We arrived in Whittier, Alaska about 12:30am on Monday July 13, 2009. This was our disembarkation point where we left the ship and boarded the Train at 8:15am for a ten hour journey to Denali National park
Whittier was built originally as a World War II port alternative to Seward. The 1940 and 50s residents pretty much all lived in the ugly abandoned buildings. The area during the long winter has heavy deep snow. This being the case, it was convenient to have all the homes and services, stores, movie theatre, etc, all under a single roof. When the military pulled out in 1960, Whittier became almost a ghost town, the population plunging to around 70. The 1964 earthquake almost finished off the rest.
In the year 2000, a widened tunnel was opened that accommodated both cars(one way at a time) and trains.
We awoke early to board the train and found much to our surprise that it was very close to our ship. We had packed our suitcases the night before to have one suitcase go to Fairbanks and than another one to go to Denali.
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