Longtime readers of my books may be aware that I’ve built websites to accompany many of my titles on Alaska’s history. One such website is The Alaska Railroad 1902-1923, which shares the content and the research materials and resources which I used in writing the book, published in 2017. The story of building the Alaska Railroad was a fascinating book to research and to write, and I came across some really wonderful online resources in the process of learning about this important part of our history.

The Alaska Railroad Record, for example, published from 1916 to 1920, was a detailed weekly record of construction, along with news, progress reports, schedules, personnel notes, and other material relevant to the railroad. This several-page newsletter was a primary research document for my book, The Alaska Railroad 1902-1923, and the complete collection of issues is linked at my companion site and available to read online.  

The first half of my book, including the Preface, Introduction, and the first seven chapters, are online at the website and can be read for free.

Part 1, which is online to read, covers the prehistory of the Alaska Railroad, from 1902, when Seward was built on Resurrection Bay, to 1914, when the U. S. Government began the surveys which would determine a final route for the railroad. This section tells the histories of the Alaska Central, Alaska Northern, and Tanana Valley Railroads, which provided a jump-start to the Alaska Railroad. Also included in this section is a chapter on the importance of coal to the railroad and to Alaska’s history, and stories of the notorious Morgan–Guggenheim Syndicate and the Ballinger-Pinchot scandal.

Part 2, which is not online, covers the actual construction of the Alaska Railroad from 1915, when Ship Creek became the staging area for construction of the railroad, through 1923, when President Warren G. Harding drove the Golden Spike in Nenana. 

Also online is are biographies which introduce the people whose vision, ambitions, foresight and hard work built the railroad, such as Frederick Mears, Falcon Joslin, John Ballaine, Martha White, William C. Edes, Phinney S. Hunt, Colin M. Ingersoll, Nellie Neal Lawing, James Wickersham, Thomas Riggs, Jr. and many others.

In the book there are two complete bibliographies, one organized by author and the other by title, plus links to all of the libraries, museums, historic sites and other reference materials for the book. Original maps and links to historic documents and publications, and dozens of photographs, with links to hundreds more, provide convenient access for the reader to continue their own in-depth research, although as with the aforementioned Alaska Railroad Record, some may no longer be available online.

The Alaska Railroad: 1902-1923

The Alaska Railroad: 1902-1923, Blazing an Iron Trail Across The Last Frontier, by Helen Hegener, published in May, 2017 by Northern Light Media. 400 pages, over 100 b/w historic photos, maps, bibliography, indexed. The book can be ordered via PayPal for $24.00 plus $5.00 postage, by clicking below.

$29.95