Talkeetna, AK and the Hurricane Train

While we were in Talkeetna, we rode the Hurrican Train which is a train that only travels from Talkeetna to Hurricane Gulch and back.  You can ride one of America's last flag stop trains.  It has delivered Alaska locals to their remote cabins since 1923.  On this wilderness run, you can get off the train anywhere along the 55-mile stretch to hike, fish, or journey to a remote cabin.  When you are ready to return to civilization, you can stop the train on its return trip with the wave of a flag.  We stayed on for the entire route for a one-of-a-kind day trip.

We are on the train platform looking back at the campground.

The conductor told us about the details of the trip.

Hurricane train pulling up to the station.

Nice, comfortable cars.

As mentioned above, the train makes stops along the way.

Their are several sidings on this line and because the Hurricane Train is not a scheduled train, it must move over when the regular trains come thru.

We stopped past this bridge.  A lady fisherwoman got off to fish for salmon in this river - catch and release only.  She had her bear spray with her just in case.  When we came back, we picked her up.  She said that she caught a fish about every 3 casts.  She was from Wasilla and likes to fish here about twice a year.

This appears to be a worker camp and they were unloading their gear.

We stopped along this river and got out to stretch our legs.  The river had salmon running as you can see below.

Interesting site along the way.  In case you are wondering, the train does have bathrooms so this is not a scheduled stop!!

Further down the river we saw some people for the Dept of Fish and Game checking their traps for the number of fish swimming up the river.

 Just before Hurricane Gulch, the train stops on this bridge.  Beautiful scenery.

The trip took about 5 hours in total and was well worth it!