For those of you who are watching the current season of “Ice Road Trucks”. This season was filmed in Alaska running the Dalton up to oil fields on the north slope of Alaska. Have they even thought of running a RR line up there?
It would BE IMPOSSIBLE to run a RR line up there. The Rollercoaster a pair of hills back to back there are 14% grades UP AND DOWN. Thee are other grades in the 11-13% range also. The Dalton is built on some in some of the toughest terrian there is and KILLS about 2-3 DRIVERS a year. That road is the Nastiest SOB that ever was SPAWNED by any DOT and the only way to replace it would be to drill a TUNNEL from Fairbanks to the North Slope thru 2 major Mountain ranges 3fault zones and under 1 recently active Volcano. You wanta try it. The distance would be over 500 miles.
I have to agree. I’ve been watching and it’s way too steep for any train to handle. I’ve watched the other seasons and this road has been the worst without a doubt. I’ve never been a fan of big rig trucks because they are competitors to RR’s, but I have to tip my hat to these drivers, they are awesome.