Railway Routes in Alaska 



179 



100 MILES 

 OAUON 



SEWARD TO FWRBANKS ROUTE 



Compiled by A. C. Madden 



Generalized Profiles of Proposed Railway Routes 



in southeastern Alaska and on Prince 

 William Sound, where the coast is char- 

 acterized by deep fiords with many tribu- 

 tary embayments (see map, page 176). 

 In the intervening region the retreat of 

 the larger ice-sheet left many large gla- 

 'Ciers on the coastal slope of the Saint 

 Elias Range and in the Piedmont belt, 

 and these, having access to bed rock 

 along their margins, have contributed a 

 large amount of sediment. This sedi- 

 ment has been deposited as extra-glacial 

 material and has buried much of the 

 ■fiorded coast line. Therefore the phys- 

 iographic features make southeastern 

 Alaska or Prince William Sound the 

 most favored locality for coastal termi- 

 nals. 



Other factors have to be considered. 

 Lynn Canal is a superb deep waterway, 

 but its funnel shape causes it to be sub- 

 ject to severe wind-storms, and it is 



therefore not favorable for sailing ves- 

 sels. The same holds true, in a less de- 

 gree, of the upper part of Prince William 

 Sound. Resurrection Bay, which pene- 

 trates the mainland to a much shorter 

 distance, afifords an almost ideal harbor. 

 Though the shore-line between south- 

 eastern Alaska and Prince William 

 Sound is not favorable for harbors, yet 

 two indentations, Yakutat Bay and Con- 

 troller Bay, furnish some protection for 

 vessels (see map, page 178). 



In the comparison of distances it will 

 be convenient to use Puget Sound as a 

 reference point (see map, page 176). 

 Lynn Canal is less than 1,000 miles (stat- 

 ute) from Puget Sound, as compared 

 with 1,150 for Yakutat Bay, 1,350 for 

 Cordova Bay, 1,400 for Valdez Inlet and 

 Resurrection Bay. The route to Lynn 

 Canal is by an intricate and somewhat 

 dangerous inland waterway, and the 



