ALASKA'S NEW RAILWAY 



573 



economizing the bulk of supplies neces- 

 sary to be transported. 



A 50 - foot stern-wheel power-boat, 

 equipped with a 50-horse-power engine, 

 was designed and built in Seattle for use 

 in transporting supplies and making re- 

 connaissances of the shallow water of the 

 Susitna River and its tributaries (see 

 pages 582 and 583), and, through the 

 courtesy of the Commissioner of the 

 Alaskan Boundary Survey, the Commis- 

 sion secured the temporary transfer of 

 the Survey's power freight-boat The Mid- 

 night Sun for use on the Nenana and 

 Tanana. 



HEADQUARTERS ESTABLISHED 



Two headquarters or main bases of 

 supplies were established, from which the 

 survey parties worked, one at Ship Creek 

 and one at Fairbanks. All of the survey 

 parties completed their work by the mid- 

 dle of October. Shortly afterward the 

 members of the Commission returned to 

 Seattle, and later to Washington, collated 

 their data, completed their maps and esti- 

 mates, and by February had placed in the 

 hands of the Secretary of the Interior 

 for presentation to the President their 

 report on the characteristics and desira- 

 bility of the several routes and branches 

 proposed, with estimates of their cost. 



This report included maps on a scale 

 of 1 inch to 400 feet of all parts of the 

 proposed routes where locations were 

 made, showing detailed topography for 

 some distance on either side of the line, 

 and a general contour map on the scale 

 of 1 inch to 5,000 feet, with profiles of 

 preliminary locations. 



In addition the engineers presented re- 

 ports on the physical characteristics 

 through which these routes pass, charac- 

 ter of the soil, mineral resources and 

 agricultural possibilities, and a mass of 

 other detailed and related information. 

 A competent bridge engineer employed 

 by the Commission has also gone over the 

 plans for structures and estimated their 

 cost. 



BUYING EXISTING LINES 



Of the existing railroads in Alaska, 

 the Commission confined its investiga- 

 tion to those lines which might reason- 



ably be utilized as a part of the proposed 

 general systems. The roads examined 

 and reported upon in this manner were 

 the Copper River and Northwestern Rail- 

 way, a standard-gauge line 196 miles 

 long, built from Cordova, on Orca Inlet, 

 to Kennicott ; the Alaskan Northern Rail- 

 way, standard gauge, from Seward, on 

 Resurrection Bay, to Kern Creek, on 

 Turnagain Arm, a distance of 70.8 miles ; 

 and the Tanana Valley Railroad, a nar- 

 row-gauge line, extending from Fair- 

 banks and Chena northward 46 miles to 

 Chatanika. 



After a study of these reports and 

 maps, President Wilson selected the 

 western or Susitna route as possessing 

 superior advantages for the construction 

 of the first line into the interior. The 

 engineers estimated that the completion 

 of this road, which with its branches will 

 be something over 500 miles in length, 

 would cost upward of $27,000,000. 



The President authorized the purchase 

 of the Alaskan Northern Railroad as a 

 part of this line at a price of $1,150,000. 



The decision of the President to adopt 

 the Susitna route was made on April 10, 

 19 1 5, and at the same time, by executive 

 order, the duties of the Alaskan Engi- 

 neering Commission were extended to in- 

 clude the construction of the proposed 

 railroads. 



SURVEYING THE SUSITNA ROUTE 



In 1914 surveying parties had reached 

 the field in Alaska within three months 

 after the approval of the act of Congress 

 authorizing the construction of the rail- 

 road. In 191 5 engineers and workmen 

 were on the ground and attacking the job 

 of laying out the first construction camp, 

 sixteen days after the President signed 

 the order designating the route to be 

 built. 



This route begins at Seward, on Res- 

 urrection Bay, and is to extend to Fair- 

 banks, on the Tanana River — a distance 

 of 471 miles. From Seward it follows 

 the shores of Turnagain and Knik arms 

 to the Matanuska River, and thence runs 

 northward along the drainage of the Su- 

 sitna River, penetrates the mountains of 

 the interior through Broad Pass to the 

 Tanana River, which it crosses, and 



