a day in the life

As most of you probably know, I've been working a lot up here in Alaska. Yesterday I just got back from 2 days, or 30 hours, or work. Some of you might wonder what a typical day on the train is like for me, so I thought I'd break down what a normal day is like going northbound from Anchorage to Fairbanks. I should say, however, that there really isn't a 'normal' day on the train - the number of passengers is always different, the number of passengers who are on the train and come to the dining room to eat is always different, and each day I'm assigned to a different car, possibly with different co-workers in the kitchen or dining room. So I'll try to clarify as best as possible what a 'typical' day might be.

5-5:45 am: Groggily wake up, shower, shave, and maybe grab a quick bite to eat before leaving to work.

5:45-6 am: Bike from my apartment to work - 'work' in the morning is the railyard just below downtown Anchorage in an area called 'Ship Creek.' In the morning our train cars are not attached to the train we will be a part of that day, so I report to the Holland/Princess buildings where our cars are stationed when not in use.

6-7 am: I usually clock in at about 6, though we don't actually have to be there until 6:15. When I clock in there is a list that shows which car I'll be working in for that run, and I head directly there. Most cooks try to get to work early, because the first thing that we are responsible for is taking an inventory of the kitchen that we'll be working in. It's really important for us to have everything we need for our two days on the rail because if we run out of a product, and another kitchen on the consist can't spare any, then there's really nowhere to get more of that product. So, we check everything we have, and if we are short anything we have to request it from the ground before 6:30 and hope that it can be delivered to our car before we leave the depot.

At about 6:30 we start prepping breakfast, which includes cooking off bacon, breakfast potatoes, and biscuits, and slicing fruit and vegetables.

7-8 am: At around 7 or so, we usually get 'bumped,' which simply means that the train that we will be a part of that day connects our cars to the consist (or group of cars). Perhaps it's self-explanatory, but it is called the 'bump' because when the train backs into our cars to attach us, all of our cars lurch a bit, and you can feel that the cars have been bumped, or attached. Once we are attached, the train makes the 'loop,' which simply means that it slowly gets out of the train yard by going through a series of switches until it's made it to the depot where it will pick up passengers.

8 am: At this point we are in the depot and waiting to board passengers. As a cook I'm usually finishing up breakfast prep, or sometimes helping load luggage. Some days take longer than others to get all the passengers embarked, but we usually hope to leave the depot by about 8:15 or so. On Wednesday during these last few minutes before departure, I was frantically texting friends, trying to figure out what was happening during the U.S.A./Algeria World Cup game, which just happened to be dramatically ending as we were getting ready to leave Anchorage.

8:15-9:30 (or later): During the first leg of our trip, from Anchorage to Talkeetna, we cook and serve breakfast. Depending on the number of passengers we have, and the number of people who choose to eat, we could have as many as 150 or so people eat. However, the past couple of runs I've been able to get through breakfast by about 9:30. It's nice to finish this early, because we don't get into Talkeetna until 11:30, so if we finish early it gives us plenty of time to clean up breakfast, relax for a bit, and then prep for lunch. This past Wednesday, my fellow cook and I had a 'dead leg' for lunch, which means we didn't have any passengers in either of the cars we were cooking for, so I got to take about an hour long nap or so after we finished cooking breakfast.

11:30 - 4 pm: This is the second leg, from Talkeetna to Denali. Normally it is when we serve lunch, which includes burgers, chili, cold sandwiches. However, as I just said, on Wednesday I had a dead leg for lunch, so I was able to just relax, read, chat w/ fellow co-workers, etc. My fellow cook and I were responsible for employee lunch, however, so we made lunch for the 60 employees who were on the consist that day. This is also the most impressive leg of our route as far as scenery goes. When I have time I try to look outside as much as I can and just remember where I am. If we are stuck in the kitchen, it can be touch to get views of outside, but some of cars have small windows in the kitchen so I can catch glimpses of the wilderness we're passing through (as can be seen in the photo at the beginning of this post).

At around 3 pm, before we get to Denali, we start prepping dinner. This includes cooking rice, a prime rib, pork ribs, mashed potatoes, and vegetables.

4 pm - 8 pm: During this final leg of our journey, we travel from Denali to Fairbanks and serve dinner. This is the most time consuming meal service, so if we have a lot of people who want to eat, we try to start right away. Our dinner menu includes steaks, crab cakes, reindeer sausage mac 'n cheese, and an Alaskan-style jambalaya. It's pretty fun to cook and serve these dishes, but it can also be very busy and a little crazy.

5:15 pm: On Wednesday at this time, as we had just begun cooking dinner service, the generator in our car went down and we lost power. Obviously, this put a bit of a kink in our service, but fortunately the power wasn't out for too long. To regain power in this situation, we usually have to turn off all the non-essential things in our kitchen - which includes the air conditioning. This equals a very hot kitchen...but isn't that how a kitchen is supposed to be??

8 pm (ish): When we arrive in Fairbanks, we should be long finished with cooking dinner and have our kitchen cleaned up. When the passengers disembark, it doesn't mean we can get off the train, however. All the cars need to be cleaned up and checked out before we can all get off the train, which is usually around 8:45 or 9 pm. After disembarking, the crew boards a motorcoach that heads to Fred Meyer's, the local grocery store. Everyone usually picks up some food and beverages to enjoy after a long day of work. When we get off the bus at the grocery store, we clock out...so that means we're on the clock from 6 am until 9 pm - or a 15 hour day. Some are a lot harder than others, but it's surprising how quickly the day goes by.

9:45 or 10 pm: After Freddy's, we go to the Best Value Inn, or as we affectionately call it, the BVI - were our staff always stays in Fairbanks. When we get there I usually get cleaned up, eat some food, and either hang out w/ fellow employees for a while or watch some TV before going to bed. After such a long day, everyone is ready to climb into bed and get some sleep, because at 6 am the next day, the bus leaves for the train and we get to do it all over again on our way back to Anchorage.

Well, I've quickly written a pretty long entry without thinking about it...in much the same way one can realize on the train that 12 hours have passed, or that after 4 straight days of work you can suddenly realize that you've been on the clock for 60 hours. The days are long, and the work can be hot and sometimes stressful...but for the most part it is fun and there are a lot of interesting people to be working with. Plus, I'm getting paid to do something that I really enjoy - cooking and serving food - and doing it in a beautiful place.