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.
Alaska railroading is as remote as it is beautiful. Here, you may not find any of the classic fallen flags or current Class Is, Regionals, or even shortlines. However, railroading does exist here (even though it got a much later start than in the lower forty-eight states) and with the state’s longest railroad, the Alaska Railroad (ARR), offering passenger service across much of its system, you have the chance to see some of the most spectacular scenery in the world. One day, the hope is to eventually connect the ARR with the rest of the North American rail grid but for now it goes about its business, as it has since 1985 (when it came under state ownership), moving both people and goods.
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 Railroad 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 about Alaska's railroad heritage you might want to pick up a copy of Portrait of the Alaska Railroad by author Kaylene Johnson. The book details the early years of Alaska's railroads and more specifically focuses on the Alaska Railroad itself. And, another noted book covering the AAR is Rails Across the Tundra: A Historical Album of the Alaska Railroad by author Stand Cohen. If you're interested in perhaps purchasing either (or both) of these books please visit the links below which will take you to ordering information through Amazon.com, the trusted online shopping network.
