Palmer approves rail removal, ending hope for the train's full return

What you need to know:

• Palmer city officials last week approved the removal of a section of historic rail to clear the way for a handicapped-accessible crosswalk.
• The change is intended to address crosswalk and vehicle safety concerns created by the degraded rail bed. It also marks the end of decades of debate over preserving the rail line in hopes of someday restoring regular train service to the city’s downtown. Railroad upgrades needed for that step would likely cost more than $4 million.
• Some local officials and train enthusiasts still hope to revive limited rail-related activities south of the removed section and along a city-owned spur line.

PALMER – City officials will soon remove about 86 feet of historic railroad tracks from downtown Palmer, ending a decades-long debate over preserving the rail and the dream of bringing regular train service back to the city.

A city contractor will extract the tracks from the street at Fireweed Avenue, where the exposed metal is known to damage vehicles and trip elderly pedestrians traveling from the nearby Alaska Veterans and Pioneer Home.

A handicapped-accessible crosswalk will be installed in its place to provide a safe and smooth surface, city officials said. The crosswalk cannot be installed without removing the rail because the metal prevents crews from lowering the road's grade, a step required for the update, they said.

Removing the tracks completely is also the only way to keep the street from needing near-constant repairs, officials said. Pavement patches installed against the rails deteriorate quickly in the region's cold climate and are currently replaced about every three months, they said.

The Palmer City Council unanimously approved the removal last week during a regular council session. The meeting was held in the city's iconic train depot, built in 1935 to receive passengers and goods that once arrived over the soon-to-be-eliminated tracks.

The work will be completed this year and is expected to cost about $300,000, city officials said.

About 50 residents signed an informal petition calling for the upgrade.

“As these tracks have not performed a transportation function in over 17 years, [they’ve] fallen into disrepair, thereby becoming a safety hazard, a barrier to accessibility, and an impediment to the development and beautification of our downtown core area,” the petition said. “Their removal will significantly improve pedestrian and vehicle safety.”

The petition also called for similar repairs to an intersection on South Colony Way adjacent to the historic train depot. That fix was not part of the measure the council considered this month.

End of the line for trains to Palmer?

Some community members greeted the decision to remove the rails as the death knell for a dream of boosting the city's economy by once again bringing trainloads of visitors to downtown.

The railroad to Palmer is a central part of the region's modern history - and could be a key to the city's economic future, said Denise Statz, a former Palmer business owner and longtime advocate for the train whose husband, Loren Statz, spent decades as an Alaska Railroad employee. She was at the forefront of a similar 2009 debate around removing the tracks to make way for a town greenspace.

“I don't care what you do — there is a way we could benefit from the economic engine that the railroad brings,” she said in an interview last week. “This is a heart topic for me. The railroad is a big deal.”

Ahtna Athabascans and Dena’ina were the first people to live in the Matanuska Valley. In 1916, crews constructed the railroad through Palmer and into Sutton to haul material from the Jonesville coal mine. In 1935, trains shuttled in 203 Midwestern families sent by the Roosevelt administration to settle the so-called Matanuska Colony as part of a Great Depression relief program. 

Statz said the hundreds of tourists that could be brought downtown on the train would make an enormous difference for the health of the economy in an area challenged to lure drivers a few blocks off the Glenn Highway.

Rail repair and update challenges

But making that dream a reality was an unlikely outcome for the rail line, city officials said during recent discussions about updating the crosswalk.

Long in disrepair, updating the tracks to allow for new train service would require at least $4 million in repairs to meet Alaska Railroad and federal safety standards, said Jude Bilafer, the city's public works director. Such work would likely require major changes to road intersections and the removal of some historic buildings, he said.

If local officials ever decide to pursue those updates, the rails removed for the crossing can be reinstalled, he said.

Today, the Alaska Railroad's main line skips Palmer entirely, running instead north through Wasilla towards Denali National Park.

In the summer, cargo trains travel up a spur along the Glenn Highway and stop south of Palmer to access material from a gravel pit. Railroad officials maintain the line to a station at the Alaska State Fairgrounds about a mile shy of Palmer's downtown area.

In 2024, a three-day special train dropped hundreds of visitors at the state fair. Railroad officials have not yet announced whether such a service will also be available this year.

All sections of the rail north of the fairgrounds have not seen regular operation since the 1960s when the Jonesville coal mine shut down operations.

The line into Palmer was last used in 2008 when a special Christmas train carried about 400 passengers to the Colony Christmas festival. But because the line did not meet modern safety standards even then, the event required a special waiver from Gov. Sarah Palin, Bilafer said at the council meeting this month.

Since then, the line has continued to deteriorate. Weeds and small trees now grow between the railroad ties on the stretch of track that runs from the state fairgrounds to Palmer. A mile-plus section before and after the Palmer Depot sits in a green space used for festivals and a paved path. The bed running about 12 miles from downtown Palmer to the former Sutton terminus is used as a recreational trail, with significant portions destroyed by the Matanuska River.

Future rail line options

While the train may never again run to Palmer's depot, some officials and local train enthusiasts are still holding out hope for the railroad to bring visitors into town, they said.

One possibility is updating the rail and installing a loading station that could receive passengers near downtown Palmer, a block or two south of the Pioneer Home, Palmer Mayor Steve Carrington said in an interview after the meeting. That effort would still require major rail upgrades, but wouldn't create major disruptions for downtown businesses, he said.

Another possibility calls for bringing in Locomotive 557, a steam engine undergoing restoration by a group of volunteers in Wasilla, officials said.

A spur line owned by the city of Palmer running from near the state fairgrounds to the city's municipal airport can be used for that effort if it's given some brushing and safety updates to meet federal standards, said Pat Durand, a train expert who is spearheading the restoration.

That project, which began in 2013, could be completed as early as August, Durand said. The restoration group hopes to work with the city to use the spur line for engine testing within the next year, he said.

A resolution approved by the City Council in 2017 announced the city's support for the restoration and promised to preserve the spur line for the locomotive's use. It's a pledge Palmer City Council member Victoria Hudson said she hopes the city keeps.

"To me, that was a really big deal that the city council and the city of Palmer kept their word to these different entities," she said during the meeting. "I do also think it's important that we keep the idea open for the 557, eventually, to possibly come in."

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com