I am forwarding the following is from Stephenie Wheeler, Public
Involvement Officer for the Alaska Railroad.

Alaska Railroad to operate gravel train through Wasilla in summer 2004

The Alaska Railroad will operate one gravel train (round-trip) per day
through Wasilla this summer to accommodate the opening of Quality
Asphalt
Paving's (QAP) new gravel pit located on the northwest outskirts of
the
city.

About 95% of the track work needed to bring the railroad to the
Wasilla pit
site was accomplished last fall. Crews are currently completing the
track
work, and building the conveyor system needed to load the trains with
gravel. QAP expects to begin using the Cange Pit sometime between mid-
May
and the first of June.

With approximately 80 rail cars, gravel trains are similar in size to
the
coal trains that transport coal from Healy to Seward. The Alaska
Railroad is
working with QAP to minimize disruptions to commuter traffic.

The service life of the Palmer pit is not yet over, and will continue
to be
mined for lower grades of gravel material, according to QAP Vice
President
Jon Fuglestad. The Cange pit is expected to yield high-grade gravel,
giving
the company a wider range of products for various construction
needs. "We
look forward to this new opportunity to provide Alaskan projects with
the
gravel they need, and the ability to offer commercial sales in
Wasilla,"
Fuglestad said.

QAP, Anchorage Sand & Gravel (AS&G) and Central Paving Products (CCP -
A
Wilder Construction company) each have gravel pits in Palmer, and
typically
these companies contract one to two trains per day to haul gravel from
Palmer to their facilities in Anchorage. QAP will begin the spring
gravel
season next week at its current pit in Palmer, which is located off
the
highway a few miles past the Glenn-Parks Interchange. QAP's new
Wasilla-based 300-acre pit, known as the Cange gravel pit, is located
along
the Parks Highway, just south of Pittman Road, across from Vine
Street.

The Alaska Railroad moved over 4 million tons of gravel in support of
construction projects last year. Each rail car carries about 100
tons, which
is equivalent to the load carried by about four trucks (truck
capacity is
50,000). Hauling gravel by rail helps to lower construction impacts to
highway traffic.

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