Seward weekly gateway., 1906-01-06
The Railroads Building
 Seward
Bya Local Business Man

By a Local Business Man
 In '9S, the year of the great rush to the goldGelds of Alaska, a small band of prospectors arrived in Resurrection ! Bay, and mushed their way inland in ! the search of fortune.
 As this little band wearily packed their earthly belongings in from the ! bay and over the summit, little did they dream that in a few short years a railway would be running over the same ground they were then treading. Nuety-eight has gone forever, and on the first day of 1906 we see a four t,niug town where stood the primeval forest; standard gauge railroad where there was only apack trail. What has brought about this change? Who or what is responsible for it? There seen, Co be but one answer-the .u~so Central Railway.
 turing the year just closed, wages hay. been paid exceeding half mii- .Iu. dollars, several thousand men have been given employment: and as a ro.ur seward has sprung up and k ,rI growing. During the present Year there will be work on the rail road for over 10000 men, and the low est wage iS a2. 75 per day. Old railroad men at work on the Alaska Central say that they are getting more money aud better food than on any road they ever worked for before. The railway company conducts its own commiSsary and as result the men get the best of food and plenty of it. The camps are sanitary and comfortable, and sickness is almost unknown. It only requires a l..poycr the work for one to see as happy and contcnted a lot of workmen as can ba found anywhere in the world.
 From a tourists point of view, the Alaska Central cannot be surpassed. The train leaving Seward rushe, through the forest, crossing stream ara. stream. and taking an easy grade climbs tuo tr-t summit about thirteen mics away. The descent on the other -... is gradual and the broad valley of .... rive. eal b. seen on the right, .....n away tor miles. Air. ...-.. Snow r.yu" r.o train so.u .... ... o..u...r. .as, Nouai and -. .... -.a.. .an about a.u. miles,.
 .. ..u .a.. .r.ut.a forrest. ...... ..... m.r. auu then comes Y. .....r .' lake. Ta.|uI lakes ...... ...".. .wu.a... r.a miles. .u .. ..... .r superb. ..or .yay- ... ... u..... Upper Nw. lake. ,-. ......o. Un.s. creek is followed until
 ........s summit i, reached. forty -. .. from Seward.
 From this summit one of the finest piece, o5 Alaskan scenery presents it- -.a. stretching down the Placer river valley to the head of Turnagain Arm, which can be distinctly seen. From a railway engineering point of view, this beautiful scenery is very costly, on account of the difficulties to be over come in getting from the summit to the Ga,s aJ the head of the Arm by an easy grade. It was not too much, though for the chief engineer of the ! Alaska Central; he came and saw and conquered. The railway after leaving . the summit enters a tunnel built upon ! a curve, and crossing to the east side of the valley makes a complete loop and then passes through a series olive tunnels, which brings it out on a gen. tie slope
 l The railway soon reaches the flats, and for forty miles runs along the north shore of Turnagaiu Arm until il reaches Campbell's point, where Cook . Inlet comes into view, and in the dis. tauce active volcanoes. The road now runs north Co the head of Knik Arm, which it crosses and soon enters the fertile Su,ina river valley. This val ley extends for about 200 miles north ward, and is capable of sustaining a large agricultural population. The climate i, comparatively mild and the snow fall very light. Near the head of the valley stands Mt. Mckinley, the highest mountain in the western hem isphere, and it is visible from the rail way line for more than POO miles.
 It is time to send out a searching party for Tom Platt. In the recent Nr..- Nr...T- ...1sts..1 !.