Alaska Railroad


The Alaska Railroad is a Class II railroad that operates freight and passenger trains in the state of Alaska. The railroad's mainline runs between Seward on the southern coast and Fairbanks, near the center of the state. It passes through Anchorage and Denali National Park, to which 17% of visitors travel by train.
The railroad has of track, including sidings, rail yards and branch lines. The main line between Seward and Fairbanks is over long. The branch to Whittier conveys freight railcars interchanged with the contiguous United States via rail barges sailing between the Port of Whittier and Harbor Island in Seattle.
Construction of the railroad started in 1903 when the Alaska Central Railroad built a line starting in Seward and extending north. The Alaska Central went bankrupt in 1907 and was reorganized as the Alaska Northern Railroad Company in 1911, which extended the line another northward. On March 12, 1914, the U.S. Congress agreed to fund construction and operation of an all-weather railroad from Seward to Fairbanks and purchased the rail line from the financially struggling Alaska Northern.
As the government started building the estimated $35 million railroad, it opened a construction town along Ship Creek, eventually giving rise to Anchorage, now the state's largest city. In 1917, the government purchased the narrow gauge Tanana Valley Railroad, mostly for its railyard in Fairbanks. The railroad was completed on July 15, 1923, with President Warren G. Harding traveling to Alaska to drive a ceremonial golden spike at Nenana. Ownership of the railroad passed from the federal government to the state of Alaska on January 6, 1985. The state paid the United States the fair market value of the
railroad.
In, the system had a ridership of, or about per weekday as of. In 2019, the company generated a profit on revenues of, holding in total assets.

History

In 1903 a company called the Alaska Central Railroad began to build a rail line beginning at Seward, on the Kenai Peninsula in Alaska, northward. The company built of track by 1909 and went into receivership. This route carried passengers, freight and mail to the upper Turnagain Arm. From there, goods were taken by boat at high tide, and by dog team or pack train to Eklutna and the Matanuska-Susitna Valley.
In 1909, another company, the Alaska Northern Railroad Company, bought the rail line and extended it another northward. From the new end, goods were floated down the Turnagain Arm in small boats. The Alaska Northern Railroad went into receivership in 1914.
At about this time, the United States government was planning a railroad route from Seward to the interior town of Fairbanks. President William Howard Taft authorized a commission to survey a route in 1912. The line would be long and provide an all-weather route to the interior.
In 1914, the government bought the Alaska Northern Railroad and moved its headquarters to Ship Creek, in what would later become Anchorage. The government began to extend the rail line northward.
In 1917, the Tanana Valley Railroad in Fairbanks was heading into bankruptcy. It owned a small line that serviced the towns of Fairbanks and the mining communities in the area as well as the boat docks on the Tanana River near Fairbanks.
The government bought the Tanana Valley Railroad, principally for its terminal facilities. The section between Fairbanks and Happy was converted to dual gauge to complete the line from Seward to Fairbanks. The government extended the southern portion of the track to Nenana, and later converted the extension to standard gauge. The Alaska Railroad continued to operate the remaining TVRR narrow gauge line as the Chatanika Branch, until decommissioning it in 1930.
File:Alaska Railroad engine crossing the Tanana River on the ice at Nenana just prior to completion of the railroad.jpg|thumb|left|An Alaska Railroad steam locomotive crossing the Tanana River on the ice at Nenana just prior to completion of the railroad in 1923.
In 1923 they built the Mears Memorial Bridge across the Tanana River at Nenana. This was the final link in the Alaska Railroad and at the time, was the second longest single-span steel railroad bridge in the country. U.S. President Warren G. Harding drove the golden spike that completed the railroad on July 15, 1923, on the north side of the bridge. The railroad was part of the US Department of the Interior.
The Alaska Railroad's first diesel locomotive entered service in 1944. The railroad retired its last steam locomotive in 1966.
In 1958, land for the future Clear Air Force Station was purchased. Approximately of track were diverted, and later a spur was constructed to deliver coal to its power station.
The railroad was greatly affected by the Good Friday earthquake, which struck southern Alaska in 1964. The yard and trackage around Seward buckled and the trackage along Turnagain Arm was damaged by floodwaters and landslides. It took several months to restore full service along the line.
In 1967, the railroad was transferred to the Federal Railroad Administration, an agency within the newly created United States Department of Transportation.
In 1975–76, an infusion of $15 million from the DOT enabled various capital improvements including those to facilitate hauling materials for the Alaska Pipeline.
On January 6, 1985, the state of Alaska bought the railroad from the U.S. government for $22.3 million, based on a valuation determined by the US Railway Association. The state immediately invested over $70 million on improvements and repairs that compensated for years of deferred maintenance. The purchase agreement prohibits the Alaska Railroad from paying dividends or otherwise returning capital to the state of Alaska, unlike the state's other quasi-corporations: the Alaska Permanent Fund, the Alaska Housing Finance Corporation, and the Alaska Industrial Development and Export Authority.

Proposed expansion in Alaska

Northern Rail Extension to Delta Junction

An extension of the railroad from Fairbanks to Delta Junction over a bridge spanning the Tanana River was envisioned as early as 2009. The 2011 Alaska state budget would provide $40 million in funding for the bridge, which initially be only for vehicular use. The United States Department of Defense would provide another $100 million in funds, as the bridge and a subsequent rail line would provide year-round access to Fort Greely and the Joint Tanana Training Complex. Groundbreaking ceremony for the Tanana River Bridge took place on September 28, 2011, and the new bridge was opened in 2014.

Point MacKenzie Line

On 21 November 2011, the Surface Transportation Board approved the construction of a new 25-mile line between Port MacKenzie and the existing main line at Houston, Alaska. As of May 2023 this spur line had not been completed.

Anchorage Vicinity Service

A spur line was built to Ted Stevens International Airport in 2003, along with a depot, officially named after Bill Sheffield. The line never received scheduled service but cruise lines charter trains to convey passengers between ships and the airport. The railroad currently leases the depot to citizens for private events such as conferences, seminars, and corporate functions.
There are plans to provide commuter rail service within the Anchorage metropolitan area ; additional tracks would be necessary to accommodate the heavy freight traffic.

Proposed connection to the contiguous 48 states

In 2001 federal legislation, sponsored by Republican U.S. senator Frank Murkowski, formed a bilateral commission to study feasibility of building a rail link between Canada and Alaska; Canada was asked to be part of the commission, but the Canadian federal government did not choose to join the commission or commit funds for the study. However, the Yukon territorial government did show some interest.
A June 2006 report by the commission recommended Carmacks, Yukon, as a hub, with three possibilities: A line could go northward to Delta Junction, Alaska. Another line could go from Carmacks to Hazelton, British Columbia, passing through Watson Lake, Yukon, and Dease Lake, British Columbia. The third line could go from Carmacks to either Haines or Skagway, Alaska. The latter path by way of Whitehorse, Yukon, the northern terminus of the . However, currently the latter's trains only reach Carcross, Yukon, because service has not been completely restored following a 1982 embargo of the entire line.
Following the demise of the ill-fated Keystone XL Pipeline project, the Alaska Canada Rail Link was rekindled as an alternative. In November 2015, the National Post reported that a link between the southern provinces and the Alaska Railroad was again being considered by the Canadian federal government, this time routing to Alberta. In this scenario, the route would originate at Delta Junction and use Carmacks as a hub, as in prior plans. The route would continue through Watson Lake, Yukon, en route to a stop at Fort Nelson, British Columbia. It would continue to Peace River, Alberta, with its southern terminus at Fort McMurray. The route was endorsed by the Assembly of First Nations. It was unclear whether this rail connection would ever be utilized for passenger service.
On September 25, 2020, President Donald Trump announced he would issue a presidential permit to the Alaska-Alberta Railway Development Corporation, which had an agreement with Alaska Railway to develop a joint operating plan for the rail connection to Canada. The proposed A2A Railway would have connected to the Alaska Railroad at North Pole, Alaska, and run through Yukon Territory to Fort Nelson, and from there to a terminus at Fort McMurray, Alberta.

Executives

General managers under federal ownership

  • Col. Frederick Mears, 1919-1923
  • Col. James Gordon Steese, 1923–1923
  • Lee H. Landis, 1923–1924
  • Noel W. Smith, 1924–1928
  • Col. Otto F. Ohlson, 1928–1945
  • Col. John P. Johnson, 1946–1953
  • Frank E. Kalbaugh, 1953–1955
  • Reginald N. Whitman, 1955–1956
  • John H. Lloyd, 1956–1958
  • Robert H. Anderson, 1958–1960
  • Donald J. Smith, 1960–1962
  • John E. Manley, 1962–1971
  • Walker S. Johnston, 1971-1975
  • William L. Dorcy, 1975–1979
  • Steven R. Ditmeyer 1979–1980
  • Frank H. Jones, 1980–1985