From Talkeetna heading north, I hand flagged the train many times back in the 80s and 90s. (then I discovered snow machines)

I miss Alaska

See! This is why I love KZfaq. You never know what you're going to find on a rainy afternoon. Facinating history up there.

I love learning the history of railroads. Especially railroads that are built along the ocean and in remote areas.

When I was in Anchorage in the Coast Guard, I frequented the Alaska Railroad's shops and yards often. It was a time I will never forget and will appreciate the rest of my life! Thank you so much for producing this documentary, it is rich with our heritage that many take for granted.

The work that goes into building something like a railroad through this insane terrain is just astonishing. These are among my favorite types of documentaries- where you get to see how hard work turns into a wonder of the world. When I can’t sleep sometimes I think about being a railroad hand, perhaps working on flattening dynamiting/blasting into the side of a mountain, sheltering after a hard day at work while the wind screams and whips at a makeshift cabin in the night.

“Has it ever struck you that life is all memory, except for the one present moment that goes by you so quick you hardly catch it going?”― Tennessee Williams

I love trains.

Excellent! The truck companies complaining about unfair competition no doubt conveniently forget that they don't have to maintain their own infrastructures. The railway does. Long life and prosperity to the Alaska Railroad.

Unfathomable that today's (soft) people are descendants of these tough SOBs, especially including myself. Great documentary!

We're Australian & like to get away from the summer sun. My wife and I went to Alaska 2016, beginning of March, late winter. What an amazingly wonderful place. Travelled from Faibanks to to Anchorage by train. Wow! We would love to go back. The animals, birds, Northern Lights, scenery, people-------yes, we want to go back again.

Awesome docu. Greeings from New Zealand.

It's amazing how fast major infrastructure can degrade and be lost except for photos and documentation. Very nice to see some of it preserved, recorded and shared like this.

I really enjoyed this.

Vielen Dank allen Mitarbeitern an Kompetenz Arbeitsplätzen Bemühungen gegeben haben

You Tube is so awesome I learn so much information about all kinds of stuff thanks U Tube

thanks for uploading very informative. wish the Railroads here in ireland had as much doc history saved

An AWESOME documentary. Thanks for making this movie, I have really enjoyed watching it.

its not just a video, but a ticket ride to the valley, i felt as if i was in coach of the train,post more videos, excellant sir

I'm a Seattle native and used to work for a time as a tour guide along the waterfront. It's amazing how much the gold rush affected that city. Even more amazing to think of what those people went through to get up there. Talk about working for your money!

A++ Video !! I learned so much more about Alaska's history and heritage from this presentation. I knew of about 6 or 7 railroads before but never knew there had been 26 !! Some of the old B&W photo's and film footage are just amazing. I am smarter today than i was yesterday after watching this. Liked & Subscribed :)

I've worked on several different Rail systems in Montana in the '60s & '70s.

Those box-cabbed climaxes are amazing. One of those would be a looker on any heritage line today. I wonder if any survive

The Klondike Mines railroad had four steam locomotives. Three of them are still in Dawson, inside a shed. The fourth engine is now in Colorado, running (slowly and infrequently) in Como, sheltering in the Como roundhouse.

My wife and I took the AKRR from Anchorage back home to Squarebanks in 2002, early April. There were no cruise ship cars, just the AKRR cars. Food was good, and seeing the "town" of Sherman and others like it was quite interesting. It's pretty cool that you can stock up on groceries and supplies, and put them in the baggage car, and get them dropped off right by your house in the Bush.

Wonderful history lesson! 👍 Thanks for uploading this great piece of documentary film.

What a terrific documentary. Thank you!

Great video!! Extremely informative!! Thank you so much!!

I spent the summer in Nome in 1974, and brought home a few spikes from an abandoned railroad track outside of town. Thanks for posting. It brought back memories.

Rode this from Anchorage to Denali what an amazing beautiful trip!!

Great tour through Alaskan history.

Railroads to Nowhere! Uncle Ted would be proud!

:) Wonderful video, really enjoyed it, thank you for all your efforts. :)

Thanks for a great doc. Love RR history 🤩

I just love these stories!

Awesome documentary thanks for posting this

Thanks a whole lot . . for a most thorough and interesting movie. Wish you all a merry new year Torben, Denmark

Great video! Loved how it went through so much of the history of railroads across Alaska and the Klondike as well as the modern, including ideas for future expansion. I hope they are able to someday extend the lines. It would really open up parts of Alaska to the tourist industry.

Very interesting program. Thanks for the post.

Excellent video. Thank you

What a great documentary!

This is a great documentary, the outro song is so amazing too, I really wish I knew the name but I can't find it despite a lot of searching.

Dan Bross THANK You so very much for the History narrative PJEFF LI N.Y.

Excellent research, organization and presentation! Very enjoyable. North to Alaska!

Outstanding video... Particularly for oldsters like me who grew up in the 1930s & 1940s riding in trains pulled by steam locomotives....

Fantastic. Thank you

Well done thank you , very cool vintage film also

There is a huge amount of detailed information in this programme, and doubtless I shall need to watch it more than once to absorb it all. I hadn't realised the many threads of history that connect, overlap, come and go during this fascinating era. The presenters are all gifted communicators and the information is presented without lots of hype and hyperbole that many modern programmes seem to deem essential to emphasise the history or the enormity of the subject. It is extremely enjoyable, as well as informative. I acknowledge that I have a reputation for being a stuffy Brit, with a passion for "Good English", and it is with that prejudice that I commend the programme-makers and the erudite contributors for their clear, eloquent descriptions. I'm so impressed that I have subscribed! Well done! And more of the same, please!

Really enjoyed that

Я так долго искал материалы об истории железных дорог в Аляске, и наконец-то нашёл! I looking for material about history railroads in Alaska and finally I found it with help Google recommendatoin! Thanx for subtitles too)

Cool video I live in Fairbanks been to all the towns they talk about. Awesome place to live 👍🏻

My great Uncle was a Capt in US Army and Chief Signal Corps Officer on railroad project to Alaska..he was with Harding on first train ride into Alaska on that rail line...I have his tickets and paperwork from that trip with the President...Harding dies shortly after the trip in San Francisco, CAL..

That was great keep it up Alaska. There shouldn’t be more railroads in the world with your vision for the future. Well done

Great video, thanks for sharing!

Thank you

Videos, documentaries like this fascinate me. Until you actually ride on a steam locomotive train You can't really appreciate the beauty of them. I could only dream of making it to Alaska for a scenic trip on the rails.

Amazing

Well done sir.

Thank you for the "Klondike" ice cream! I really wish I had one to enjoy while watching this history of the Klondike! What would you do with a klondike bar.. ahh that earworm song television commercial is still in my head..

I wish I had been born 100 years earlier, when America was truly great. The abilities and determination of people then were staggering.

We were lucky to acquire Alaska 👍

A great piece of history, and a lesson that the government is also responsible for keeping the roots of their people visible to the current and future generations, instead of incentivating teens to smoke joints and forget where they came from....

Awesome doc! Great stuff!!

I saw this once and I love it

Excellent document !

Great video!

John Holley is absolutely right in his enthusiasm for this documentary. Outstanding combination of entertainment and education. Marvellous range of old photographs. As a Brit I was a bit lost with some of the location maps. Tasmanian mining railways deserve similar treatment if the same sort of historians and commentators could be found.

Great video, very interesting.

history of two brother nations connected in so many ways that both would be less with out the other

You may not know that the Baldwin 4-6-0 No. 152 built in 1919 for the AEC is still operating. It is at Flint, MI since 1976. It is Huckleberry RR No. 2(152). It shares powering the train with D&RGW No. 464 one of two K-27 Mikados still in existence and both are operable.

Wow ..so informative

My dad worked on this railroad laying track in the late 50's.

Ah...one of my bucket-list tourism destinations...

While working on the Alaska Marine Highway . The pursuer & I drove up the old railway & the purser found a news paper with the headlines of Poncho Villa on the front page. This was in 1972 or 1973.

This is a great video. Thank you so much, especially to the person who put this together. This is a must see for all train enthusiasts. Thank you again.

I LOVE TRAINS❤️

Very interesting ideas

The White Pass railway is amazing, very fun to ride today ( you can see the old Chilkoot trail from the railway high in the mountain). Could you imagine how hard it was to walk the Chilkoot trail to get to Bennet B.C. before the White Pass Railroad, It must of been hell. From Bennet you could take the Lake by boat into Yukon Territory is my understanding, but still quite a journey to get to Yukon Territory Gold. Their are still operating Gold mines in Yukon Territory today, all in private hands. I Imagine most people didn't make it through the Chilkoot Trail before giving up and turning around.

For the pocket doors, use 2 drawer slides, one on top and bottom. That will minimize wall width and cost per door

The native Alaskans who inhabit southeast Alaska are the Tlingit (pronounced Klink-it) and Haida (pronounced Hi-duh) tribes....they kinda hate each other due to the Tlingit's enslaving the Haida's many, many years ago, they literally used to own Haida tribesmen and women...you can really see that play out in Hoonah and Juneau, the animosity is thick...

My twin brother and I used to ride on top of the coal in the tender on the little Baldwin locomotive headed t the Situk(See-tuk) fiver from Yakutat.

The Council City & Solomon River (21:15) used second-hand 0-4-4 Forneys bought from the Manhattan elevated railroads. When the els in New York were electrified in 1902-3, hundreds of these sturdy, well-maintained locomotives became available. They were sold to companies all over the world, for use by industry, mining, logging, construction, and short lines. The three rusting hulks shown at the end of this segment had previously spent decades making tens of thousands of trips from South Ferry north along Second, Third, Sixth, and Ninth avenues in Manhattan and into The Bronx, hauling untold millions of New Yorkers to and from work.

The first container from ship to train and from train to train AS i know . Was at Urskog Hølands banen in Norway . Some km north east from Oslo. A line going from Sørumsand to skullerud .. A norrow line. Called tertitten . Now Its a museum line going some few kilometer from Sørumsand .And that container transport started around 1920.

Gold + Gold + Gold

Very interesting

The last comment about connecting Alaska with Russia by train was astounding!

in the lower 48, the interstates & airports were subsidied by the government but the passenger service was ended - replaced by Amtrak. If the railroads were also subsidied, we'd have great railroads today.

Sled dogs pulling a train? That is even funnier than Garfield making Odie into a sled dog!!

I think there is only one steam engine left, and it's being restored. If you go on White pass, the locomotive will be a Diesel Electric engine designed to run on 3' narrow scale track. It's a pretty smooth ride actually.

The guy at 10:00 is an expert in more than one type of snow 😂😂😂😂

A Narrow Gauge train at that time seem to have a low center of gravity and wouldn't you have to do more track maintenance this is a really nice video it made me think that Narrow Gauge was basically used for moving equipment materials instead of people okay now now gauge tracks makes sense to me

Looks the White Pass when fully completed went all the way to Whitehorse, Yukon. I took the Railway from Carcross, Yukon back to Skagway Alaska. Bennet B.C. was on the trip, the only original structure that remains is an old church (was getting a new roof). And a rail station, not original building to site.

7:24 "Give me enough dynamite and I'll build a road to hell"

I love the railroad and as a child I here in Rhode Island was always down on the main line screwing around and exploring the spurs ,buildings ,whatever and you guys and the like of you are people I admire and respect.You are a link that we all have in are blood and also something in are heads that we just cannot figure out why we have this memory we can't explain,but its there and we love it and thank you guys for what you do and have a good life.MAGA MAGA MAGA MAGA

Good video, very interesting. I wish the music wasn't so loud, made it harder to hear the history.

At the age of 73, my heart says no more lawn mowing and snow shoveling.

13:20 weird how in the year 1900 the video quality was soo good not to mention many people are wearing cloths of today like silk screen shirts and baggy shorts as if it were the 1990s not 1900....

I'm WhiteHorse Born, Northwest Territory Yukon, Born in a Log Cabin, washed and drank in Squanga Lake, The Old Outhouse served it's duty, 80 miles from the nearest Town. Now Live in Los Angeles,Ca.

good videos

thank you for the coverage