that uses arr as its reporting mark . for other uses see arr . alaska railroad an alaska railroad passenger excursion train at spencer glacier . overview type inter city passenger and freight system arr status operational locale alaska services 5 website www.alaskarailroad.com operation opened 1914 1914 owner state of alaska depot s anchorage alaska technical line length 470 mi 760 km track gauge 1 435 mm 4 ft 8 1 2 in standard gauge alaska railroad system map legend dist . stop eielson afb 470.3 mi 756.9 km fairbanks 411.7 mi 662.6 km nenana 358.7 mi 577.3 km healy 348.2 mi 560.4 km denali 281.4 mi 452.9 km hurricane 273.8 mi 440.6 km chulitna 270.0 mi 434.5 km twin bridges 268.4 mi 431.9 km canyon 263.2 mi 423.6 km gold creek 257.7 mi 414.7 km sherman 248.7 mi 400.2 km deadhorse 248.5 mi 399.9 km curry 236.2 mi 380.1 km chase 226.7 mi 364.8 km talkeetna 159.8 mi 257.2 km wasilla palmer port of anchorage 114.3 mi 183.9 km anchorage ted stevens anchorage international airport girdwood portage anton anderson tunnel 51.8 mi 83.4 km whittier spencer whistle stop grandview 0 seward flag service this diagram view talk edit a geographic map of the railroad s route through alaska . the alaska railroad reporting mark arr is a class ii railroad 1 2 which extends from seward and whittier in the south of the state of alaska in the united states to fairbanks passing through anchorage and beyond to eielson air force base and fort wainwright in the interior of that state . uniquely for the us it carries both freight and passengers throughout its system including denali national park . the railroad has a mainline over 470 miles 760 km long and is well over 500 miles 800 km including branch lines and siding tracks . it is currently owned by the state of alaska . the railroad is connected to the lower 48 via three rail barges that sail between the port of whittier alaska and harbor island in seattle the alaska railroad owned alaska rail marine 3 from whittier to seattle and the cn rail owned aqua train 4 from whittier to prince rupert british columbia but does not currently have a direct land based connection with any other railroad lines on the north american network . in 2013 the company earned a profit of 14.3 million up 14 % on revenues of 175.1 million down 1 % 165.6 million of which was operating revenue down 2 % . 5 contents 1 history 2 proposed expansion in alaska 2.1 northern rail extension to delta junction 2.2 point mackenzie line 2.3 anchorage commuter rail service 2.4 proposed connection to the contiguous 48 states 3 executives 3.1 general managers under federal ownership 3.2 presidents under state ownership 4 routes and tourism 4.1 routes 5 rolling stock 5.1 active locomotives 5.2 retired locomotives 5.3 other 6 in popular culture 7 gallery 8 see also 9 references 9.1 general references 9.2 historical references 10 external links history edit an alaska railroad steam locomotive crossing the tanana river on the ice at nenana just prior to completion of the railroad in 1923 . hurricane turn train at talkeetna ak in june 2015 . an alaska railroad passenger train rolling between anchorage denali national park and fairbanks . an alaska railroad emd sd70mac locomotive pulling into denali station . sign at anchorage train station . in 1903 a company called the alaska central railroad began to build a rail line beginning at seward near the southern tip of the kenai peninsula in alaska northward . the company built 51 miles 82 km of track by 1909 and went into receivership . this route carried passengers freight and mail to the upper turnagain arm . from there goods were taken by boat at high tide and by dog team or pack train to eklutna and the matanuska susitna valley . in 1909 another company the alaska northern railroad company bought the rail line and extended it another 21 miles 34 km northward . from the new end goods were floated down the turnagain arm in small boats . the alaska northern railroad went into receivership in 1914 . about this time the united states government was planning a railroad route from seward to the interior town of fairbanks . the president william howard taft authorized a commission to survey a route in 1912 . the line would be more than 470 miles 760 km long and provide an all weather route to the interior . 6 in 1914 the government bought the alaska northern railroad and moved its headquarters to ship creek later called anchorage . the government began to extend the rail line northward . a 1915 photograph of the railroad under construction . in 1917 the tanana valley railroad in fairbanks was heading into bankruptcy . it owned a small 45 mile 72 km 3 ft 914 mm narrow gauge line that serviced the towns of fairbanks and the mining communities in the area as well as the boat docks on the tanana river near fairbanks . the government bought the tanana valley railroad principally for its terminal facilities . the section between fairbanks and happy was converted to dual gauge in order to complete the 4 ft 8 1 2 in 1 435 mm standard gauge line from seward to fairbanks . the government extended the south portion of the track to nenana and later converted the extension to standard gauge . the alaska railroad continued to operate the remaining tvrr narrow gauge line as the chatanika branch until decommissioning it in 1930 . in 1923 they built the 700 foot 213 m mears memorial bridge across the tanana river at nenana . this was the final link in the alaska railroad and at the time was the second longest single span steel railroad bridge in the country . u. s. president warren g. harding drove the golden spike that completed the railroad on july 15 1923 on the north side of the bridge . the railroad was part of the us department of the interior . the alaska railroad s first diesel locomotive entered service in 1944 . the railroad retired its last steam locomotive in 1966 . the railroad was greatly affected by the good friday earthquake which struck southern alaska in 1964 . the yard and trackage around seward buckled and the trackage along turnagain arm was damaged by floodwaters and landslides . it took several months to restore full service along the line . 7 in 1967 the railroad was transferred to the federal railroad administration an agency within the newly created us department of transportation . in 1985 the state of alaska bought the railroad from the u.s. government for 22.3 million based on a valuation determined by the us railway association . the state immediately invested over 70 million on improvements and repairs that made up for years of deferred maintenance . the purchase agreement prohibits the alaska railroad from paying dividends or otherwise returning capital to the state of alaska unlike the other alaska quasi entities alaska permanent fund corporation alaska housing finance corporation ahfc and alaska industrial development and export authority aidea . a northbound alaska railroad passenger train idles at the seward alaska depot on june 30 2010 proposed expansion in alaska edit northern rail extension to delta junction edit as of april 2010 an extension of the railroad from fairbanks to delta junction is planned having been proposed as early as 2009 . citation needed originally the extension was to be completed by 2010 8 but construction of a major bridge across the tanana river has barely begun and construction of track has not started . a proposed 2011 alaska state budget would provide 40 million in funding for the bridge which would initially be for vehicular use but would support alaska railroad trains once construction of track to delta junction began . the united states department of defense would provide another 100 million in funds as the bridge and subsequent rail line would provide year round access to fort greely and the joint tanana training complex . 9 a groundbreaking ceremony for the tanana river bridge took place on september 28 2011 . 10 point mackenzie line edit on 21 november 2011 the surface transportation board approved the construction of a new 25 miles 40 km line between port mackenzie and the existing mainline at houston alaska . 11 anchorage commuter rail service edit there are plans to provide commuter rail service within the anchorage metropolitan area anchorage to mat su valley via eagle river north anchorage to south anchorage but that requires additional tracks be laid due to a heavy freight schedule . a spur line was built to ted stevens international airport in 2003 along with a depot at the airport but the line never received scheduled service . it is not open to the public but cruise lines can charter trains to the airport to bring passengers to cruise ships . 12 the alaska railroad currently leases the airport depot officially named after bill sheffield to citizens for private events including conferences seminars and corporate functions . 13 proposed connection to the contiguous 48 states edit the united states government during the clinton administration formed an international commission to investigate the building of a rail link through the yukon to connect the alaska railroads with the rest of the north american rail network ; canada was asked to be part of the commission but the chr tien 1993 2004 martin 2004 2006 and harper 2006 2015 governments did not choose to join the commission and commit funds for the study . the yukon government is interested . a june 2006 report by the commission has recommended carmacks yukon as a hub . a line would go northward to delta junction alaska alaska railroad s northern end of track . another line would go from carmacks to hazelton british columbia which is served by the cn and that line would go through watson lake yukon and dease lake british columbia along the way . the third line would go from carmacks to either haines or skagway alaska the latter by way of the vicinity of whitehorse yukon 14 15 16 17 which are both served by the 3 ft 914 mm narrow gauge white pass and yukon route railroad although today the white pass & yukon only goes as far north as carcross yukon because the entire line was embargoed in 1982 and service has not been completely restored . following the demise of the ill fated keystone pipeline rail connections were revisited as an alternative . in november 2015 the national post reported that a link between the southern provinces and the alaska railroad was again being considered by the new trudeau government this time routing to alberta . in this scenario the route would originate at delta junction alaska and use carmacks yukon as a hub like prior plans . the route would continue through watson lake yukon before entering british columbia where it would stop at fort nelson british columbia . it would continue to peace river alberta with its southern terminus at fort mcmurray . the route is endorsed by the assembly of first nations . 18 19 it is unclear whether this rail connection would ever be expanded to also serve passengers like the alaska railroad . executives edit general managers under federal ownership edit col. frederick mears 1919 1923 was originally head of the railroad as chairman of the alaska engineering commission col. james gordon steese 1923 1923 lee h. landis 1923 1924 noel w. smith 1924 1928 col. otto f. ohlson 1928 1945 col. john p. johnson 1946 1953 frank e. kalbaugh 1953 1955 reginald n. whitman 1955 1956 john h. lloyd 1956 1958 robert h. anderson 1958 1960 donald j. smith 1960 1962 john e. manley 1962 1971 walker s.