Railway Routes in Alaska 



185 



pears to be the less logical, as a line built 

 to it would pass through the eastern part 

 of the auriferous district, while Fair- 

 banks is much more central. 



From the mouth of the Chitina a line 

 to Eagle would follow the Copper River 

 valley and cross to the Tanana through 

 Mentasta Pass, 2,900 feet high (see illus- 

 tration, page 184). Crossing the Tanana 

 A'^alley, the line would enter an upland 

 region not well known and would prob- 

 ably have to cross two passes, 3,000 feet 

 high, before it descended to the Yukon. 



A line to Fairbanks would be built up 

 the Copper and Gakona River valleys 

 across a pass 3,000 feet high, and down 

 the Delta to the Tanana. Crossing that 

 stream, it would continue down it to 

 Fairbanks. 



RESURRECTION BAY-SUSITNA VALLEY 

 ROUTE 



The upper waters of the Susitna 

 River, which empty into Cook Inlet, are 

 separated by a broad, low pass, about 

 2,400 feet high, from the Ninana, or 

 Cantwell, River, which flows into the 

 Tanana. This is one of the lowest de- 

 pressions in the watershed between the 

 Pacific and the Yukon. 



Unfortunately the upper part of Cook 

 Inlet is closed by the winter ice, so that 

 a coastal terminal would have to be 

 sought on the east side of the Kenai 

 Peninsula, which separates Cook Inlet 

 from the Pacific. Such a one has been 

 found in Resurrection Bay, an excellent 

 harbor, 1,400 miles distant from Puget 

 Sound. Here the town of Seward was 

 located two years ago and construction 

 begun on the so-called Alaska Central 

 Railway, of which about 50 miles has 

 been completed and considerable work 

 done on 20 miles more. This route 

 stretches northward from Resurrection 

 Bay and, crossing a pass, about 1,000 

 feet high, about 40 miles from the coast, 

 descends again to tide-water at the head 

 of Turnagain Arm. After swinging 

 around Turnagain Arm, it bends north- 

 ward, crossing the Matanuska near its 

 mouth. Here a branch is to be built to 

 Matanuska coal field, the immediate ob- 



jective point of the railway (see map, 

 page 170). It is proposed to extend the 

 Yukon trunk line up the Susitna, across 

 the depression above mentioned, down 

 the Cantwell to a terminal which will be 

 on the south side of the Tanana River, 

 near Fairbanks. The total mileage from 

 Resurrection Bay to Fairbanks is about 

 500. While this route is one of the 

 shortest from the coast to Fairbanks and 

 also has the best grades, it does not tap 

 the copper deposits of the Copper River, 

 and, with the exception of the Matanuska 

 coal field and some placer districts, does 

 not traverse an area now known to carry 

 mineral in commercial quantities. 



CONCLUSIONS 



The matter presented shows that there 

 is justification for a trunk line railway 

 from the Pacific seaboard to inland 

 points, for it is only by rendering access- 

 ible the vast mineral wealth of the in- 

 terior that its full measure of develop- 

 ment can be attained. It is evident that 

 the value of such a trunk line would de- 

 pend on the construction of many 

 branches and feeders, which have not 

 here been considered. Furthermore, 

 these railways must be supplemented by 

 many wagon roads. 



The history of railway expansion in 

 the United States has shown that the nat- 

 ural development is, first, railroads built 

 supplementary to established lines of 

 water transportation ; second, the binding 

 together of such auxiliary lines by a 

 trunk system. In Alaska the same evo- 

 lution is witnessed. The White Pass 

 and Yukon Railway, traversing the 

 coastal barrier, links tide-water with nav- 

 igable waters of the Yukon system. The 

 heavy traffic being all down stream, what 

 should be a comparatively cheap form of 

 transportation is established to Dawson, 

 a distance of 700 miles. A placer field 

 such as the Klondike yields practically 

 no outgoing tonnage. When, however, 

 lode or coal mines are developed, there is 

 a return traffic which the upstream river 

 steamers cannot handle economically. 

 Moreover, freight shipped to Alaskan 

 points on the Yukon must run the gamut 



