• Take a step back into history when you board the Alaska Railroad, one of the most beautiful wilderness rail routes in the United States. The Alaska Railroad travels the same historic roadless wilderness route that was established shortly after the first wave of miners and pioneers came to Alaska in the early 1900's.

• In 1904 construction began on a project to build a railroad line, which would run from the Seward to Fairbanks in the Interior of Alaska. This privately funded venture, called the Alaska Central, was the predecessor of the Alaska Railroad. The railroad would provide the mechanism for delivering much needed supplies to the remote interior of Alaska from the main ocean ports. The Alaska Railroad was an import part of the pioneer economy allowing development and production of the mineral rich remote interior.

• During this time, a gold rush was transpiring around Fairbanks; in addition the hills laden with coal deposits in the Matanuska Valley and Healy were ready for extraction. Seward was selected as the beginning of the railroad because of its location on Resurrection Bay, which remains ice-free during the long cold winters of Alaska. The Alaska Railroad is still a vital link today, delivering goods & providing transportation to remote wilderness communities.