Stolen SUV causes snag for special Halloween train excursion

The Alaska Railroad's special Kid's Halloween Train encountered a scary situation Saturday morning — a stolen vehicle blocking the route in Anchorage's Spenard neighborhood.

The special train, scheduled to make two, 2 ½-hour family-friendly expeditions Saturday, had to reverse course and head north from downtown Anchorage instead of the previously planned route south to the Turnagain Arm community of Indian, a railroad spokesman said.

The change in direction followed a midmorning vehicle theft and chase that wound up with the stolen sport utility vehicle stuck on an incline by the tracks near the intersection of Tudor Road and Minnesota Drive.

Anchorage police were called at about 10:30 a.m. about a vehicle stolen from a home on Cope Street, said Sgt. Todd Kearns, one of the officers at the railroad tracks scene. The vehicle, a Jeep Cherokee, had been left running in the driveway, its key in the ignition, Kearns said.

"That's a no-no," he said.

The thief drove the SUV along the railroad tracks and abandoned it there, Kearns said.

"We were actually looking for the vehicle when we got a call from the railroad that it was on the tracks. We put two and two together," he said.

The suspect had not been found as of early afternoon, police said.

The railroad figured a way around the incident, said spokesman Tim Sullivan. While authorities worked to extricate the vehicle, the Halloween train headed north with its 445 people aboard to the Eklutna area, Sullivan said. The magic shows, music and other scheduled activities were still underway, even though the scenery outside the train was not what was originally planned, he said.

"I think everybody's entertained," he said.

The incident happened shortly after the train departed Saturday morning from the downtown Anchorage depot.

The railroad has staged several special holiday excursions in the past, including an adult-themed Halloween trip to Girdwood scheduled for next weekend, but this was the first year for the special child-oriented Halloween trips.

The kid-focused trips proved popular, Sullivan said. After just one Facebook notice, the two scheduled excursions sold out within 10 days, with more than 400 people buying spots for each of the trips, he said.

The stolen vehicle was moved away from the tracks by about 2 p.m., allowing the second Kid's Halloween Train trip to proceed on the previously planned southward route as scheduled. But the removal task proved difficult and, ultimately, required the services of two tow trucks working in tandem, police said.