No. 10649 Electro-Motive F-3/F-7 AA Diesel Locomotive, heading up a Bi-Level Streamlined Commuter Passenger Train

 Alaska Railroad

On July 15, 1923, President Warren G. Harding drove the golden spike signifying the completion of the $70 million Alaska Railroad, the main line extending 470 miles from Seward to Fairbanks through Anchorage and Denali National Park (formerly Mt. McKinley National Park). At more than 80 years old, the Alaska Railroad is the last full-service railroad in the United States. It hauls freight and almost half a million passengers a year through Alaska, and is the primary form of transportation for many popular tours of the state and for campers bound for Denali and other parklands. The Alaska Railroad Corporation is a self-sustaining railroad serving ports and communities from the Gulf of Alaska to Fairbanks. Owned by the State of Alaska since being purchased from the federal government in 1985, the railroad is overseen by a 7-member Board of Directors appointed by the Governor of Alaska.

Since 1985, literally hundreds of millions of dollars have been poured into the railroad. New freight and passenger equipment has been purchased, and new-generation diesels are constantly on order (steam power had been discontinued by 1956). Despite these expenditures, the railroad has remained in the black for most years and for 1996 posted a record profit of $8 million. The Alaska Railroad offers services not found on any other railroad - it is a messenger service, a grocery delivery service, a hunter taxi service, a river boat company, and a scenic tour guide for fishing, camping, and mountain climbing.

Trains will stop anywhere on the line for hunters and fishermen and will stop at the same place days later to pick them up with their catches.

The Alaska Railroad began diesel operations during World War II, expanding its fleet rapidly postwar with orders for locomotives from Alco and General Motors Electro- Motive Division. The Electro-Motive F-3 (1500 horsepower per unit) heading up the commuter train subject of this history was the only F-3 (#1516) to run on the Alaska Railroad, built in 1948, acquired by the railroad in 1969, and retired in 1978. But the bi- level "Superliner" cars were not available from Pullman-Standard until about 1980, so the F-3 should probably be a similar-looking F-7 (many F-7s ran on the Alaska Railroad until 1986). The second "A" unit on this train, #1518, is in fact an F-7, retired in 1975, and the two "B" units, #1517 and #1519, are also F-7s, retired in 1986 and 1975 respectively. The F-7s were succeeded by the 2000 horsepower GP-38 (built 1972-87), 3000 horsepower GP-40 (built 1965-86), 2800 horsepower GP-49 (built 1983-85) and finally the 4000 horsepower SD-70 (built 1999-2000). All of these locomotives were fabricated by Electro- Motive. For more information on Alaska Railroad's SD-70, please see No. 10479 "McKinley Explorer" streamlined Vista Dome-equipped train.

The bi-level "Superliner" cars were delivered to the Alaska Railroad in the early 1980s. Coaches feature upper and lower level seating, large panoramic windows, and comfortable reclining seats. The dining cars offer fine sit-down dining with linen tablecloths and china place settings.

No. 10649 represents an accurate scale model of Electro-Motive's F-3/F-7 diesel locomotive set, heading up a 7-car bi-level commuter train (Nos. 10651, 10652, and 10653), as it would have been seen on the Whittier cruise trains and the 65-mile Anchorage-Whittier shuttle, in the early to mid-1980s, about an eleven-and- a-half hour trip. Whittier is on Prince William Sound. Established as a strategic military facility during the Second World War, Whittier's ice-free port remains a focal point for marine activity and freight transfer from sea train barges serving South-Central Alaska. The train is in "0" gauge, by Lionel.

The 7-car commuter train would not need the 2-locomotive AA set furnished with this train one diesel locomotive "A" unit would suffice. For display, the train should be the F-3 or F-7 "A" unit, followed by the seven cars.