Alaska's Coastal Classic Train: breathtaking scenery made easy

By Brian Johnston
Updated October 29 2016 - 1:19am, first published 12:15am
The Alaska Train travelling along the shores of Turnagain Arm near Girdwood.  Photo: Supplied
The Alaska Train travelling along the shores of Turnagain Arm near Girdwood. Photo: Supplied
Tucking into breakfast on the Alaska Train.  Photo: Michael DeYoung
Tucking into breakfast on the Alaska Train. Photo: Michael DeYoung
Anchorage from above. Photo: Ken Graham
Anchorage from above. Photo: Ken Graham
Alaska's Coast Classic is one of the world's most spectacular train journeys. Photo: Supplied
Alaska's Coast Classic is one of the world's most spectacular train journeys. Photo: Supplied

There really ought to be a brass band on the platform, trumpeting those jaunty American marching tunes, and the mayor of Anchorage giving a speech beneath bunting. There should be an old-fashioned photographer with his head under a black cloth and his camera bulb going off in great incandescent pops. After all, it isn't every day you embark on a train journey like this. If it isn't the world's most scenic railway ride, it must come close: 183 kilometres of nose stuck to window, through a landscape made for the giants of an old Norse epic.

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