The Alaska Railroad's Glacier Discovery Train is the Alaska Railroad’s Summer adventure train, operating daily from around Memorial Day Weekend to around Labor Day Weekend (it doesn’t have shoulder season fares like the Denali Star and Coastal Classic) and basically serves two purposes: access to Whittier, and access to a roadless wilderness, including Spencer Glacier in the Chugach National Forest.

The Glacier Discovery Train provides round-trip service through the Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel between Anchorage and Whittier, with passengers using it to go to and from cruise ships (it was sold out when I tried to book it on a day when a cruise ship was scheduled to set sail from Whittier). Tourists head down to Whittier from Anchorage to ride a variety of sightseeing boats to see glaciers and wildlife in Prince William Sound.

During what would be a six-hour layover in Whittier the train then heads back through the Arthur Anderson Memorial Tunnel (it’s a deviation in both directions!) back to Portage where it picks up additional passengers and takes passengers southbound into roadless portions of the Chugach National Forest. Two stops are made in this portion of Chugach National Forest at Spencer Whistle Stop and Grandview Whistle Stop where passengers can have a few hours in Spencer, and a brief stop in Grandview to view amazing scenery including glaciers!

On the way back passengers who book the proper ticket can transfer to motorcoaches in Portage and return to Anchorage 3 hours earlier to avoid having to ride the deviation again to and from Whittier. A super unique part of this train is the double-decker Colorado Railcar Diesel Multiple Unit (just used today as a cab-car today, no longer providing motive power) that allows GoldStar Class-like (there is no observation platform) front and rear views of the train including a railfan seat that is the front window above the operator cab for portions of the journey. When I rode the train over Memorial Day Weekend 2024, the consist was::

• 1 GP40-2 Locomotives
• 2 1960’s built baggage/generator car – luggage was loaded and unloaded individually, this included rafts from the rafting company
• 1 single-level Adventure Class coach originally built in the 1950s (smaller windows)
• 1 Single level Adventure Class Coach Car – built in South Korea in 1989.
• 1 Colorado Railcar BiLevel DMU, “Chugach Explorer” used as just a cab car so the train can run in push mode as minimal as possible, on the southbound journey from Whittier to southern half of the Portage wye (before backing into the station), from Whittier to Spencer (and Grandview), and northbound only from Spencer to Whittier.

Riding the Glacier Discovery Trian is an amazing unforgettable experience. I rode it from Anchorage to Spencer Whistle Stop and the train felt like it was both transportation and tour bus. We were even allowed to leave our stuff on board while we explored Spencer Glacier for three hours.

A final unique part of this unique train is the train makes a special charter stop at Luebner Lake in both directions for the Chugach Adventure’s Spencer Lake & Placer River Float tours.