Not 10 minutes outside of Anchorage, traveling south on the Seward Highway, there is a small building touted as the Chugach State Park Headquarters. Just next to it are a couple train cars, partially visible from the road.
Most of these train cars’ history takes place along the Turnagain Arm (so named by Captain Cook, who had to turn again to exit). This site has an absolutely incredible view of the waterway. On a clear day, the two cars have an unobstructed view of the Kenai Mountains, and even the Alaska Range across the Cook Inlet.
One car is a gigantic black and red snowplow, while the other is a white sleeper car turned kitchen car.
The Sleeper Car that is Now a Kitchen Car
The snowplow and its massive blades were used when avalanches covered tracks in cement-like snow, an occurrence not uncommon to the tracks along Turnagain Arm.
With its small building shut down due to virus precautions, this site doesn’t look like many turn off the highway to see it. There is a collection of old and new signs describing the history of the place, some of which are almost illegible.
The first two signs read:
“ROTARY SNOWPLOW: These plows with 9 foot circular rotor blades were used by the Alaska Railroad to clear the snow clogged tracks … Turnagain Arm and through the Kenai Mountains………”
“OUTFIT CAR: Railroad car 1500e started its life as a troop sleeping car during World War II. After the War the sleeper was converted for use as a kitchen car.”
The first railroad in Alaska was started in 1903 by the Alaska Central Railway. However, they only laid 50 miles of track traveling north out of Seward, its origin point.
After bankruptcy in 1908, the company reorganized as the Alaska Northern Railway Co. Their second attempt only brought the railroad 21 miles farther to Kern Creek, just short of Girdwood, Alaska.
In 1914, the U.S. Federal Government approved funding for a railroad from Seward to Fairbanks, with an estimated cost of $35 million.
It took eight years to finish construction of the 478 miles of track. After completion, the federal government ran railroad operations, but the project was unprofitable.
In 1930, Seward, Fairbanks, and Anchorage combined only had a population of 5,400 – not enough to allow for steady rail business.
However, under new leadership, the Alaska Railroad beings to profit in 1938. And during WWII, profits soared as the trains transported civilian and military supplies.
Railroad ownership switched from the federal government to the State of Alaska in 1983. Over the next 26 years, the railroad’s value increased over $830 million dollars!
Now, the Alaska Railroad’s blue and gold cars are signature Alaskan – a symbol of pride for residents of the Last Frontier.
Looking Towards the Turnagain Arm from a Platform Behind the Train
Many thanks to the Alaska Railroad website and the Chugach State Park signage!
The Alaska Railroad shows a record profit of $8.0 million, surpassing the previous record profit of $7.90 million in 1995. Passenger ridership grows to 512,000. Former Governor Bill Sheffield becomes CEO and President of the Alaska Railroad and John Binkley is named Chairman of the Board of Directors.
Hoofbeats pounded up the wet road lined with a small crowd in the grey dawn. Coming closer, you could hear the rider crying out, “The Regulars are coming! The Regulars are coming!” Then came the faint sounds of fifes and drums, signaling the British army was not far behind.
Last year, in Massachusetts, my sister, friend, and myself celebrated Patriots’ Day with numerous historical activities. We woke up at 3:30 am to be in Lexington for the 5:30 am reenactment of the Battle of Lexington where the “Shot Heard ‘Round the World” was fired. Later we marched with the Sudbury Minutemen along the same route the original company would have taken to join the fight. With high hopes I declared I would definitely be doing it all again next year.
But a few events put a crimp in those plans. First of all, moving across the country. Secondly, being required to quarantine for two weeks on either end of traveling. So the festivities were a bit different than I had imagined, but still enjoyable nonetheless.
Lexington Green, Patriots’ Day 2019
To commemorate the special day, my sister and I decided to walk the Tony Knowles Coastal Trail, which runs about 11 miles along the northern coastline of Anchorage, Alaska. The distance was approximately equal to the march we did with the Sudbury Minutemen last year. To note, the Sudbury Minutemen march on every April 19th early in the morning, in order to coincide with the exact date and time of the 1775 events. However, we walked on Monday the 20th, which is the official holiday of Patriots’ Day. We also left our starting line a little later than 2019’s 6:30 am.
Beginning of the Trail on the North Side of Anchorage
We arrived at the railroad depot just north of downtown Anchorage at 7:45am. Never before had we walked the entire Tony Knowles Trail from start to finish. With many access points, we had often walked short segments of the trail near significant city parks.
As we walked, we decided to wish any and all passersby a ‘Happy Patriots’ Day.’ Judging from their responses, none of them had the least idea of what we were talking about.
Patriots’ Day honors the first official battles of the American Revolution: Lexington and Concord. British soldiers marched out from Boston in the wee hours of the night, aiming to confiscate a store of ammunition located in Concord, Massachusetts. Revolutionaries spread the word of their impending arrival (the midnight ride of Paul Revere, anyone? – though Revere wasn’t the only one).
When the Redcoats reached Lexington in the early morning, a few brave souls stood on the green (common land in the center of town), defying the soldiers’ advance. A shot – to this day no one knows from which side it came– was fired. Within moments, eight colonists were dead or dying, and the British marched on.
As my sister and I marched, we paused at the planet stations placed strategically along the path. An Anchorage highschool student devised this clever “Planet Walk.” Signs representing the planets are positioned in order, radiating out from a sun sculpture in downtown Anchorage. Each intervening distance is calculated to equate to the light speed distance actually between them. Now pedestrians can stroll along at light speed. Apparently we were walking faster than light speed, because we completed the trail in just over 4 hours, instead of the predicted 5.5 hours.
The Planets I Remembered to Photograph (the Sun is Located in Downtown)
The second battle on April 19, 1775 took place in Concord. Upon their arrival, the Redcoats began burning supplies and cannons gathered by the colonists. From a hill vantage point, 400 minute men and militia saw the smoke and believed the town was being burned. They advanced on the town’s North Bridge, which was guarded by 96 British Soldiers, who fired upon them. The colonists shot back. Five fell dead and more were wounded.
But the exhausting day was nowhere near finished yet.
We stopped for a brief break at the Earthquake Park overlook point. This park is a crazy testament to the total upheaval of earth that takes place during earthquakes. Signs illustrate how the steep drop-offs and jutting hills you now see were all creating during Alaska’s 1964 Good Friday quake.
Not long afterwards, we reached Point Woronzoff, a park and beach that sits at the foot of the airport runway. We watched several planes take off directly overhead including the one videoed below. In the summer, we’ve enjoyed coming here to walk the steep path down to the muddy beach.
Plane Takes Off Over Point Woronzoff Park
The British began their march back to Boston. However, unbeknownst to them, more and more minutemen and militia from the surrounding country began to congregate around their return route. The first ambush waited one mile outside of Concord, at Meriam’s Corner. Subsequent attacks took place at Brooks Hill and the Bloody Angle in addition to other skirmishes, creating a “running 16-mile-long battle,” according to Minuteman National Park’s webpage on “Battle Site Explorations.”
Our views were a bit different from those the Redcoats and colonists traveled through 245 years ago. 🙂 In the photos you can see the infamous mudflats, with some snow still lingering on top. The day was pretty cloudy and foggy; on clear days there are mountains visible in the distance.
Views of Cook Inlet From the Trail
Later that fateful day, the British were met by reinforcements as well, but not nearly as many as the colonists. The book, Reporting the Revolution by Todd Andrlik, says that “by the end of the day, almost 3,800 militiamen had seen action against about 1,500 regulars. More than 270 British were left dead, wounded, or missing; for the Americans, only ninety-four.” Keep in mind that these Redcoat soldiers had been up all through the night!
Our destination, the 10.5 mile-marker in Kincaid Park, was met with excitement, though I’m sure not nearly as much as the British must have felt upon reaching Boston. We only took just over four hours to make our goal, but the British had already been traveling for hours when they reached Lexington at 5:30am. Then they fought all through the day.
April 19th marked the official outbreak of the American War for Independence that had been brewing for years. Many men lost their lives that day in defense of their rights. We would do well to remember what has been sacrificed by others for our benefit, and to follow their example of standing up against injustice. Here’s to next Patriots’ Day!
Our Final Mile Marker
The Tony Knowles Trail is an amazing resource, whether you’re visiting Anchorage for the first time, or have lived here for 20 years. Make sure to check out their website and take a “light speed” walk through Anchorage 🙂
The Minuteman National park has awesome online resources! Check out their website, YouTube channel, and FaceBook page for Patriots’ Day activities and more.
Annually on April 19, the Sudbury Companies of Militia and Minute march from Sudbury Center to the Old North Bridge in Concord, Massachusetts. This event reenacts and commemorates the mission of our forefathers who did the same on April 19, 1775, at the start of the American Revolution.
Todd Andrlik is the founding editor of Journal of the American Revolution , as well as author/editor of Reporting the Revolutionary War: Before It Was History, It Was News (Sourcebooks, 2012), named one of the Best Books of 2012 by Barnes & Noble and Best American Revolution Book of the Year by the New York American Revolution Round Table.
