July 13: The Alaskan Railroad to the Sapphire Princess

Not the most fun I’ve ever had. 

When contemplating whether to take my little three day cruisetour side trip it was the excitement of getting to ride the train that was the selling point. But I have to say it’s not the most fun I’ve ever had.

To get from the Princess McKinley Wilderness Lodge to the train station in Talkeetna required a coach ride of a little over an hour. At the end of that coach ride passengers are dumped right by the train track to wait for the train. No train station, no shelter, very little outdoor seating, and only two Porta potty’s for several hundred people. And wouldn’t you know, pouring rain was added to our experience.

Finally, the train

One of the things I was nervous about had to do with how to get on the train. I saw videos online of lifts taking people in wheelchairs into the train cars, but those videos also showed train stations and solid pavement. Thankfully, there were lifts available in the gravel. 

These are hand cranked

Another thing I was nervous about was the seating arrangement. There was conflicting information as to whether they were seats in pairs or groups of four sharing tables. Tables with others it was. Every spot was full, but thankfully the person sitting on the seat next to me decided to go elsewhere on the train. 

Taken before everyone arrived

Three people at our shared table and all full up everywhere else

We had an opportunity to purchase lunch and drinks on the six hour trip while we admired the views. It rained almost the entire way.

And when we thought we had enough of the rain, we got an even bigger surprise when we pulled into Whittier and the rain was coming down in sheets. Drenched doesn’t even come close to describe how wet we were by the time we finally got on the ship a little after 7:30 PM.

I’m glad I did the cruise tour for the experience of it, but I’m not sure I would do it again. It was a lot of go go go and a lot of hurry up and wait. And I didn’t even do any extra excursions! I am ready for some downtime as we take another seven days on the way back to Vancouver. Next up, a couple glacier viewing days which means sea days. Ahh…yes…