BellaOnline Forums Travel and Culture Alaska GAME - How much do YOU know about Alaska?!

OK. this game should be fun AND will test (and serve to increase) your knowledge of the largest (by FAR) State in the USA! I will ask a new question each day. Some may be simple - some may take a little research on your part <g> The answers are readily available, but some may take more looking than others.

Rules:
The first accurate response is awarded 3 points!
The second accurate response is awarded 2 points!
The third accurate response is awarded 1 point!
No single person can contribute more than two answers per day.

As you can see, players with less points can easily catch up or even jump into the lead with just a few good answers! I'll add up the points each day and post a weekly total for all players. This game will go on for at least two weeks - and there will be a prize for the winner!!

OK, here we go ... Your first question!

What stops does the Alaska Railroad make between Anchorage and Fairbanks?
Btw, there is 1 extra bonus point available if you can tell me WHY this is a "slightly" trick question. ;-)

Btw, being an Alaskan resident, I am asking Frosty to lay low on this first answer - it would just be too easy for him. He can jump in if no one else figures out the right answer by tomorrow afternoon.

Tum, ta tum tum tum .... waiting <G>

Cities listed on the Aurora Winter Train schedule are:

Anchorage - Wasilla - Talkeetna - Chase - Curry - Sherman - Gold Creek - Canyon - Chulitna - Hurricane - Denali - Healy - Nenana - Fairbanks

While one-way fares from Anchorage are only shown for Wasilla - Talkeetna - Healy - Fairbanks & roundtrip to Hurricane

Extra Credit: "Flag-Stop" train service is used to allow access into the backcountry between Talkeetna & Hurricane. Waving a white flag... Did I surrender all the necessary info?

<L> I might have known Beetlemess would jump right in with the first response - and what a response! You are technically correct, so you get full points (3) plus one for knowing (or finding out the bonus questions. 4 points total! Great start!

As for your main answer; in actuality, the train schedule from Anchorage to Fairbanks *usually* departs Anchorage, with scheduled stops at Wasilla, Talkeetna, Denali National Park and Fairbanks. Stops "can be made" at the other locations you listed, but unless someone calls and lets them know there are passengers needing to be picked up or dropped off, or they "flag" the train, it doesn't automatically stop at these locations.

The answer to the bonus question, as you correctly noted, is that the Alaska Railroad is the ONLY "flag stop" railroad left in the entire USA. Anyone can flag down the Alaska Railroad along it's route and if possible, the train will stop and pick them up. This is a huge boon to bush Alaska, where getting to an actual train station can be difficult if not impossible. Congratulations!

Now ... we have the rest of the day to see if anyone else has anything to add that might earn them a point or two. Games are all about learning new things as well as just having fun!

Later today, I will post the next question.

OK, sorry folks - I was away from home over the weekend, but now that I'm back home and settling in for the winter, lets get back to the game!

Question #2
How many "named" mountain ranges meet up in Wrangell-St. Elias National Park and what are their names?

Wow that is SO cool about flagging down a train and that you can't do it anywhere else! You would think that would be quite useful in the midwest for example ...

I'm guessing most states would consider it a security risk in modern times. It was once the "norm" all across our great country. Alaska is the last hold-out still clinging to this wonderful tradition.

Then again, the vast majority of people in the "lower 48" have cars or access to bus routes these days, too.

If I wanted to, I could walk (or drive <g>) the two miles to the nearest train track, wait for the next train to come by, wave a white cloth at them and wait for them to come to a stop. Most of the time, even if they are going at a fairly good clip, they can stop before the caboose passes you (or the last car - there isn't always a caboose anymore).

Then again, now-a-days, you can also call from home and let them know where along the tracks you will be so they can be watching for you and already slowed down. Serious backpackers doing wilderness hiking do this regularly. They are just charged from the point of pick-up to their destination.

Most people, of course, just go to the nearest "real" train station these days. The flag option is used more commonly out in the bush where scheduled stops are few and far between.

4 named mountain ranges:
The Wrangell, St. Elias, Chugach, and Alaska (made up of the sub-ranges of Mentasta and Nuzotin)

I discovered Wrangell-St. Elias National Park is the newest National Park (under the Carter Administration) & the size is larger than Costa Rica