The Alaska Railroad Police say they cited two men for criminal trespassing last week after the ATV they were driving down the middle of the tracks nearly crashed into an oncoming train.
Alaska Railroad Police Chief Special Agent John Bennett said the Denali Star passenger train was traveling at about 50 mph from Fairbanks to Anchorage on Sept. 4 with 204 passengers and three crew members onboard. Around 5:15 p.m., just south of Talkeetna, the train rounded a curve and the crew spotted two people on an ATV towing a trailer. The ATV was traveling in the middle of the tracks "headed northbound directly at them," Bennett said.
"The train was put into 'emergency braking' as the ATV was just able to clear the track. The two occupants jumped off the ATV, but the trailer and its contents were (destroyed) by the train," he said in an email. "Luckily there were no injuries to the ATV riders or any of the passengers, but this was a very dangerous situation for all involved."
Bennett said the train stopped and the crew checked on the ATV riders and inspected the train for damage. He said the train didn't appear damaged and it continued south.
A dispatcher called Bennett and told him the train had hit the trailer and the debris was off the tracks but still in the area. The ATV riders had been identified as James Boring, 46, and Patrick Duffy, 21, he said. Bennett drove to the area and cited the two men for criminal trespassing, he said.
"The ARRC has a serious problem with trespassers being on the tracks. Their presence not only places them in peril but creates a very dangerous situation for our trains, the crew, the passengers and our equipment," Bennett said in an email, underscoring that emergency braking can cause derailment, injure passengers or damage the train.
Bennett said collisions are rare, but the Alaska Railroad Police get reports of trespassing daily.