# Railroad Alaska



## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

A. New series on TV. I have watched three shows. It is very interesting. They have a rail truck that makes deliveries along the line. The truck seems to run daily. The passenger train runs weekly and drops people off along the way wherever they want off. They service a lot of cabins out in the woods. The one thing that was never addressed was how these frontiers people pay for their deliveries. How do they make money? One guy has lived in isolation since a baby but you see no evidence of any work he could do out there. I suppose trappings but that would not seem to generate enough money to support the propane and diesel they all seemed to bte using in fairly large quantities. I have also watched the show about people wanting to buy a cabin in isolated areas. Those cabins are not cheap. 500 square feet, no water, plumbing or electricity except by generator and the prices are often over one hundred thousand dollars. So the question is, how do they do it?


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Sounds great, but how about a link or tell us what network the show airs


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

Sorry, I am currently in Utah. I have Diredt TV. I think it comes on Saturday evening. The channel is somewhere between 276-282. Those are the channels I always watch. I will look up the name of the station when I get home.


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

Another interesting observation from the show. Every one seemed to rely on propane for heat rather than cutting a tree, splitting the wood and burning it. Propane is expensive even in Alaska.


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## Totalwrecker (Feb 26, 2009)

It's running out, but I think every citizen got a royalty check from Oil.....


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## todd55whit (Jan 2, 2008)

Randy and others.. The show is on Destination America channel. It airs Saturdays @10 pm eastern. Very interesting. I am watching a few different Alaska shows ,seems like that is what is in right now.


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## Paul Burch (Jan 2, 2008)

http://america.discovery.com/tv-shows/railroad-alaska/tv-schedule.htm


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## josephunh (Mar 27, 2013)

I have been watching it too. It's your typical reality series where the edit the **** out of it to create suspense when there is none. I mean you look at the way some of the railroad people talk to each other and act, its so silly you know they are either hamming it up for the camera or were told to say it. Also as jbwilcox said they say in the show passenger service is once a week which I think is a lie as an episode last night as people were getting off the passenger train they were saying to the conductor see you tomorrow. It's interesting to watch the operations and scenery but the rest of it is kinda hokey.


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## Randy Stone (Jan 2, 2008)

Thanks for the info and link 

In the Orlando area using Brighthouse, it's Channel 162 / HD 1362


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

The latest episode deals with a medical emergency. The passenger train needs to be flagged down so some blood pressure mess can be delivered to an old couple up the line.

The freight train is dealing with 20 ton icicles. Will they be able to deliver the load of pipi to Anchorage? Stay tuned.

Now the passenger train is faced with a broken switch. Things are getting serious.

Will the train be derailed? Just in time the switch is cleared of ice and the passenger train rolls on. Shortly the train drops Budd off with the life saving mess.

And I will never know if the freight arrived in Anchorage in time because my DVR did not record the final 10 minutes of the show.

Interesting series. The train seems to serve only about three families along the tracks. Everything is a life and death emergency but so far everything turns out ok.

I would still like to know what these people do to support themselves. How much does it cost to flag down a passenger train and hop a ride?


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## jbwilcox (Jan 2, 2008)

Why when I submit a post does it come out as a single paragraph when I wrote it using about five paragraphs. Is it something to do with my IPad?


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## tmejia (Jan 2, 2008)

Yes 

If you use "quick reply" instead of "add reply" it will stay in separate paragraphs. 

Tommy 
Rio Gracie


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## NTCGRR (Jan 2, 2008)

I baby sat the grand daughter last night and found it. Still something about trains and great views. She wanted to watch Mickey Mouse but I did not know how to make the DVD work on their set up.


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## Gp382DH7315 (Dec 19, 2013)

Watched a partial hour Saturday evening and the Track Inspector (followed by the highrail repair team) found a frozen swith point mid-point; gas unit failed keeping the switch heated! Repair completed and $10 million freight train followed quickly behind; Track Inspector was then notified he is a lay-off due to declining revenue. Oh, he only had 20 years with the RR!


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