Module VI - American Period: Transportation & Communication

Essential: What are issues facing Alaskans today related to transportation?

Alaska Biomes
http://www.lter.uaf.edu/about_us.cfm 

Alaska’s transportation issues have always been, and still are, due to the enormous size and differentiated terrain.  Alaska is 586,412 square miles and 34,000 of those miles are coastline (Explore Alaska).  The state is home to biomes ranging from Tundra to Rainforest and terrains ranging from permafrost to muskeg.  The vast differences throughout the state of Alaska have made it difficult to travel from one location to another.  

Russian Icebreaker
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/45909554/ns/us_news-life/t/
tanker-plows-toward-cut-off-alaska-city/#.T2DdgJiqCVg

Many Alaskan communities are remote with small populations.  Some are on islands while others are tucked away in the interior.  These communities are only accessible by plane and/or boat.  They heavily depend on airlines and ocean shipping of food, shelter, and energy.  In the Northern part of the state communities must deal with the issue of thickening sea ice (Marine Transportation).  In December of 2011, a Russian icebreaking vessel had to be hired to move gasoline to the community of Nome.  The shipment of gasoline made a difference in life or death during their long winter (Alaska Dispatch).  Communities in the Southeast do not have to worry so much about ice, but they are scattered among the islands which makes it difficult and expensive to travel from one to another.  

Alaska Marine Highway
http://www.fs.usda.gov/detail/r10/about-region/
overview/?cid=fsbdev2_038673

In 1963, the state of Alaska started a public ferry system, called the Alaska Marine Highway, which now serves southeast and southcentral communities as a means of travel (Marine Transportation).  

Alaska may be enormous and full of obstacles, but the people who live here will do anything to make it work.  I have learned very quickly that Alaskans are proud people, they embrace and conquer any challenge thrown their direction.  

Examine: Identify the three major railroads in Alaska history - Where? When? Why? Ownership? Current status?

In 1897 Congress passed a bill that allowed railroads to be built in Alaska.  Many corporations organized to do so, some started, and a few railroads were completed.  The most important railroads were the White Pass and Yukon Railway, the Copper River and Northwestern Railway, and the Alaska Railroad.  

Placemat photo
http://www.wpyr.com/history/brochures/placemat.html

The White Pass and Yukon Railway (WP&YR) was built between 1898 and 1900.  Michael James (M.J.) Heney was the construction supervisor of the railway.  The tracks run from Skagway, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon Territory.  Originally the WP&YR was built to serve gold rush stampeders on their way to Klondike (Railroad Transportation).  It became a fully integrated transportation company that had the essential infrastructure to service the freight and passengers of the mining industry.  Today, according to the WP&YR website, “The WP&YR is Alaska's most popular shore excursion carrying approximately 365,000 passengers in 2010 during the May to September tourism season operating on the first 67.5 miles (Skagway, Alaska to Carcross, Y.T.) of the original 110 mile line.” 

Copper River Pic
 http://vilda.alaska.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT
=/cdmg21&CISOPTR=4657&REC=30 

The Copper River and Northwestern Railway (CR&NR) was built between 1905 and 1911.  The idea of completing the CR&NR began with the Alaska Syndicate.  At the same time M.J. Heney began building a line from Cordova.  After some dispute over where the line would 
begin, the Alaska Syndicate decided to finance the completion of Heney’s line.  Heney remained in charge of the construction.  By the end the CR&NR linked Cordova to the Kennecott Copper Mines in the Wrangell Mountains.  

Copper river highway
 http://dot.alaska.gov/stwdplng/scenic/byways-copperriver.shtml#

The railway transported copper from the mines until they closed in 1938 (Railroad Transportation).  It wasn’t until the 1950s that part of the rail was reconstructed into a road and bridge.  Unfortunately, during the 1964 Earthquake the bridge was damaged and the road work was discontinued.  In the 1990s the bridge was repaired and now the lower 52 miles of this abandoned railroad is known as the Copper River Highway. The Alaska Department of Transportation and Public Facilities boasts that the Copper River highway crosses “some of the most incredible natural scenery in the state of Alaska.”

AK Rail Map
http://alaska.org/gettingaround/alaska-
railroad-anchorage-seward.htm 

The Alaska Railroad was built between 1902 and 1923.  Many companies had a hand in completing this line.  It began with journalist John E. Ballaine and other Seattle backers.  The organized the Alaska Central Railroad Company and built about 45 miles of line.  Between 1904 and 1909, new financial support came from Chicago and they built 52 more miles of line.  Many other changes occurred until finally, in 1915, President Wilson got involved and directed the Alaska Engineering Commission to build the Alaska Railroad from Seward to Fairbanks (Railroad Transportation).  Since then the Alaska Railroad has been hauling freight and passengers, making it the last full-service railway in the USA (Alaska Railroad).  It is also one of the oldest tour operations in Alaska (Alaska.org).  

Alaska Railroad
 http://alaskarailroad.com/Default.aspx?alias=alaskarailroad.com/travel 

Alaskans hoped that railroads would be the key to fortune and success.  They dreamed it would open the land to them like railroads had done in the American west.  While railroads made a big splash during their time, airplanes, ferries, and automobiles are the primary transportation for Alaskans today.  

Extend: How dependent is your community on air transportation?

Our community is extremely dependent on air transportation.  The majority of the time I am leaving Wrangell, I depend on Alaska Airlines to get me off the island.  We are also connected to the outside world by the Alaska Marine Highway.  However, given the choice, I would rather fly because the ferry takes a lot more time to get from place to place.    

Wrangell
http://www.mxak.org/ports/southeast
/wrangell/wrangell.html 

A study was conducted by Northern Economics, Inc. provides information about the economic dependency of Alaska communities on air transportation.  Wrangell was one of eighteen communities surveyed.  While Northern and Western regions rely solely on air transportation for survival, the people of the Southeast region still rely heavily on their airports for providing emergency response services, bringing in medical personnel like doctors or specialists, family visits, work-related travel, social and vacation trips, and mail.  “Airports also play a vital role for the fresh fish and seafood industry—without air service from rural communities, this industry would not be able to provide fresh fish and seafood to distant markets in Alaska or outside of the state.”  

As you can see, Wrangell could survive without air transportation, but it would have no chance of thriving without it.  Every few years we have to sign petitions to keep Wrangell as one of the daily stops on the “milk run” flight through Alaska Air.  As you can imagine, there is not one person in our community that refuses to sign the petition.  We depend on air transportation. 
  

Evaluate: Please write a brief paragraph reflecting on the content, style, and usefulness of this module.

Alaska Railroad:
http://www.railsusa.com/traingear/T-Shirts.html

Living in a small community on an island in Southeast Alaska has given me a new perspective on transportation and communication.  Today we have high-speed internet (though it is not as fast as internet in the lower 48), cell phones, and daily mail service on Wrangell Island.  The biggest change for me is getting in my car and only being able to drive on paved roads for about 12 miles before they run out.  There are not railroads in Wrangell so diving deeper into the Alaska railroads has been fun for me.  I am glad that the railroads are still running for tourists.  It sounds like a great way to see Alaska!  


Resources:

Alaska.org. (n.d.). Alaska Railroad Travel. Retrieved from http://alaska.org/gettingaround/alaska-railroad.htm 

Alaska Department of Transportation & Public Facilities. (2011). Alaska’s Scenic Byways. Retrieved from http://dot.alaska.gov/stwdplng/scenic/byways-copperriver.shtml 

Alaska History & Cultural Studies. (2012). America’s Territory: Marine Transportation. Retrieved from http://www.akhistorycourse.org/articles/article.php?artID=228 

Alaska History & Cultural Studies. (2012). America’s Heritage: Railroad Transportation. Retrieved from http://www.akhistorycourse.org/articles/article.php?artID=176 

Alaska Railroad. (2012). Alaska Railroad. Retrieved from http://www.alaskarailroad.com 

Burke, Jill. (2011). Alaska Dispatch: Russian tanker approved to transport fuel shipment to Nome. Retrieved from http://www.alaskadispatch.com/article/russian-tanker-approved-transport-fuel-shipment-nome 

Campen, Brenda. (2012). Module VI - Introduction: Transportation and Communication.  Retrieved from http://explorealaskablog.blogspot.com/2012/01/module-vi-american-period.html  

Northern Economies, Inc. (2009). The Economic Contribution of the Aviation Industry to Alaska’s Economy. Retrieved from http://www.alaskaasp.com/admin/Docs/Economic%20contribution%20of%20the_Aviation%20industry%20report--compiled.pdf 

White Pass & Yukon Route Railroad. (2012). White Pass & Yukon Route. Retrieved from http://www.wpyr.com/company/ 

Colleague Blogs: 

Explore AK: Tina made a great point about the environmental aspects of the railroads.  It is really amazing that just one gallon of gasoline moves a ton of freight the length of the entire Alaska Railroad route.  It makes me more excited to visit parts of Alaska on the railroad! 

Miss Mannen: I enjoyed reading about the struggles related to Alaska’s railroads.  I also found it interesting that Wendy mentioned just how much Alaskans depend on the “outside” world.  I agree that we do not hear about how much the federal government supports this state and it is probably because of how prideful Alaskans tend to be.  

Surveying Alaska’s History: Robin wrote a great summary of the cause-effect relationships to settlement patterns and to the development of the Alaska economy.