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“If you’re not moving, you’re standing  still.”

 

Steve Trafton

Traftons in Alaska

 

Those Traftons were at it again and this post shows a few more photos and some short video clips of their Alaska adventure. 

 

 

 

 

 

Click on any image to see all of them in larger sizes.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pick Yourself Up and Start Again

Refusing to accept defeat, the Blackhorseracing.com team took the sick 1915 ALF #1 classic speedster all the way back to Seattle (on a trailer) and are immediately returning to Alaska to retrieve ALF #4. This time, they are taking a different route up the Alcan, from Cle Elum, Washington north all the way back to Glennallen, Alaska. Here are photos of some of the crew who participated including Steve and Katherine, Matt, Guillaume, Dwight and Byron.

 

 

As of 2:15 PDT, Steve, and Dwight had crossed back into Alaska on their way to Glenallen and ALF #4.  Follow along here.

 

 

 

The plan, hatched over a hearty meal, is to drive the ALF #4 part of the way down the Alcan and then trailer it back to Seattle. 

 

 

Here are a few photos from their journey.

 

 

 

 

Oh Shucks

Well some mornings you can barely chew through the straps on your straight-jacket. Frustration attacked the Blackhorseracing team as their ALF#1 overheated again and it could not even be coaxed to work for it’s chug down the Alcan Highway. You’d think this car was built in 1915 or something. So here’s the deal: the working ALF #4 was warehoused and left in Glenallen, Alaska, while the ALF#1 is being trailered back to Seattle for a waterboarding torture. The team feels that if they separate the twin classic cars, it’s an appropriate punishment for the difficulty they put the racing team through. 

 

Anyway, the scenery has been lovely, even through clenched teeth.  All four team members are riding in the Dodge Ram as they trailer south to Seattle.

 

 

 

As of about 4:30 PM Yukon Time, the crew was stopped temporarily at Watson Lake, Yukon Territory. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Watson Lake is primarily known for its Sign Post Forest…

 

 

 

 

The dry-mouthed boys paused for an anticipated refreshment and went looking for the appropriate recreation. Unfortunately, they found a recreation center, but it was not exactly what they hoped for.

 

 

So they continued south. As of 6:15 PM Pacific Coast Time, they are here:

 

 

At Good Hope Lake

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gentlemen, Start Your Engines

After picking up Guillaume Marceau and his father at the Anchorage Airport, and after an extra day of engine tinkering and severe indigestion from ALF #1, a decision was made to trailer that classic-car for a ride back to Seattle. Well, it’s punishment you know. Here is the GPS link for the remaining ALF #4 so you can follow its progress. Steve is driving ALF #4 with Guillaume acting as navigator. The two other fellows will enjoy their views of Alaska in the Dodge Ram with trailer. There may still be downtime repair during the journey, so be forewarned. It’s not as if they are in the middle of nowhere with early 1900 cars you know…..oh…right. Well, it’s not as though they are in the middle of Mongolia you know.

 

Here is Guillaume trying to solve the overheating problem by feeding ALF #1 a bottle of Pepto Bismol.  

 

 

But nope.

 

ALF #1 is much too valuable to become a doorstop (although they threatened it by reminding it of this steam shovel they had seen the day before). So a decision was made to load the sick puppy on the trailer, and drive it back to Seattle.

 

 

 

Brother Byron and Wife Katherine said their goodbyes and winged their way back to civilization as Steve, Dwight, Guillaume and Rick were left to drive south to Seattle along the Alcan highway where traffic signals are just rough guidelines and arrival at your destination is not a foregone conclusion. 

 

Anyway, here are a few photos:

The proposed route for today.

You may want to look at their GPS destination (see the link above), then go over to Google Maps and

Browse the Street View Images to see what they are seeing (as below).

 

 

More when there’s more…

 

 

Getting Ready to Drive the Alcan

At Whittier, Alaska both American LaFrance vehicles

 

unload to begin the journey down the Alcan Highway to Seattle 

 

 

 

The Traftons (which include Steve, his wife Katherine and two of Steve’s brothers Dwight and Byron) are “LollyGagging” Alaska until other Blackhorseracing Team members (Guillaume Marceau and his father Rick) arrive on Monday. So here is their LollyGag Map:

 

Since it is considered disgraceful to allow grass to grow beneath the feet of any Trafton, the four travelers drove north from Anchorage to explore Alaska. They started on Thursday by temporarily shedding the two ALFs at an airport hangar in Anchorage. They had to mark time until their team would land-launch toward Seattle on Tuesday. So why not head toward the Arctic Circle like any average person would do? Through noon on Saturday (August 25), they drove 1150 miles.  Staying the first night at Healy, then driving to Manley Hot Springs, reversing direction to touch base at the Arctic Circle and then going beddy-bye at Fairbanks on Friday night.

 

 

It just so happens that Katherine has a connection to Manley Hot Springs. 

 

This is what she wrote:

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Married at 25, my grandfather’s young bride (age 19) eventually joined her husband at Manley Hot Springs by traveling alone from Seattle by boat, then railway, then barge and overland stage in 1914. While there she worked for his uncle Frank Manley who had established a gold mining camp. 

 

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My grandfather’s job was to carry the saddlebags of gold on horseback over the Chilkoot Pass down to the boats headed to Seattle. He used to tell us the story of how he met a group of men en route who offered him a drink by their campfire. They had spiked the drink in hopes that they could steal his saddlebags! Fortunately, my grandad recognized his impairment and jumped off the horse to run alongside and sweat it out! 

 

He managed to prevent the robbery! 

 

 

My grandparents left camp on a dogsled to head for Fairbanks on 28 November 1914. Never made it to the hospital! My dad was born on the dogsled, in the snow! Needless to say, he was an only child!

Frank Manley was quite a character. Left Texas with some reputation. Established a better one in Alaska as “having taken more gold out of Alaska than any other single individual”. He then moved on to California and discovered oil in Bakersfield.”

 

 

But hey, the Arctic Circle still waits. So the Trafton’s backtracked their route, traveled across the Yukon River and then stopped at the exact location of the Arctic Circle for a tourist shot.

Steve checked-off another bucket list item by standing next to the Alaska Pipeline.

 

 

 

Then all four Trafton’s headed for sleep in Fairbanks.

As of noontime on Saturday, they headed south through Delta Junction and the Alaska Range. And here’s what they saw:

This is not fair. More tomorrow…

 

 

Inside Passage and ALF Arrival

From the Inside Passage and ports of Ketchikan and Juneau, we have received word that blue skies and great weather accompanied the Alaska ferry on its winding way north. (At least the Trafton Crew has escaped the smoky skies of the northwest.)

 

The ferry has now docked at Whittier and both ALFs vehicles (American LaFrance) have disembarked. Click on the GPS live links below to follow the touring progress of both ALFs (displaying  numbers and 1 and 4) through Alaska:

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ALF1 (Click Here)

Alf4 (Click Here)

 

Here are a few photos from the ferry ride through the Inland Passage showing the harbors at Ketchikan and Juneau. Then pictures showing a personal tour of the ferry’s diesel engines, to the 56 mile drive up to Anchorage from the port at Whittier, and finally parking to wait for other team members arrival by air on Tuesday, August 28th.

 

North to Alaska With Both Alfs

 

 

 

 

Both the 1915 and 1921 American LaFrance Speedsters are now being ferried to Alaska for an adventurous driving tour back to Seattle! 

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Before the trip, new decals changed the driver’s names and destination.  “Alaska to Seattle” replaced the older “Peking to Paris” stickers and both vehicles were serviced for the 2500 mile journey.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ferry ride started from Bellingham, Washington and will disembark in several days at Whittier, Alaska.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We will follow that journey with live GPS, video and photos from the adventure.  So watch this space!