Train full of snow arrives in Alaska for Iditarod sled dog race

[rdamon]

Alaska's largest city is so hungry for snow, organizers of the famous Iditarod sled dog race were forced to ship tons of it by train Thursday and dramatically shorten the event's ceremonial start this weekend.

http://www.foxnews.com/us/2016/03/04/train-full-snow-arrives-in-alaska-for-iditarod-sled-dog-race.html

[Paul_D_North_Jr]

HOW MUCH DID THE SHIPMENT COST THE IDITAROD?

Not a penny. The freight cars were already available, and so was the snow in Fairbanks, Sullivan said.

The railroad already had a freight train running south, and it was just a matter of linking the cars, the railroad rep said.

Besides, it was an opportunity for the railroad to help out the community, as well as an iconic event, he said.

[tree68]

At least they wanted the snow.

Legend has it that following the Blizzard of '77 in Buffalo, empty hoppers were filled with snow and sent south with the belief that by the time they got back south the snow would be melted.  

The cold followed the cars south and they arrived pretty much still full...

[CShaveRR]

The headline:

Train full of snow arrives in Alaska for Iditarod sled dog race.

Arrived in Alaska from where?  

Just curious.

[mudchicken]

Fairbanks to Anchorage....Sorry Carl, not a new place to deliver Illinois Central Chicago snow to. Think most of that stuff still goes to MS & LA (and is a little dirtier)

[rdamon]

I guess ... Thanks but no thanks ....

http://www.adn.com/article/20160308/snow-shipped-fairbanks-iditarod-start-was-never-used

 

(snip)

All that snow brought into Anchorage by train from Fairbanks for the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race ceremonial start Saturday? 

Anchorage City Manager Mike Abbott said Tuesday night none of it was used. 

“It was a great gesture; we appreciated the spirit of it,” Abbott said at Tuesday’s Anchorage Assembly meeting. “It turns out it wasn’t ultimately necessary.”

(SNIP)

 

[Paul of Covington]

   This all reminds me:  When I was in the army in Alaska Jan '64, I heard on the news that horse racing at the New Orleans Fairgrounds had to be cancelled because of snow, and in the same newscast that the annual dog-sled races in Anchorage would be postponed due to lack of snow.

[Deggesty]

Paul of Covington

   This all reminds me:  When I was in the army in Alaska Jan '64, I heard on the news that horse racing at the New Orleans Fairgrounds had to be cancelled because of snow, and in the same newscast that the annual dog-sled races in Anchorage would be postponed due to lack of snow.

 

Paul, I well remember that snow. I was in Wesson at the time--and the snow fell there, too. It was unusual, coming up from the Gulf as far as several miles above Hazlehurst (No snow in Jackson).