usaarr (Alaska Railroad) (preview system)

[oscar]

Comments on two Alaska Railroad spurs, not mapped in the draft on TM:

In Anchorage, there is an Alaska Railroad depot at the international airport, on a spur from the tracks used for the Coastal Classic and Glacier Discovery routes. The depot is used by Alaska Railroad-operated charter trains in the high season, taking passengers between the airport and the cruise ship ports in Whittier and Seward (Anchorage doesn't have its own cruise ship port). One of my co-workers took one of those trains from the airport to her cruise ship in Whittier. I'll have to ask my sister and brother-in-law whether they, who just arrived in southeast Alaska by cruise ship, will be taking a train to the airport on their way back home. The airport depot isn't served by other AAR trains, but can be rented out in the off-season for weddings and other events.

In Palmer, there is another AAR depot serving the Alaska State Fair. AAR has resumed scheduled service there, from Anchorage, after a service lapse after summer 2019.

AAR regularly-scheduled passenger trains also make "flag stops" for homes along the tracks (mainly north of Wasilla, and between Whittier and Seward), with no access to the highway network. This may happen in other rail systems in North America and other continents. I suggest these would be best handled with point requests for whoever needs a "flag stop" point.

None of these would be needed for my own .rlist file, since I've never used the Alaska Railroad.

[neroute2]

Comments on two Alaska Railroad spurs, not mapped in the draft on TM:

In Anchorage, there is an Alaska Railroad depot at the international airport, on a spur from the tracks used for the Coastal Classic and Glacier Discovery routes. The depot is used by Alaska Railroad-operated charter trains in the high season, taking passengers between the airport and the cruise ship ports in Whittier and Seward (Anchorage doesn't have its own cruise ship port). One of my co-workers took one of those trains from the airport to her cruise ship in Whittier. I'll have to ask my sister and brother-in-law whether they, who just arrived in southeast Alaska by cruise ship, will be taking a train to the airport on their way back home. The airport depot isn't served by other AAR trains, but can be rented out in the off-season for weddings and other events.

If we're including charter trips, we might as well add anything normally freight-only that "rare mileage" excursions use I can add +DIV_Air, but I'm not sure if or how to handle a line without scheduled service.

In Palmer, there is another AAR depot serving the Alaska State Fair. AAR has resumed scheduled service there, from Anchorage, after a service lapse after summer 2019.

Added as FairTra: https://github.com/TravelMapping/RailwayData/pull/153

AAR regularly-scheduled passenger trains also make "flag stops" for homes along the tracks (mainly north of Wasilla, and between Whittier and Seward), with no access to the highway network. This may happen in other rail systems in North America and other continents. I suggest these would be best handled with point requests for whoever needs a "flag stop" point.

I have some of those on GlaDis and HurTurn, but I guess there are others that aren't listed on the website. Agree that these are better added if requested.

[oscar]

In Anchorage, there is an Alaska Railroad depot at the international airport, on a spur from the tracks used for the Coastal Classic and Glacier Discovery routes. The depot is used by Alaska Railroad-operated charter trains in the high season, taking passengers between the airport and the cruise ship ports in Whittier and Seward (Anchorage doesn't have its own cruise ship port). One of my co-workers took one of those trains from the airport to her cruise ship in Whittier. I'll have to ask my sister and brother-in-law whether they, who just arrived in southeast Alaska by cruise ship, will be taking a train to the airport on their way back home. The airport depot isn't served by other AAR trains, but can be rented out in the off-season for weddings and other events.

If we're including charter trips, we might as well add anything normally freight-only that "rare mileage" excursions use I can add +DIV_Air, but I'm not sure if or how to handle a line without scheduled service.

There is scheduled service during the high season, several trains a week (enough that you can't book a wedding at the airport depot from May to September). Just that the schedule is for the cruise ship companies, depending on when their passengers' chartered flights are scheduled to arrive or depart at the airport, and their ships are scheduled to arrive or depart at their Seward and Whittier ports (both of which are subject to weather and other travel delays, which can require adjustments to the rail schedules).

There's several miles of tracks between the airport depot and the AAR mainline, dedicated to a significant number of passenger trains and serving significant passenger volume. Nothing like one-off tourist excursions on otherwise freight-only tracks. I see nothing wrong with mapping that part of the AAR system.

[Duke87]

There is scheduled service during the high season, several trains a week (enough that you can't book a wedding at the airport depot from May to September). Just that the schedule is for the cruise ship companies, depending on when their passengers' chartered flights are scheduled to arrive or depart at the airport, and their ships are scheduled to arrive or depart at their Seward and Whittier ports (both of which are subject to weather and other travel delays, which can require adjustments to the rail schedules).

Are you allowed to book a ticket on one of those trains without being a cruise ship passenger?

If the answer is no I'd not include it as "restricted access" for the same reason airside trains at airports are out.