Update, Jan. 19:
Since an avalanche derailed a freight train early Tuesday morning, the Alaska Railroad said it has successfully righted most of the train and will soon start repairs on the tracks, according to an update this afternoon.
The train, bound for Anchorage from Whittier, ran into avalanche debris on the tracks near Girdwood at around two in the morning Tuesday. Two locomotives were thrown off the tracks while a third was partially derailed. The two crew members on board were uninjured.
Yesterday, crews worked to unbury the train cars from the snow. In an update this afternoon, Alaska Railroad Spokesperson Christy Terry said personnel were able to right one locomotive, and planned to restore a second this afternoon. She said neither the train cars nor cargo were damaged in the incident. The train was transporting 6,000 tons of industrial freight.
Friday morning, Terry said, crews will do avalanche control work and begin assessing necessary track repairs.
Terry said the railroad’s marketing department is in touch with customers about deliveries, and is working to figure out how the damaged tracks will impact future routes, which are scheduled around barge arrivals in Whittier.
A forecaster from the Chugach National Forest Avalanche Information Center warned that natural avalanches like Tuesday’s are often followed by several days of high risk for human-triggered avalanches, and cautioned against skiing, snowboarding or snowmachining in the area.
The avalanche danger in Turnagain Pass is currently high.
Jan. 17:
In the early hours of the morning, an Alaska Railroad freight train on its way to Anchorage was derailed near Girdwood when it encountered an avalanche on the tracks. The crew members on board were unharmed, but forecasters say the threat of avalanches in the area remains.
Christy Terry, a spokesperson for the Alaska Railroad, said the train left Whittier for Anchorage just after one o’clock this morning and ran into the avalanche around 2 a.m, just southeast of Girdwood. Two of the three locomotives were thrown off the tracks, and the third was partially derailed.
Seven firefighters from Girdwood Fire and Rescue responded to the scene, and the two crew members on board were unharmed and safely evacuated.
“Our main priority is just ensuring that the scene is safe, and today that’s going to be the bulk of the work,” Terry said. “And then the operational planning will be done tomorrow.”
Terry said the derailment shouldn’t affect any future freight trains, but that could change based on the timeline of cleanup efforts. She said the railroad is working with the Alaska Department of Transportation today to make sure the scene is safe.
The avalanche never reached the Seward Highway or impacted motorists.
Today, Terry said, the railroad only had crews out during daylight hours to ensure safety. She said avalanche incidents of this scale are rare for the railroad.
“This is unusual in that nobody knew about this slide [before the train encountered it],” she said. “It happened sometime in the middle of the night.”
John Sykes, a forecaster with the Chugach Avalanche Information Center, said the slide happened because of an unexpected volume of snow during last night’s storm.
“It was supposed to be half or less than half of the snowfall that ended up falling,” he said. “It was unexpected because it was a much bigger load on those weak layers than what the forecasters were planning for.”
Sykes said last night’s incident was a natural avalanche, although it occurred in an area of the Seward Highway that is often blasted by DOT for avalanche mitigation.
Although forecasters aren’t necessarily expecting more natural avalanches going forward, Sykes said slides like this one are very likely to be followed up by several days of high risk for human-triggered avalanches. He cautioned skiers and snowmachiners that it could be a very dangerous time in the backcountry.
“For people who are trying to get into the mountains for recreation, it’s kind of an alert that these big avalanches are possible and the likelihood of triggering one is relatively high,” he said.
You can check out the full avalanche forecast at the Chugach Avalanche Center’s website.
