The Nenana river is located immediately adjacent to Denali National Park and Preserve and passes by the McKinley Village where the Host had an overnight stay. The river is glacier fed. There was a sign saying that a Grizzly bear had recently been seen immediately by this property. This river and the surrounding territory is both beautiful and dangerous. The show's host took this picture while visiting Denali National Park in Alaska during August 2004.

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Check out some of the ideas, issues and trends explored on previous Keeping Kurrent shows.

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Trains, Trains, Trains

Wonderful picture of Japan's high speed train.

Leaves turning along tracks as you travel through the Tillamook Forest east of Portland, Oregon.

Canadian Train Trips

There's a great web site that explains the types of train trips you can take in Canada. Take a look at this web site by double clicking on its name: Fresh Tracks. Take a look at the Western Explorer which takes 8 days and 7 nights for $1389 (US $).

The Beaverton-Wilsonville

Heavy Rail Commuter Train

The Beaverton-Willsonville commuter rail system is just starting to be built along Hwy. 217 in Beaverton, Oregon. There is an additional track being laid beside the existing rail line. See the map below for the route and rail stations. This is a heavy-rail system similar to the Amtrak train system. The commuter system will be operation by 2008. For more information about this project look at the Tri-Met web site, http://www.trimet.org/commuterrail/project.htm#Timeline. Double click on the phrase Tri-Met and you'll go there.

Here's what the commuter rail cars might look like.

CONSTRUCTION UPDATE

The P811 track-rehabilitating machine will begin its journey north on October 24. More Construction is beginning on the Washington County Commuter Rail (WCCR), the first commuter rail in Oregon and one of the few suburb-to-suburb commuter rails in the country. The first phase of construction is scheduled to begin October 24 in Wilsonville, and continue north to Beaverton. The line will use self-propelled diesel trains, similar to the concept drawing on this page, to carry passengers between Beaverton, Tigard, Tualatin and Wilsonville.

The first phase of Commuter Rail construction, expected to be complete within a span of 30 days, involves the removal and installation of track, ties and ballast along a 14-mile stretch between Beaverton And Wilsonville. A specialized track-rehabilitating machine known as a P811 simultaneously dismantles track, picks up ties, plows ballast, places new concrete ties and threads new rail. The P811 was chosen to speed rail reconstruction and minimize impacts on area residents and businesses. Construction schedule Work will occur Monday through Saturday from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. The crew also will take delivery of ballast every day between 7 and 11 p.m. Advance notice of construction schedules and schedule changes will be provided to local jurisdictions, businesses and residences. Get updates by email

Traffic control P811 track construction will require intersection closures of up to two hours along the railway route. Intersections will not be closed during peak commute hours. Advance notice will be given on intersection closures and potential detours when possible.

Noise levels Noise levels will be typical of a large construction project. Construction will move continuously along the track at approximately one mile per day.

This information was realeased by Tri-Met. More information is available by double clicking on http://trimet.org/commuterrail/ .

Steam and Diesel Trains

Around the World

Traveling on trains is one of my favorite activities. I've traveled on trains while in England, Japan, Scotland, Spain and Portugal and even in Oregon. I anticipate taking at least one train trip while visiting India during 2007. The trains are all so different. Trains are a great way to meet people and even try out your language skills. You find people eating food they brought from home as well as eating in the nicest dining car or sitting in the cushy, lounge seat in the first class cars of the Spanish trains.

During the 9th Season I will be sharing some pictures of trains that I have recently taken or would like to take. If you have had similar opportunities to train travel and would like to share them then let me know.

One of the recent train rides I took was on the Oregon Coast Explorer. This train operates on the weekends. It is part of the Port of Tillamook Bays Rail transportation system. During the week the train hauls products such as logs and gravel. On Saturdays it takes passengers along a variety of routes such as from Banks to Enright or Rockport to Enright. These trips last for about 8-9 hours and include a light breakfast and very special barbecue lunch special. M-m-m-m was that barbecue good. It included ribs and chicken with cabbage salad and beans. The company was great and the staff were friendly and helpful.

Several of the diesel engines used to haul the cars to Enright. There were additional locomotives at the other end of the training to help push the train up the relatively steep 3% grades to Enright. The train traveled about 20 miles per hour which allowed everyone to see the scenery. The train stopped in Banks, Oregon, which was founded in 1921 and was named for Robert Banks and his father John Banks. The Banks Lumber Company on the east side of tracks is a major shipped on the Tillamook Line. There were piles of logs and processed lumber on the north side of the tracks.

It's a little to see these cars in the morning sun. They were nicely painted and the tables and chairs were made of a nice light colored wood. You needed to be reasonably fit to get into the cars as passengers entered from ground level. Wheel chairs or walkers would not work on this train. Staff did help one individual who needed assistance walking up the stairs. Perhaps the Port might consider developing a loading system similar to the Mt. Hood Railroad. You can see more about the Mt. Hood RR site by clicking on MTHOOD.

There seemed to be quite a crowd of people getting on board. Most people had signed up for the first class service (perhaps 100 people) and the balance (about 35 people) had signed up for the standup lunch served in the baggage car turned into buffet car. The buffet crowd actually did fairly well for themselves. They still had a nice table, however, it didn't have silverware and a tablecloth and the meal wasn't served by a waiter or waitress. The $20 difference was more than what I wanted to pay.

There was one open car where people could sit on wooden benches and watch the train whiz by the countryside. The train is approaching of one the three tunnels between Banks and Enright. Two of them are fairly short, however, one of them is quite long and very dark except for the light emitted by the camera screens and the lights of the cars. You got a eerie look at the cement walls of the tunnel as you rode along and listened to the buzz of the passengers as they talked about their experience.

This was a mill pond that had served the lumbering community years ago. You can just see a couple of individuals standing at the edge of the pond and someone's hand just extending into the picture. We were sitting and standing on the open car as we clanked along the tracks. It was a gorgeous, warm day.

The train travels along the Salmonberry River all the way up to Enright. The Nehalem River started on the top and ran down the reverse side of the hilly terrain until it reached Nehalem Bay.