Luebner Lake (Alaska Railroad)

Luebner Lake (MP 58.7) (named after the nearby lake opposite the platform area) is an extremely unique, basically private flag stop on the Alaska Railroad. The stop is used as the pick-up spot for rafters who are on Chugach Adventure’s Spencer Lake & Placer River Float tours. Southbound trains make a brief stop here as a “Guides Only” stop to pick up rafts and other equipment that is sitting trackside from their tours the day before. They put everything that is sitting by the side of the tracks overnight on the train’s baggage car to bring back to the Spencer Whistle Stop.

On the Northbound trip trains stop here to pick up the rafting companies’ guides and guests and will wait for the rafting company if they are running late. I have no idea if an independent traveler could get off at Spencer Glacier with their own collapsible canoe/kayaks/other floatation device and float down to Luebner down the Placer River and reboard the train at this stop or if the stop is completely private access only. It is not a bookable stop on the Alaska Railroad’s website, and overall the Glacier Discovery Train is not a flag stop operation.

The stop itself is extremely simple consisting of a plywood box for a single train car door to line up at (with passengers using stool). This leads out to a small simple fenced off (with just a couple ropes keeping passengers off the tracks) area about 10 feet from the Placer River. The opposite end of this area contains the only other access to the stop, another set of wooden boards for a raft to pull up to and be stacked (after guests disembark the raft) onto another section of fenced off railroad ballast to be stored until the next days’ adventures. Other equipment like ores and wooden seats for the guide to be able to sit on top of the raft and row/steer the raft are also stored outside at this stop, but other gear is brought onto the train like a collection of live preservers that rode in the DMU cab car’s vestibule back to Portage. The stop might be out of Federal compliance because it lacks a Title VI sign.
Photos 1-27: May 25, 2024

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Approaching the stop with some rafts besides the tracks in the DMU cab car of the Glacier Discovery Train

Rafts and paddles wait for the train!

The rafting guides load the rafts onto the baggage car

Rafts stacked up for the guides to load onto the train

The view from this stop is super scenic with snow packed mountains above the river

Looking down on the now empty, all rafts have been loaded Luebner Lake stop

The gravel of the Luebner Lake stop with a bunch of ropes between simple posts (and tennis balls on top of them)

Looking down on the raft take-out location

The small walkway from trains to rafts as the Glacier Discovery Train waits for the rafters to arrive, who are running late due to low water levels early in the season

Alaska on the front of the Colorado Railcar DUM

THe Chugach Explorer double-decker Colorado Railcar DUM at the bakc of the Glacier Discovery Train waiting for rafters

The one open door with steps leading down to a stepstool to a wooden board

The front of Colorado Railcar BiLevel DMU #751 now just in cab car duty currently at the back of the Glacier Discovery Train

Colorado DMU railcar #751 and the water of Luebner Lake beyond

Looking past the fencing of the smiple platform at Luebner Lake

Looking down the Glacier Discovery Train waiting for rafters

The two baggage cars won't stop at the station there nearly on a bridge

Looking down the open trap of the Colorado Railcar BiLevel DMU #751 stopped at Luebner Lake and the view of the Placer River

Rafters in site! viwed from the front window of Colorado Railcar BiLevel DMU #751

Looking down on the first raft to arrive at Luebner Lake

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