Railway Routes in Alaska 



177 



presents a serious barrier to inland travel 

 (see plate, page 184). This zone, in- 

 cluding a number of parallel ranges 

 forming the Pacific Mountain system of 

 Alaska, but 50 miles in width at Lynn 

 Canal, broadens out to the northwest, 

 and at Cook Inlet attains a width of over 

 200 miles. Inland of this system lies an- 

 other province of far less relief, which 

 has been termed the Central Plateau re- 

 gion (see map, page 176). The drain- 

 age of this central region is carried, for 

 the most part, to Bering Sea through the 

 Yukon River, while the waters of the 

 Pacific Mountain province flow south- 

 ward and through the Chilkat, Copper, 

 Susitna, and smaller rivers to the Pa- 

 cific. One river alone, the Alsek, finds 

 its source in the Central Plateau region, 

 and traverses that entire Pacific Moun- 

 tain system on its way to the sea. Ob- 

 viously the valley of the Alsek is from 

 a topographic standpoint the only logical 

 railway route into the interior. It will 

 be shown, however, that the commercial 

 and political factors are so adverse in 

 case of the Alsek Valley as to appear to 

 rule it out. 



Besides the valleys of the larger rivers, 

 already mentioned as flowing into the 

 Pacific, there are a number of low passes 

 breaking through the mountain barriers. 

 Among the most important for the pres- 

 ent discussion are the White Pass (2,800 

 feet), a break in the Coast Range north 

 of Lynn Canal, across which a railway 

 has already been built. At the head of 

 the Chilkat River, whose valley separates 

 the Coast and Saint Elias ranges, there 

 is an unnamed pass about 3,100 feet 

 high (see profiles, page 179). West of 

 Lynn Canal the coastal range represents 

 an almost unbroken front, except for the 

 Alsek and Copper River valleys. At the 

 inland front of the Saint Elias Range the 

 Alsek Valley has an altitude of about 

 2,000 feet, and is connected with the 

 drainage basin of the White River to the 

 west by a pass but 2,400 feet high. 



Low River, which empties into Valdez 

 Inlet of Prince William Sound, is sepa- 

 rated from the Copper River by Mar- 



shall Pass, about 1,900 feet high. At the 

 head of the Copper there are several 

 passes leading into the Tanana Valley, 

 of which the lowest is called Mentasta 

 (3,000 feet), and the next, which is un- 

 named, connects the Gulkana and Delta 

 valleys. Both of these passes are through 

 the eastern end of the Alaska Range, and 

 one or the other will be used by any rail- 

 way built from the Copper Basin into 

 the Tanana Valley. 



It will be evident from the matter pre- 

 sented that commercial control limits the 

 choice of inland railway routes to the re- 

 gion lying between Lynn Canal on the 

 east and Cook Inlet on the west (see 

 map, page 181). Topographic control, 

 furthermore, limits the choice to four 

 general zones, which may be named after 

 the chief rivers, whose valleys determine 

 the location. These are named from 

 south to north : ( i ) the Chilkat basin, 

 (2) the Alsek basin, (3) the Copper 

 basin, and (4) the Susitna basin. 



The first requisite for an inland rail- 

 way from the Gulf of Alaska is an ade- 

 quate coastal terminal. This means not 

 only a deep-water harbor, but also op- 

 portunity for construction of wharfs, as 

 well as a townsite near at hand. Other 

 desirable, though not absolutely neces- 

 sary, conditions are available timber, 

 water power, and a favorable climate. 

 If possible, the harbor should be access- 

 ible to sailing as well as steam vessels, 

 and the routes of approach should be 

 devoid of dangers to navigation ; but, be- 

 side all these desirable attributes, the dis- 

 tance of the coastal terminal to the points 

 of shipment on the west coast of the 

 United States is of first importance. 



The recent geological history of the 

 Pacific shore-line of Alaska is favorable 

 to the formation of harbors, for it is a 

 glaciated region, and, as many have 

 shown, glaciation produces horded coast 

 lines. This is, however, only true where 

 sedimentation subsequent to glaciation 

 has not silted up and smoothed out the 

 coast line. The first condition prevails 



