward, but also the port of Whittier and Whittier tunnel!

What's a COFC?

Yes I well get it having watched the series Railroad Alaska on TV. http://www.discoverychannel.com.au/show ... ad-alaska/

Brickrail782 wrote:

NStrains wrote:After reading the article today once I got home, I'm even more excited! We're finally getting COFCs! We're also not only getting the entire Anchorage yard and facilities and the line south to port of Seward, but also the port of Whittier and Whittier tunnel!

What's a COFC?

(C)ontainer (O)n (F)lat (C)ar

IIRC This system started to be used by the brits in the mid 1920's. In the 1950's some railroads invested in COFC equipment to run on the head and rear of passenger trains. These usually carried mail. Here is a good example:





I've always wondered about running intermodal cuts with my passenger trains. It's something that's not really needed but would fill a gap.

Here is what modern COFC looks like nowadays: