A Long Way from the Corridor - Former Amtrak F40PH #286 leads the Hurricane Turn out on to it's namesake bridge. I often wonder if I ever saw her whipping down the former New Haven Shoreline in my home state of Rhode Island. In 2003 she and a sister were rebuilt by NRE in Mt. Vernon, IL as cab control/power cars and she carries an 800 KW HEP generator. The little train runs Thu-Sun from Talkeetna through the wilderness to this point where it turns around. It is the last true flag stop train in American and affords a conveyance into the wilderness for cabin owners, homesteaders, hunters, fishermen, campers, outlaws and anyone else with a hankering just to get away from it all. This bridge spans 918 ft and rises 296 ft above the floor below. It is the signature location the on the entire ARR mainline and was the most expensive and difficult engineering project on the entirety of the line. The American Bridge Company started construction in early 1921, erected steel in June and finished in August. To construct the bridge, they strung an aerial tram across the gulch and construction proceeded from both sides. The first passenger train crossed Hurricane Gulch Bridge on August 15, 1921 culminating the $1,200,000 project. For a look at nearly the exact same spot during the bridge's construction check ou this link.
