This cache is
named by the younger Ladybug Kids for the distinctive sound
Tanana Valley Railroad Engine #1 makes when it operates at
Pioneer Park. The engine was
restored by the Friends of Tanana Valley Railroad
over a period of eight years and returned to service in
1999. The engine generates steam by burning coal from
the Usibelli Coal Mine located near Healy
and belches smoke and embers from its stack. Embers
that escape the stack's spark arrester are quickly
extinguished with a stream of water applied by one of the
engine's crew members.
The Tanana Valley Railroad
began in 1905 as the Tanana Mines Railroad and ran from Chena on
the bank of the Tanana River to Fairbanks. Within a year, the
railroad stretched to Fox and Gilmore. In 1907, the railroad
was refinanced under the Tanana Valley Railroad name and tracks
were extended more than 19 miles to Chatanika. The route
required over one mile of trestles and bridges to cross the many
drainages and to level the grade along the route. The
railroad went bankrupt in 1917 and was sold to the Alaska
Engineering Commission Railroad, which became the Alaska Railroad
we know today in 1923. An extension of the railroad was built
to Nenana in 1919 to facilitate construction of the railroad coming
up from Seward and Anchorage. The bed and ties were designed
for the standard 4'-8" gauge, but three-foot wide narrow gauge
tracks were originally laid. When the Meers bridge across the
Tanana River at Nenana was completed in 1923, Fairbanks was
connected to Seward by rail and a third rail was laid so narrow and
standard gauge equipment could be used on the same rail
bed.
While the timbers of most
of the Tanana Valley Railroad trestles and bridges were carted
off for other uses after the railroad shutdown in 1930 and the
tracks were removed in 1931, a small bridge remains on the
original railroad grade. The grade to and beyond this
bridge is a popular mushing, skijoring, snowmachining, and winter
mountain biking route and the bridge now supports a
geocache.
Parking is available in a
large pullout on the east side of Ballaine Road at N 64° 54.632', W
147° 49.598'. Choose your access to the railroad right-of-way
carefully because Goldstream Creek backs up with overflow at
various times of the year. If the main grade access which
parallels Ballaine Road ends in overflow, alternative access may be
found by locating a narrow trail that heads into the forest east of
the northern end of pullout embankment. A short scramble down
the embankment at that point and a brief trek through the woods
will quickly put you on the historic railroad
right-of-way.
Click here for a map of the east Goldstream
trails that lead to this cache. You are encouraged to tour
more of the trails if time or future visits permit. If you
are approached by a dog team, step or ride off to the side of the
trail and stand quietly to let the team go by. Dog teams can
travel at more than 20 mph and are nearly silent, so be always
vigilant when on the trails during the winter. Keep you
dog(s)s leashed because loose dogs pose a hazard to dog teams or
they might find the scent from one of the nearby active trap lines
irresistible.
If you are fortunate
enough to be around during a major holiday such as Memorial Day,
4th of July, or Labor Day, head over to Pioneer Park (formerly
known as Alaskaland) and take a ride with the restored narrow gauge
Tanana Valley Railroad Engine #1 steam locomotive before or after
visiting the cache. Go to the Friends of Tanana Valley
Railroad website and click on "Operations Schedule" to learn when
the locomotive will be operating.
Initial ammo can
contents: Adult's and child's Alaska railroad hats, several
stamped Alaska railroad post cards for you to write home about your
Alaska caching experiences, wooden train whistles, plastic train
whistle and bubbles, miniature caboose and crossing signal pencil
sharpeners, wooden train craft set, Alaska railroad patches,
locomotive magnet, and a railroad key chain.
The cache also contains a
single-use camera to capture geocachers' images. Please take
a photo of yourself and leave the camera in the cache for the next
finder. The film will later be developed and the images will
be added to this cache page.
Photos: (Top)
Engine #1 at Chena in 1906. (Bottom) Fox Gulch,
1910.
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: H54132
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