Alaska Railroad track reopens near Girdwood after avalanche debris derailed train

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A piece of Alaska Railroad monitor alongside Turnagain Arm has been repaired and is open once more after a freight prepare bumped into avalanche particles south of Girdwood earlier this week.

A prepare carrying 7,000 tons of freight from Whittier was derailed Tuesday after it plowed into avalanche particles close to rail mile submit 71.5 — close to Mile 87 of the Seward Freeway. Since then, the Alaska Railroad Corp. has been working to restore the broken part of monitor.

In a ready assertion Friday night, the railroad stated crews accomplished repairs to the monitor by late afternoon. The mainline monitor was reopened at 4:30 p.m., the railroad stated, “permitting trains to renew as wanted.”

Two locomotives have been utterly derailed when the freight prepare collided with the particles, and a 3rd had partially derailed. In keeping with the Alaska Railroad, the third and remaining locomotive continues to be on the scene, however shouldn’t be in the best way of prepare visitors. It is going to be re-railed someday subsequent week, the railroad stated, relying on security circumstances.

Nobody was injured within the accident, although particles was unfold roughly 300 ft throughout the railroad tracks. Crews carried out avalanche management work within the space in an effort to make the monitor repairs.

The slide occurred alongside a piece of monitor alongside Turnagain Arm that’s notably liable to avalanches resulting from its terrain and enormous snowfalls within the space.

Harmful avalanche circumstances are forecast this weekend within the mountains from Girdwood to Seward, and human-triggered avalanches could possibly be doubtless regardless of seemingly calm climate, based on the Chugach Nationwide Forest Avalanche Data Middle.