ABOVE: The overnight freight train between Anchorage and Fairbanks is about to duck under the Parks Highway in Wasilla. During the longest days of the year there are ample opportunities


for photos along the line.


RIGHT: Sporting its original paint, Alaska Rail- road GP40-2 3003 is in charge of a north- bound work train at Mack Road in Wasilla.


THE ALASKA RAILROAD IS A RARE GEM in this age of mega-sized freight railroads as they operate both freight and pas- senger trains on a year-round basis from Seward through Anchorage to Fairbanks. Besides passenger trains, (operated in conjunction with several cruise lines), the Alaska Railroad hauls significant quantities of gravel (used in the construction process as much of Alaska is boggy), coal (for export to Asia and Chile), and fuel from the North Pole refinery destined for mar- kets local and domestic.


Developing the Last Frontier In order to develop the rugged but re- source rich Alaskan Territory a rail- road was deemed necessary. It was log- ical to build north from the relatively accessible and ice free ports in the Gulf of Alaska, so in 1902 a group of busi- nessman invested in the Alaska Cen- tral Railroad to build north from Se- ward. By 1908 that company was in receivership and was reorganized as Alaska Northern Railroad Company and by 1910 had laid about 51 miles of track. Congress passed the Alaska Ter-


30 JUNE 2013 • RAILFAN.COM


ritorial act in 1912, which established a commission to help determine Alaska’s transportation needs, and ultimately the commission determined the full re- sources of the federal government would be necessary to complete a trans- Alaskan railroad. In 1914 Congress passed legislation to authorize construction and operation of a railroad in the wilds of the Alaska Territory. Total budget was $35 million (roughly equal to $800 million today) and a length not to exceed 1000 miles was authorized. A provision required the railroad to connect a port with coal


mines to the north. Two lines were pro- posed and ultimately the western route was selected, which included the origi- nal 51 miles of the Alaska Northern. At the peak of construction more


than 4,500 workers were in place along the railway. In addition to the difficult terrain it was necessary to transport nearly everything to Alaska. Opera- tions needed to be built from the ground up. For instance, the railroad had to harvest its own timber and built its own processing plant to have rail- road ties and telegraph poles. The railroad would take more than


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