21-09-24 VIDEOS: Olympic Planes

When visiting Ketchikan and Mt. Rainer in the fall of 2021 I knew that I wasn't going to see much rail content in Alaska, but I figured I'd be able to find something near where I was staying in Olympia, WA. Well it turns out I was wrong on the second question and having my new camera phone die due to the damp weather in Ketchikan further limited my ability to take photos. Nevertheless, I did have access to one form of historic transport in the form of a DeHavilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver float plane that a pilot friend used to fly my group out to the Misty Fjords National Monument. Seeing as I had a bevy of videos from the flight I figured I might as well throw it up for this week's rail adventure post in addition to some still that you can find here ( mirror ).

Best known for its stillborn Bridge to Nowhere, Ketchikan is the southernmost city in Alaska and a general hub for local transport, fishing and recreation. As road transport is limited to Gravina and Revillagigedo Islands, all other areas must be accessed by boat or floatplane. The Ketchikan waterfront is home to a large number of providers, mostly servicing the summer season tourists on package cruises.

My friend flies a 1950's vintage DHC-2 Beaver floatplane for Island Wings. It is powered by 450hp R-985 Wasp Jr. 9 cylinder radial engine fueled by 100 octane low lead avgas. The low lead part is actually relative and is about the same that would have been found in 1970's leaded automotive gasoline.

Although it features some modern flying aids, the cockpit of the DHC-2 is largely stock.

A typical tourist run involves a round trip to the Misty Fjords National Monument, punctuated by a lake landing and photo op. The Misty Fjords are described as Yosemite only replicated a hundred times over with more spectacular scenery.

Although our stay was very brief, providers like Island Wings also support longer term outdoor activities such as camping at one of the several forest service managed wilderness cabins.

In the following two videos I captured the takeoff on Nooya Lake and the landing back on the Ketchikan waterfront.





In this video we can see the Beaver being stored after a day's service.



After flying back to Seattle and day trip to Mt. Rainier, I passed by, but was unable to stop at the Mount Rainier Railroad and Logging Museum. Heisler locmotive #10 was out front and being worked on and the Museum ground supported a static dining car restaurant and caboose motel.

My only dedicated railfan activity was stopping by Amtrak's Olympia, Washington station, also known as Centennial or Lacy station due to the fact that it is located 6 miles from downtown Olympia.

The station was also closed either due to the weekend or due to the lack of an impending departure.

Of course nothing passed by while I was there, although there was a pair of BNSF MoW trucks in the parking lot. The fact that fallen apples were just littering one end of the platform is just one of the reasons I resent the Pacific coast.

Well that's everything transport related from my 2021 trip to the Pacific Northwest. Next week I'll be back in Western Pennsylvania for my first visit to Conway Yard.