Saturday July 19, 2014 North Pole, Alaska (near Fairbanks)

On the train, the cars were open.

 No hurry to get up this morning, our bus doesn't leave until 9:30.  We slept in until 7.  I fixed the coffee and we drank it while getting caught up on computer chores and getting ready for a full day.

A steam engine called a "donkey"

The bus took us to a point along the Alyeska Pipeline where there is a narrow gauge railroad with a tour of the largest gold dredge in North America.  We walked under a section of the pipeline and past some displays.  We boarded the narrow gauge train for a tour around an once rich mining area.  The train, except for the propulsion was a replica of those used in the gold rush days of Fairbanks and as recently as the 50's.  Instead of steam the engine is now run by gasoline.  The cars were open but had a video set up similar to the riverboat tour.  There was a guitar player/singer on the train to warm the group up.  He had been greeting people riding this train for 22 years.  He was once a well known singer who had opened show for Johnny Cash twice when he appeared in Fairbanks.

Our tour narrator

Like the riverboat tour there were demonstrations as we went along.  On this tour of course the demonstrations were mining related.  The first was a demonstration and explanation how the first miners extracted the placer gold.  They had to thaw the permafrost to dig a hole to bedrock being careful not to thaw so much that the hole caved in.  The gravel was then hauled out of the shaft by buckets on a cable system run by a steam engine.  The engine was called a "donkey" because it only worked when it wanted to.  The gravel was piled up to be panned for gold during the summer.

We saw another replica of a miners camp with an actor panning for gold in the creek.  The next stop was Gold Dredge Number 8.  This dredge operated from 1928 until 1959.  A lady gold miner explained the importance and history of the dredge and also how it operated.

Gold Dredge No. 8 the Queen of dredges

Gerri with a brick of gold.

The dredges were a way that big mining companies mined the gold left behind by the pick and shovel miners.  A lot of work went into mapping just where the dredge would operate and then there was a lot of preparation before the dredge could be used.  The topsoil had to be removed and the permafrost under it thawed so the dredge could dig the gravel.  It took hundreds of men to do this work.  Of course now days the EPA would prohibit this type of operation as too harmful to the environment.  This dredge was built in San Francisco and then disassembled and shipped to Seward on barges.  There it was loaded onto flat cars for shipment to Fairbanks.  It took 143 flat cars to haul the pieces.  It was then transferred to the narrow gauge railroad for transportation to the planned work site.  Of course then it had to be reassembled. The dredge floated in a pond that moved with the dredge which used 9000 gallons of water an hour in operating the various parts. The valley where the dredge operated was dry, so a 60 mile long canal was dug from the Chena River to supply the water.   This dredge produced tremendous amounts of gold which was sold to the government for $35 an ounce and mailed to the mint in San Francisco.  The bars that were mailed weighted 56 pounds each.  During it's useful years the dredge only moved a quarter mile from where it was assembled.

A sample of pipe with a "pig" inside

Our next stop was a gold panning station where we were all given a poke of gravel and sand. We were shown the technique and allowed to keep any gold we found.  We took the gold we panned into an assayer's area and it was weighed for us.  Gerri and I combined panned $17 worth of gold at today's prices.  Gerri had it put in a silver case that can either be worn on a charm bracelet or necklace.  Of course that was the au rigor gift shop.  The twist was they gave away free coffee or hot chocolate and a selection of cookies.

An actual section of the Alyeska Pipeline

The train took us back to the original boarding area, again including entertainment by the guitar player.  He also played the fiddle.  Although his voice seemed to be failing due to age he was a very talented man.  Our narrator then gave us a talk on the pipeline and it's construction.  The pipe  is 28" in diameter and over 800 miles long.  It is insulated and the oil inside is heated.  The pipe itself is surrounded by 8" of insulation.  It takes 5 days for oil to travel from Prudhoe Bay to Valdez.  The pipe line zig zags and floated on elevated beams to avoid earthquake damage.  There are also measures taken to avoid thawing the permafrost where it is present.

An outhouse like no other

Our next stop was for lunch at the Cookie Jar.  On the way we caught sight of another town moose.  Three of the six moose we have seen in Alaska have been in cities.  I had a pastrami Reuben and navy bean soup.  It was very good. Gerri had a meatloaf sandwich and navy bean soup.  Her sandwich was just so-so.

Next was the Museum of the North at the University of Alaska.  Yes, that's right folks.  Gerri in a museum. Besides the exhibits they had two movies that we watched, well Gerri watched the first one.   It was about the Northern Lights.   I slept.  The other movie was about Winter in Fairbanks.  More people giving interesting explanations of why they live here and explanations of how they deal with the cold.  More stuff about "it's a dry cold."  I was surprised how many houses were without indoor plumbing and had outhouses.  Shades of 1950's West Virginia, but for a different reason.  We didn't have it available, here the plumping freezes too easily.

With Otto, a 9' Ursus Arctos Horribilis

The museum had the only mummified carcass of a Steeps Bison, it was huge.  They displayed a stuffed Grizzly Bear that was nine feet tall.  All this along with lot of native and historical artifacts.

Back at the RV Park we had our briefing for tomorrows travel to Tok.

I spent a little time doing chores.  I used the Gorilla glue to try to fastened the built in vacuum hose bag into the end pieces.  I also tried to adjust the bay door that keeps popping open  I put a couple of washers under the latch.  Time and travel will tell if the adjustment worked. Use will tell if the hose repair hold.

I drove out on our route to see where the cheapest fuel is.  The cheapest is Sam's Club but that is nearly 9 miles out of our way.  I only need about 50 gallons and the 18 mile round trip makes it cheaper and easier to get fuel at a local Tesoro station
and pay the extra 12 cents a gallon.

I drained the black water and hooked up the Jeep in preparation for travel.  I left the sewer and fresh water lines hooked up because Gerri was still doing wash.

We were in bed by 10:30.  Gerri reading and me sleeping.  Only 19 days of our caravan are left.  Dave and Rita are back with us, only one coach left in the shop, Alec and Sheila, and they hope to join us in Haines.