From Anchorage to Seward by Train
If you ever get the chance to take the train from Anchorage to Seward, AK, you should, it’s a fantastic introduction to Alaska.
After spending the night and enjoying a fantastic breakfast at The Lakefront Anchorage, we caught a morning shuttle to the Bill Sheffield Alaska Railroad Depot at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport where we stood in line waiting to be processed for the cruise and to get our tickets for the train. According to one website, this $28 million Depot is not open to the public and is only used for transferring cruise passengers to their docks in Whittier and Seward.
A few hours, and an airport lunch later, we boarded and began our first excursion, a 4-hour train ride to Seward, where we would board our ship, the Spirit, and officially begin our cruise.
The cars on the train were fantastic for viewing the amazing scenery, were comfortable, and equipped with a kitchen and bar. For the first thirty minutes or so the scenery is obstructed by buildings and trees, and it took some trial and error to figure out how to take good photos from a moving train through the plexiglass windows. As I got closer the the edges of the large windows, the images are warped and blurry, and as you may notice in some of the photos the polarization of the glass made for some interesting colorization. Regardless, being from the plains of Texas and suburbia, the mountain views were amazing, and I couldn’t wait to get out of the city and deeper into the wilderness.
First Janky Photos through the Train Car Windows
As we got further from the city, the scenery really opened up and the mountain landscapes were breathtaking!
Mud Flats
Something I was not aware of are the expansive mud flats extending for miles not too far outside of Anchorage. Occasionally covered by water, once the tide goes out, anyone or anything left stuck out on the flats, has no way to get back out. The muddy slit left behind acts like quicksand.
Oh, and don’t forget to click or tap on the photos to enlarge. And, as always, photos are best viewed on a larger screen, and not your phone!
Ghost Forests, Waterfalls, and Glaciers
Leaving the mud flats behind, the train weaved through forests, valleys, and tunneled under mountains, exposing numerous waterfalls and glaciers! Even parts of the Ghost Forest could been seen where sea water once flooded the area, the salt both killing and preserving an entire forest of trees where they stood.
We were seated on the right side of the train, but both sides had great views. The mud flats are probably best viewed from the right side, while the glaciers are best view from the left. Every table in our car was occupied so their wasn’t room to move around, but generally people were kind enough to duck a little to let other take photos of both sides.
Dale R. Lindsey Alaska Railroad Seward Intermodal
At the end of the tracks was the Dale R. Lindsey Alaska Railroad Seward Intermodal where went through one last security check before boarding the ship and finding the way to our cabin.
The occasion for this trip being special, and because of my tendency to get motion sickness, we splurged on a balcony room, and I am glad we did. With 20 hours of sunlight every day, there were lots of early morning and late evening opportunities to take photos from the balcony!
First view of our cabin
After getting settled in our cabin, I still had some time to head up on deck and take photos of the port at Seward. Compared to the beautiful mountain scenery, the port and adjacent marina had a different kind of charm.
A parting shot of a glacier in Seward as we finally got underway and sailed toward Hubbard Glacier.
I definitely recommend taking this train excursion if you haven't already. Yes, it is a 4-hour trip, but I would rather spend 4 hours seeing Alaska like this than a 1 hour in a cramped bus. We chose to cruise Alaska instead of somewhere else, because we wanted to see Alaska. We could not afford some of the more expensive excursions, so this was a pretty good compromise that enabled us able to see parts of Alaska that you can’t see unless you take this train or fly in. The last half of the trip, not being accessible to those who take the Alaska highway.
If you would like to see my other posts related to our Alaskan cruise, see Cruising Alaska with Norwegian Cruise Line.
