Train across the Alaskan Tundra

Train across the Alaskan Tundra is an original illustration set in Denali Region, Alaska, USA. It lies in high latitudes, where the climate is subarctic — long freezing winters, brief summers.

A blue-and-yellow passenger train crosses open autumn tundra beside a web of silver braided streams. Rust, ochre and gold dwarf shrubs cover the treeless foreground, dark foothills form a low middle layer, and an immense isolated snow massif rises beyond them under a broad cool sky. The train is small enough that the scale of the subarctic landscape dominates the composition.

Why do the trees stop and give way to low shrub?

Trees disappear because cold soils, wind exposure and a short growing season favor low shrubs over tall forest on the open uplands. The streams split into many channels because glacial rivers carry more sand and gravel than a single stable channel can contain, constantly rebuilding their bars. Railways can cross this country most efficiently by following broad drainage corridors around the rougher ranges. Tundra, braided glacial water and the enormous solitary massif together identify the Denali region of Alaska.

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