Alaska Railroad starts new service for gravel shipper

Alaska Railroad starts new service for gravel shipper    The Alaska Railroad will begin operating one gravel train per day this summer through Wasilla, Alaska, to serve Quality Asphalt Paving’s quarry there.
   The railroad said about 95 percent of the track to the quarry, located about 40 miles outside of Anchorage, was completed last fall. The finishing touches should be finished by the time rail operations to the quarry commence in mid-May, the railroad said.
   The gravel trains will comprise about 80 railcars, which are similar in size to the Alaska Railroad’s coal trains operating from Healy to Seward, Alaska.
   Last year, the Alaska Railroad moved more than 4 million tons of gravel to support construction projects last year. Each rail car carriers about 100 tons, which is equivalent to the load carried by about four large trucks, the railroad said.