Sometimes a forgotten carrier because of location, the Alaska Railroad (ARR) today is a Class II, Regional operation with nearly 400 miles of trackage. Its lines are essentially a single mainline stretching from Seward in the south to Fairbanks in the north. Since its beginnings in the early 1900s the railroad has done much to bring prosperity and a transportation need to a region and state that lacks infrastructure because of topography.
Today the ARR is owned by the State of Alaska (since 1985) and is one of only a few private railroads in the country to still host passenger trains regularly (especially during the summer months, serving vacationers), adorned in a beautiful dark blue and yellow livery with ALASKA flanking the sides of its locomotives.
The State of Alaska's rail heritage dates back to 1898 when the White Pass & Yukon Route completed its 111-mile route between Skagway and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Not long after, in 1903 the Alaska Central Railway (the state's first) completed its main line between Seward and 50 miles northward. It went bankrupt just four years later and was reorganized as the Alaska Northern Railway.
The Alaska Northern extended the system to Kern Creek, 71 miles from Seward by 1910. The Alaska Railroad came into being in 1914 when Congress purchased the Alaska Northern and authorized funding to complete a line from Seward to Fairbanks.
By 1944 with the establishment of a second port at Whittier (the other being at Anchorage, the railroad's headquarters by 1915 having been moved from Steward), the Alaska Railroad was all but complete and has changed little over the last 70+ years.
The Alaska Railroad became state owned in the 1980s when President Ronald Reagan, in 1983, signed legislation transferring ownership of the railroad to the State of Alaska. The transfer was official on January 5th, 1985 when on that day the ARR came under ownership by the state.
In all, the Alaska's system runs roughly due north winding its way from Seward in the south to Eielson in the north, where the Alaska serves the Eielson Air Force Base. And, currently the Alaska Railroad’s roster consists entirely of EMD power from two F40PHs to nearly three-dozen almost-new SD70MACs.
For more reading on Regionals like the Alaska Railroad consider the book Regional Railroads of the Midwest by Steve Glischinksi. While the book obviously does not feature every Regional in the country it does cover the "Chicago Central Pacific; Dakota, Minnesota Eastern; Escanaba Lake Superior; Iowa Interstate Railroad; Iowa, Chicago Eastern; Indiana Rail Road; Kyle Railroad; Red River Valley Western; Twin Cities Western; Toledo, Peoria Western; Wisconsin Central; and Wisconsin Southern" with plenty of photographs and information about each. If you have an interest in smaller carriers like Regionals, and/or are interested in learning more about their operations, you will almost surely enjoy the book.
