Constructing the Alaska Railroad, 1916

Scenes show early Anchorage and workers constructing the Alaska Railroad in 1916. According to the Alaska Railroad Corporation (link below), the U.S. Congress agreed in 1914 to fund construction and operation of a railroad from Seward to Fairbanks at an estimated construction cost of $35 million. In 1915, Anchorage was established as a construction town when the railroad moved its headquarters from Seward. Railroad construction crews peaked at 4,500 workers in 1917, and the railroad was completed with the driving of the ceremonial golden spike at Nenana by President Warren G. Harding on July 15, 1923 (Color/Silent/16mm film).

Learn more about the Alaska Railroad by visiting the Alaska Railroad Corporation Historic Timeline:
https://www.alaskarailroad.com/sites/...

These scenes from "Wonders in Motion" were filmed by A.I. Smith. Smith and his wife visited Alaska and shot films of Anchorage and railroad work "from Anchorage to the end of the line [Seward]," according to the July 12, 1916, Anchorage Daily Times.

This is a clip from AAF-61 of the UAF Collection held by the Alaska Film Archives, a unit of the Alaska and Polar Regions Collections & Archives Department in the Elmer E. Rasmuson Library, University of Alaska Fairbanks.

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