Alaska Railroad, Lynden inaugurate Seattle to Whittier barge run

ARR-Lynden alliance on weekly marine railcar transport service is a reunion for top executives of companies

Steve Sutherlin

PNA Managing Editor

Johne Binkley, chairman of the Alaska Railroad Corp., and Jim Jansen, president of Lynden Inc., met in Anchorage April 4 to inaugurate Lynden’s Alaska Railbelt Marine LLC’s weekly barge service of railcars from Seattle to Whittier.

Customers, dignitaries and guests rode to Whittier on the railroad’s new one-level dome cars to have a tour of Lynden’s new railcar barge Fairbanks Provider and its tug, the Pacific Titan.

Weather in Whittier was chilly, but calm and lacking precipitation. Many of the visitors walked the slightly muddy port roads from the train to the barge rather than ride a provided yellow school bus.

But Whittier is known almost as much for its fickle weather as it is for its deep turquoise waters. Almost on cue the weather turned blustery and snowy as the last of the party boarded the train for the return to Anchorage.

The railroad’s engineers now must time the arrival at the Whittier tunnel to accommodate the needs of motorists who share the tunnel as part of the new highway to Whittier. On the southbound run the train picked its way slowly down Turnagain Arm to avoid sitting at Portage waiting for the tunnel opening. The trip north from Portage to Anchorage was considerably swifter.

The nine-hour junket yielded a look at a trim, swift, secure high-floatation barge that towed quite neatly according to the crew.

Binkley praised the efforts of Steve Silverstein, the railroad’s senior director of freight services, for structuring the deal with Lynden.

When Silverstein joined the railroad, Binkley said, the rail sea service was “bleeding red ink,” but now the operation has a positive bottom line.

The operation looks to be ship shape for the railroad’s new president and CEO Pat Gamble, the four-star general who came on board full-time following his April 8 retirement from the Air Force.

Transport executives meet again

In 1978 Binkley was a tug captain on the Western Yukon, transporting gravel for state runway upgrades. Jansen, wanting to bid on some jobs in the area, needed gravel barged so he flew to the area to find Binkley.

Binkley said a Beechcraft Baron circled overhead as he and his crew contemplated a way to move gravel across wet tundra to an airstrip near the river.

Binkley’s tug, Jansen said, was two World War II landing craft fastened together, boats designed for a single trip from the ship to beach.

Later, Binkley saw the Beechcraft land at an airport; Jansen got out and the two struck up a conversation about planes, Binkley said. After a while Jansen asked how to find a riverboat captain named Binkley who was hauling gravel in the area.

Jansen and Binkley went on to land several contracts in the area. Despite rudimentary equipment, Binkley kept the boat running and delivered the goods.

The equipment today is anything but rudimentary. The barge is one of three constructed at the shipyards of Gunderson Marine, a wholly owned subsidiary of Greenbriar Cos. of Lake Oswego, Ore. Gunderson, which was founded in 1919 as a small auto wheel and accessory shop, also builds rail cars.

The Fairbanks Provider has a sister ship, the Anchorage Provider, on the water.

A third barge, the Whittier Provider, is under construction at the Gunderson yard. The 420-foot long by 100-foot wide barges are equipped with eight sets of track the length of the vessel, providing 3,200 feet of track on the deck.

The number of cars in a load will vary based on car length, typically 40 feet to 90 feet long.

The towboat Pacific Titan is the product of Western Towboat, a family owned company established in 1948 by Bob Shrewsbury. The 108 foot long tug was launched March 16, 2000, from the company’s Seattle boat building yard, which has been in operation since 1982.

The Titan’s space age pilothouse with computerized satellite navigation and its engine room with giant twin Caterpillar diesels are equally spotless.

The crew quarters are a snug, wood-paneled retreat from the working areas of the boat. The galley is bright and well equipped, down to a custom metal ring that is installed on the coffeemaker to keep the carafe in place during Gulf of Alaska storms.