This week, I dismantled the northernmost train in North America.
This train ran on a 130m track in the Barrow Experimental Observatory near Utqiagvik, Alaska, 71 degrees north. It belongs to NGEE-Arctic, and has spent the last three summers shuttling back and forth across the tundra, stopping every meter to measure the temperature, insolation, and snow depth.
(At least, it shuttled back and forth on good days. I have yet to find any field equipment that works perfectly in freezing weather.)
We took the equipment down over the course of three days, with some grace and some unhappily bare fingers; cold field equipment is always best when it comes with large, mitten-friendly bolts. Then, we hauled it back to town on snow machines, packed it up, and shipped it south to Berkeley.
