TALKEETNA, Alaska — John Strasenburgh’s cabin is a seven-hour hike through the Alaska wilderness from the nearest road. The closest railroad track, though, is only an hour’s walk, reports the Associated Press.
“The train is absolutely essential to me,” said the 56-year-old retired bank auditor.
But Strasenburgh and his neighbors stand to lose much of a train service that stops for people who wave it down along a remote 55-mile stretch of rail — the last regular flagstop run in the nation.
Officials with Alaska Railroad Corp. say the run, while popular with local residents and outdoor enthusiasts, is a money loser. They say proposed reductions are necessary following the loss of a multimillion-dollar coal hauling contract.
“We don’t want to get rid of the flagstop service entirely. We recognize it is unique,” said railroad spokesman Patrick Flynn. “But we have to balance what people want and what we can afford.”
The railroad board will meet Thursday in Fairbanks to discuss several staff recommendations affecting the flagstop service between Talkeetna and Hurricane, 130 miles north of Anchorage.
The seven-member panel will consider cutting summer runs from four days a week to weekends only and decide on a 9 percent fare increase for rides on the 50-year-old self-propelled diesel cars.
The board also is considering eliminating the limited winter service on the run. Weekend flagstop service would be available on a locomotive between Anchorage and Fairbanks all winter.
Johne Binkley, board chairman, said he is waiting to hear from the public before deciding on his vote, adding that service cutbacks are not a given.
Still, outraged locals have formed a grass-roots effort opposing the changes. They’ve flooded the state-owned railroad with letters urging the board to maintain the current service. They plan to testify at the Fairbanks meeting.
“The changes would mean a drastic lifestyle change for many people,” said Mark Butler, 48, a cabin owner who leads the Friends of the Flag Stop campaign. He said service cuts will lead to scores of locals trespassing on the railroad right of way to get to their cabins.
Butler’s cabin is among some 175 structures — mostly recreational homes — within 10 miles of the route, according to Matanuska-Susitna Borough assessment records. The area is predominantly spruce and birch forest, marked by lakes and streams offering closely guarded fishing spots.
Patsy and Clyde Krompacky, who own a cabin in Chulitna, 50 miles north of Talkeetna, are among the few permanent residents on the route. The nearest road is seven miles to the west.
Patsy Krompacky, 51, said weekend runs would allow just one day for errands in Talkeetna. If she missed the ride back, she’d have to spend a week in town.
“What if you need to see a doctor? Most doctors don’t work on Saturdays,” Krompacky said. “We need to keep the train service the way it is.”
Railroad officials say they have little choice. “If the railroad was a purely private company, that service would have been killed eons ago,” Flynn said.
Operating the flagstop cost $200,000 in 2001, yet the railroad made only $64,000 from ticket sales — a $136,000 loss, officials said. Proposed cuts would halve the cost and bring in an estimated $48,000 in revenue, easing the loss to $52,000.
Absorbing the greater losses is no longer feasible for the railroad, which last year took in $107.3 million in revenue and earned $6.6 million in profits. Revenues will be slashed by some $4 million a year with the terminated deal to haul coal from the Usibelli coal mine.
Opponents say instead of cutting service, the railroad should do a better job of promoting it.
“The railroad has taken millions of dollars in federal funds to maintain infrastructure, haul freight and fuel for corporations, to carry huge amounts of tourists,” Strasenburgh said. “So what about Alaskans? It seems patently unfair to cut us out.”
Wendy Lindskoog, the railroad’s director of external affairs, said federal funds can be used only for capital costs such as building depots and straightening ties, not to subsidize operating expenses.
“People see millions of federal dollars and think it’s actual revenue that can be used for anything, but that’s not true,” Lindskoog said. “So any savings you make cannot be considered a pittance.”