The Seward gateway., 1916-10-19
HOW RAILROAD
 IS PROGRESSING
ENGINEERING COMMISSION GIVES REPORTS OF
 CONDITION.

Vim. c. Edes, chairman of the Alas kan Engineering Commission, recently returned from Anchorage and reports excellent progress on the construction of the railroad.
 Tfty-nine miles of track have been laid from Anchorage. With the seventy-one miles of the old Alaska Northern Railway that is now in op- eration to Kern Creek, there have been completed 13O miles of thel 470 that will connect Seward and Fair banks. The track so far laid from Anchorage consists of six miles south toward Seward; thirty-eight miles of main line northward to Fairbanks, and fifteen miles on the Matanuska branch into the Matanuska coal fields.
 Vhe right of way has been cleared from Potter Creek on Turnagain Arm to Kings River in the Matanuska coal field, a distance of seventy-seven miles and on the main line from Matanuska to the Little Susitna riv- CT. Rail will be laid this fall as far as Kings River on the Matanuska branch, a distance of sixty-two miles from Anchorage, and to Wassilla on the main line, approximately 15 miles from Matanuska. On the main line in the Susitna Valley, between Mon tana Creek and Indian river, a dis tance of D miles, the right of way is 70 percent cleared and a number of grading contracts have been let, Grading of the right of way will pro- ceed in this section from Talkeetna to Willow Creek, and north to Broad Pass. At Willow creek it will con meet with the work under the Mata- nuska district, and at Broad Pass with the work from the Nenana division.
 Rail will be laid in the near future as far as Potter Creek, which is fif- teen miles southeast of Anchorage on Turnagain Arm, and from which point the rock work on Turnagain Arm will be attacked during the winter.
 For the week ending September ninth, S,56S men were employed on the Anchorage Division, which in .cludes Commission employees, sta tionmen and laborers, the August payroll being $25S,83O.OO.
 The work at Anchorage is under the immediate supervision of Lieut.. Frederick Mears, one of the members of the Alaskan Engineering Commis- sion, and is divided into four separate districts, all of which report to the head office at Anchorage. These are: the Terminal district at Anchorage, which has charge of the construction and maintenance of all terminal faci- lities. such as machine shops, round- houses, water supply, maerial yards, electric light and telephone, construc- tion of quarters for employees, office buildings and the ballasting and main tenance of the right of way of the constructed line as we'll as the opera tion of the trains; the Matanuska dis trict, with headquarters at Matanuska Junction, has charge of the cOnstruc- tion of the line from Matanuska to Chickaloon on the Matanuska branch, and from Matanuska Junction to Will low creek on the main line; the Turnagain Arm district has charge of the construction from Anchorage south to Kern creek; the north termi- nus of the Alaska Northern Railway, with headquarters at Anchorage; and the Talkeetna district, with head quarters at Talkeetna, has charge of the construction of the main line from Willow Creek to Broad Pass.
 The Alaskan Engineering Commits sion is operating a daily train be- tween Anchorage and Moose creek on the Mataruska branch, and three car loads of coal are being brought to Anchorage daily. This coal is for use