The train isn’t the fastest way to get between Fairbanks and Anchorage (it takes twice as long as driving!) but it offers some uniquely Alaskan experiences – spotting moose and trumpeter swans at the side of the tracks, looking straight down from a narrow bridge to the rushing river at the bottom of a gorge, and chugging past off-the-grid cabins with DIY flag stop stations.
On the first leg of our trip, from Fairbanks to Denali, we booked Adventure Class (the economy option), and we upgraded to Gold Star on the longer second leg from Denali to Anchorage. For a 4 hour trip, Adventure Class is perfectly comfortable, but I’m glad we were in Gold Star for the all-day, 8 hour trip – you sit on the upper level of a dome car for much better views, there’s an open viewing area at the back of the car, and you have two meals included in the dining room on the lower level.
While lunch was a pretty basic salad, I was pleasantly surprised by my dinner of potato-crusted Alaskan cod. The potato crust was actually potato chips, but it worked well and the fish itself was lovely.
Besides eating and reading a bit, we spent a fair amount of time on the viewing platform snapping photos, enjoying the fresh air, and watching the scenery (still no Denali sighting, though we passed quite close to it).
It’s a cool way to see Alaska from a different point of view!
Next: French Classique
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A day in Napa
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