s otlu
/es . areL
\^ e ir kj
change
Alaskan train
still survives
United Press International
^FAIRBANKS, Alaska — There's
1 |e Tokyo-0saka “bullet train,” the
^ le >rbo4» ns 'Siberian Express, the Santa
la l and n* S u P er Chief, and then there’s
womenl ^ Alaska Railroad’s “Moose
whoa NCl ser ”
HThe 34-mile-an hour passenger
pin that runs between Anchorage
Fairbanks is a tribute to Ameri-
|n engineering ingenuity and as
laskan as sourdough bread.
Building the 470.3 mile Seward-
!et in
leir
i."
has founj
() ‘»exhani
three tin
ve ekends ® lr h an hs railroad 55 years ago took
ains, determination and about 60
jillion 1923 dollars shelled out by a
enevolent federal government,
eeping it running has required the
|nd of bull-headed Alaska cussed-
thats capable of ignoring 165-
ee weather changes.
■Riding the Anchorage-Fairbanks
150 marat
11 'ng some
he time,
car in ml
e."
rathons
allenge« -
the ehaiil 0056 ^ 00ser ' s 11 travel experience
ral equivM 6 ^ ec l ua l e< d for scenic beauty and
a mes . „
■Officially, the 30-year-old blue
his nimf gold streamliner” is named the
'ere he is the Northern Lights,
n Dallas ever si r ce its ^st run on Oct.
fities."Fi* ’ been known locally as
Moose Gooser because of the
jj one-sided confrontation that
■ ways occurs during the winter
a detena(
pollution 11
Vermont.
>le
ui
ig from i
The Moose Gooser often
rings out the sick, the ail
ing, and the dead from
way stations as Hur
ricane Gulch, Windy,
vonolulu, Chultina, Tal-
7m!$ etna ail(l Curry.
d walb
? on theufc
s. It reli
he meetii
iefcase, 1
g the eil
mscles #1
. Hu's lid
ien the moose insist on using the
owed tracks as their personal
operty and challenge the diesels
r supremacy.
An Alaska Railroad spokesman
as many as 350 moose a year are
id by trains along the route.
Occasionally there’s a dome car
i the 1014 hour daylight runs link-
g the two cities along with the
lair cars, diner and a bar car.
Expect no starched linen table
oths or the heavyweight silver-
are and chinaware that were tradi-
onal on trains like the 20th Cen-
iry Limited, the Empire Builder
|r the City of San Francisco. On the
011 Moose Gooser, teen-age girls —
{/jfsome still wearing teeth straighten-
ers—have replaced waiters in their
]it jH | white uniforms.
j Here the uniforms are blue jeans,
^H’nfcd bandanas and T-shirts ad vert is-
1 ( enl ‘ ing the Alaska Railroad. The only
"dbetween the two dining
‘IN'S are the prices which are typi-
:roW JSlyAhskan high.
ras g u j ex p ec t n() avera g e picture
Jpostcard scenery either aboard the
^HjjPoose Gooser. Suflice to sriy that no
! 10% hours of cushioned travel
ffers such a spectrum of wild
°l ,es *1 mty.
For a $56 fare, the AuRoRa offers
1)01)6 w &
itil Botf* ^ Passengers:
i u —A breath-inhaling view of
)W " lount McKinley’s 20,300-foot
•t XII P
4 to iiA 1
princes 1
world i
st Jesnsi
known*
id was
een wes 1
lier n»i
lc p!
gma
itlyseeii
silica trd
;rown
the hi#
t. Petetj
FOUL PLAY
7:15-9:35
HOOPER
7:25-9:45
CHEECH & CHONGS
UP IN SMOKE
7:35-9:50
Shy way Twin
WEST
THE CHEAP DETECTIVE
PLUS
CASEY’S SHADOW
EAST
HIGH ANXIETY
PLUS
FIRE SALE
STAR WARS
~ltrpfnaml>a
Eddie Dominguez ’66
Dallas location;
3071 Northwest Hwy
352-8570
%
summit, the highest in the northern
hemisphere, which, along with the
other peaks in the Alaska Range,
will do nicely as a reasonable fac
simile of the Himalayas.
—Breath-exhaling views of some
of the whitest bodies ever to wear
bikinis at Nancy Lake where the
Alaskans swim and strive for suntans
during their short summer.
—The distinction of crossing the
Continental Divide at its lowest al
titude between Alaska and Mexico.
Broad Pass is only 2,363 feet high.
—Picture window views of sal
mon leaping completely out of the
water during their oneway trip to
the spawning beds, along with
fishermen proudly holding catches
aloft as the train passes
—Moose grazing in alpine
meadows instead of cows grazing in
fenced in pastures.
—Dense forests of whitebarked
birches and aspens, the albinos of
Alaska, and acres of yardstick-high
fireweed, as royal a purple as ever
graced a King’s robe.
—The unique experience of rid
ing on gypsum-treated bearings; a
special requirement of the Alaska
Railroad because of the 70 degrees
below zero weather which freezes
ordinary wheel bearings during the
winter.
—The screech of steel grinding
against steel as the track corkscrews
along the meandering Susitima and
Nenana rivers with curves so tight
the engineer can often watch the
rear brakeman without hardly turn
ing his head.
—Probably the greatest cross sec
tion of Americans ever collected on
one train — miners and mil
lionaires, backpackers and Eskimos,
tourists and Indians, scientists and
bureaucrats, fishermen, hunters,
the old, the young and the newly
married. The Moose Gooser often
brings out the sick, the ailing, and
the dead from such way stations as
Hurricane Gulch, Windy, Hon
olulu, Chultina, Talkeetna and
Curry.
Brakeman Richard Palmer said at
one time the entire area was depen
dent upon the train.
“Until the new highway was built
between Anchorage and Fairbanks
we were the only link these people
had with the outside world. We
brought in the materials for their
cabins, delivered their groceries
and carried them to town.
“I’ve seen the baggage car loaded
with moose carcasses, he said. “We
carry the hunters out on the morn
ing run, and the afternoon train
would pick them and their kill up
and bring them hack to Fairbanks or
Anchorage with the winter’s meat
supply. We were more like a mobile
butcher shop than a passenger
train.”
The Alaska Railroad started as a
private venture in 1903 and ended
up broke a few months later.
Washington stepped in and finally
completed the line from Seward to
Fairbanks after eight years of some
Siamese
twin to live,
doctor says
United Press International
DALLAS — A pediatric surgeon
said a 2!%-month-old Siamese twin
girl whose sister died shortly after
they were separated has a “100 per
cent” chance of survival.
Dr. Ted Votteler, who was in
charge of the complicated surgery
July 26 at Children’s Medical
Center, said there is no reason the
baby “won’t do extremely well.
The baby has never been iden
tified by the hospital, other than as
“baby a.” She was taken home by
her parents Friday after doctors said
she was developing normally.
Votteler said the baby will not re
quire a special diet, her weight is
normal and she is eating properly.
The child weighed 7 pounds and 3
ounces when discharged.
THE BATTALION
MONDAY, September 4, 1978
Page 9
of the toughest construction work
ever attempted. President Harding
in one of his last official acts before
his death drove the final, golden
spike on July 15, 1923, at North
Nenana.
The Alaska Railroad has rarely
shown a profit due to the one-way
haul — all the revenue-paying
freight moves from the tidewater
ports inland, but little is shipped
from the interior to the coast. The
biggest profits came during con-
stmetion of the oil pipe line from
Prudhoe Bay to Valdez, but last year
officials said the line was in the red
again with a deficit of more than $1
million.
The exorbitant maintenance costs
and man-suffering task of keeping
the line running during the winter
have made profits almost impossi
ble.
“At Healy, I’ve seen it get down
to 70 below zero with a 20-mile-an-
hour wind blowing,” said Palmer,
who, like just about every other
On the Moose Gooser,
teen-age girls— some still
wearing teeth straighten-
ers — have replaced wait
ers in white uniforms.
brakeman and conductor, has suf
fered frostbite at one time or
another.
“The wheels would freeze to the
tracks, and we’d have to take the
freight trains out in batches of 10
cars to break the wheels loose.
Maintaining air pressure in the
braking system was always a prob
lem during the winter, and you
rarely got more than 20 pounds with
a wide-open compressor.”
The extreme cold caused rails to
buckle, the roadbed to “heave,” and
the seepage in the tunnels would
form icicles so big the crews would
(jraViaiw
have to precede the trains through
the tunnels and knock them down.
There are always snow removal
problems in the winter, slides,
washouts, spring floods, 95-degree
summer heat and equipment fail
ures to plague the crews. Just about
every cftaiienge in running a rail
road can be found along the Alaska
Railroad’s right of way.
And all but one of these problems
has been solved. That one is how to
convince the moose population that
the trains have priority, and train
whistles are warning signals, not
challenges to do battle.
“But,” said Palmer with a sad
shake of his head, “moose are like
some humans; they just never seem
to learn.”
7:30 p.m. - Tues., Sept. 5
NEW MEMBERS WELCOME
AMERICAN
CANCER
SOCIETY
1
American
Cancer Society
HUNTER’S CREEK STABLE
BOARDING HORSES
Teaching
English & Western
Jf Training
near campus.
located hwy 6 E bypass
6936482 take hwy 30 exit S on E frontage Rd Vz mile 8460851
bus. College Station, Texas hm
WE CARRY NOCONA, CHRIS ROMERO AND At GUTIERREZ (OUR
PERSONAL BRAND) BOOTS
SKINS AVAILABLE
MULE - ELEPHANT - CAMEL - CALF - COW/
TURTLE - BULLHIDE - OSTRICH - ELK
m
fUMm mi mi mi a* M mi ** rm »m it* wt mimttkw** mi**** RRR»m8*RRRft»***»R**»K***********M***""-** ll »****ft* **
WE WANT
YOU!
The Aggieland ’79 needs photo
graphers. You must have at least one
35mm SLR camera and two lenses to
qualify. Experience in black and white
processing and printing also required.
To apply, come by Room 216, Reed
McDonald Bldg., between the hours of
9 a.m. and 5 p.m.
Farms ‘play’
missile game
United Press Internationa]
DENVER — The president of
the Rocky Mountain Farmers
Union said Saturday it was
ridiculous that thousands of acres
of prime agricultural land, much
of it in northeastern Colorado,
may be lost because of a prop
osed new missile system.
The MX, Milestone II, would
use a type of shell-game tactic to
deceive military opponents. The
proposed system would employ
methods involving a series of un
derground tunnels with the mis
siles moving constantly through
them.
Eight eastern Colorado coun
ties are under consideration for
the new missile system. Other
states being considered are
California, Nevada, Arizona,
New Mexico, Kansas, Nebraska
and Texas.
One proposal calls for many
underground silos to he built
with some containing “dummy”
missiles while others contain
nuclear armaments.
“On first impression, many
people in that area (of northeast
Colorado) think this is some type
of science fiction story,” said
John Stencel, head of the Rocky
Mountain Farmers Union. “But
apparently the military is taking
this proposal very seriously.
“We have many members , in
that area who are understandably
worried about the possibility that
they may be forced from their
farms in order to make way for
some unjustifiable missile sys
tem. We don’t feel the military
has any right to come in and tell
these people, ‘Get off your farm,
we need the land.’”
Stencel said that he also was
disturbed that public hearings on
the proposed missile system
have not been scheduled for the
area.
‘ALTERATIONS 1
IN THE GRAND TRADITION OF
OLD TEXAS WHERE MOTHER
TAUGHT DAUGHTER THE FINE
ART OF SEWING — SO HELEN
MARIE TAUGHT EDITH MARIE
THE SECRETS OF SEWING AND
| ALTERATIONS.
“DON’T GIVE UP — WE LL
MAKE IT FIT!"
AT WELCH'S CLEANERS, WE
NOT ONLY SERVE AS AN EXCEL
LENT DRY CLEANERS BUT WE
SPECIALIZE IN ALTERING HARD
TO FIT EVENING DRESSES,
TAPERED, SHIRTS, JEAN HEMS,
WATCH POCKETS. ETC.
(WE RE JUST A FEW
BLOCKS NORTH OF FED
MART.)
PRE-LAW SOCIETY j
First meeting of the fall semester
BIGGER TAMU
Legal Advisor Gaines West
WELCH’S CLEANERS
3819 E. 29th (TOWN & COUNTRY SHOPPING CENTER)
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