A Start

I'm not sure exactly when I first learned of the Copper River & Northwestern Railway, which hauled copper ore in Alaska from 1911 until its abandonment in 1938. I found it fascinating from the start, with major engineering landmarks built in difficult conditions in a remote place. What probably added to its appeal was that information on it has always been somewhat hard to find. Two major landmarks are still in existence, the bridge over the Copper River between Miles and Childs Glaciers and the concentrator-tramway terminal at Kennicott.

(The railroad location at the town was spelled Kennicott, while the copper company that ran the mine spelled it Kennecott.) The most complete and detailed history of the Copper River & Northwestern is Lone Janson's The Copper Spike, copies of which can still be found. Janson's account of early developments in the railroad's construction is very thorough, but any coverage of the railroad's actual operation after it was finished is basically an afterthought. In addition, although the CR&NW did have some tourist business, much like the better-known Alaska Railroad and White Pass & Yukon, it never attracted railfan interest, and little information has come to light about the railroad's routine operation from a railfan point of view.

The ability to search for digital resources on the web has made much additional material available. I hope to make extensive use of this information, especially the dozens of photos in the Alaska Digital Library, to draw a more complete picture of the railroad on this blog.