Bringing the history of the A-313 home to Corry has involved a myriad of emails, phone calls, letters, contacts….mental telepathy…and trips to Alaska. Carl shared this synopsis of the travel to Anchorage, Palmer and points beyond.
There have been 4 trips to this point:
- 2018 – June 30, 2018 – July 4, 2018 – Tom and I went on the spur of the moment (2 days notice) to meet Erik and see the container, warehouses and cabin & storage at Big Lake… also met up with Pat Durand, who we had met at Strasburg at an HRA seminar.
- 2019 – Tom and I (on short notice, again) went to Anchorage and Nome in September/October 2019 to begin making arrangements for transportation… had dinner with Pat Durand and Jim & Viki Jansen (Lynden Transport) on our first night… flew to Nome the next morning and met with the Reader clan (Charlie’s children), and located other Climax parts, as well as meeting Stan Andersen (builder plate) … and Our Seabee hosts, Toby & Trish Schield.
- 2020 – Covid Pandemic interrupting June plans for a retrieval were partially lifted in late July. Tom and I were the advanced party, joined by Grady Smith, Steve Neiderriter and Norm Thomas and Donnie Rosie (videographer) in August. In ten days we were able to get the parts repositioned in the container and shipped via Lynden to Seattle. Barnhart Transportation brought it home from Seattle, arriving in October, 2020.
- 2021 – In August, Alaskan restrictions prevented our research trips to Fairbanks, Nome and Council. Norm Thomas and I visited the Univ. of Alaska Fairbanks Archives, the Tanana Railroad Museum (which has led to the donation of Climax Light Wt. Flatcar Trucks)… To Nome to search for parts to use as templates for missing parts from A-313…. To Council to see and Video the area where A-313 worked in 1902… Received the original builder Plate from Stan and Steff Andersen… Donnie Rosie joined us in Nome and Council to video the areas where the Wild Goose Railroad ran. Then back to Anchorage to go through the warehouses with Erik looking for the 24 missing parts from the Keith Christensen Estate. Between the templates acquired in Nome and finding some of the known missing parts in Anchorage, we were then able to have the engines accurately put back in working order.