Seven washouts along railroad; Hurricane Gulch takes two days to fix

Seven washouts occurred along the northern section of the Alaska Railroad last week, including one large section of track that took 45 workers and two days to fix.

"The adjacent waterways swept the track bed from underneath," said railroad spokesperson Pat Flynn. "The track was literally suspended."

The washouts spread from railroad milepost 248 to milepost 306. The first six minor washouts were repaired on Friday when the Chulitna River caused the largest washout, which swept away significant amounts of track bed material. The tracks were suspended above the water in sections, best resembling a roller coaster track, intact at the track level but nothing but air underneath. Some areas of the track were completely washed away.

"This was massive," Flynn said. Crews worked on the track until late Saturday. All northern routes were halted during the washout and repair. The Salvation Army dispatched two mobile kitchen units, one from Fairbanks and one from Mat-Su, to provide meals for the railroad workers.

The last section of track was repaired ahead of schedule on Saturday evening. According to a press release from the Salvation Army, the track would not be completely repaired until sometime Sunday.