The Historic Alaska Railroad

The Alaska Railroad is the most comfortable way to travel by land in Alaska, especially in Holland America's dome rail cars from which we got magnificent views of the stunning scenery gliding by. Given that we spent a total of 12 hours on the train (4 hours from Fairbanks to Denali and 8 hours from Denali to Anchorage), I was really happy about the wide reclining seats and ample legroom. One advantage of the train over the motorcoach is that you have the opportunity to get up and walk around which greatly decreases the size of the flat spot on your butt from sitting all day. Another advantage is the domed rail cars will allow you to not only look out but up as well; given how dramatic the landscape can be in Alaska, you really need to be able to look up as well as out in order to appreciate it. The beverage service is excellent so you can have a drink while soaking up the scenery.

I was also impressed with the dining car and the food. For breakfast I had the opportunity to try reindeer sausage which was lean (compared to pork sausage) and tasty. I also found the crab cakes surprisingly good. The dining car is directly below the domed rail car where we were seated and meals were done in two shifts in order to accommodate everybody in the rail car.

Our train conductors were amusing and would point out interesting sites along the way. One of the most intriguing landmarks was Clear at milepost 392.9, about 78 miles south of Fairbanks. Clear was originally a railroad station known as Clear Site. Now it is one of the world's three early warning ballistic missile sites (others are in England and Greenland). The 125 Air Force personnel receive overseas pay and are not allowed to have families on the base because of top security status.

The train conductors could also tell a good tale or two. When the railroad was officially completed on July 15, 1923, President Warren Harding drove the golden spike at Nenana to commemorate the event. Interesting enough, President Harding's wife and mistress both accompanied him on his trip to Alaska. A few days later, President Harding died in San Francisco and there was a lot of speculation about whether his wife killed him because she was tired of him playing around on her. Our train conductor told us that while he was telling this story to a group of passengers, one of them promptly informed him that she was President Harding's granddaughter. Although the conductor was a little embarrassed about telling this sordid tale in her presence, he did ask her if there was any truth to the story. She promptly replied, "You bet, Granny offed him."

At any rate, if you're planning to travel into Alaska's heartland, take the train! Although it can't stop on a dime to allow passengers to take photos of wildlife, it does have an outdoor viewing platform. Besides, I only saw one moose from the train and it was very fleeting. If you've got your heart set on viewing wildlife, take the Tundra Wilderness Tour in Denali National Park. Even there, there are no guarantees but your chances are a lot better. Go with the flow and keep in mind that wildlife do not make appointments with tourists.

Photos taken on and from the train