Alaskan History
Map of Alaska. Dept. of Interior map. 1923. [Alaska State Library The Alaska Railroad Tour Lantern Slide Collection, 1923. ASL-PCA-198, Identifier ASL-P198-4]
1923 Alaska Railroad Tour Lantern Slides In the Alaska State Library’s Historical Collections there is a series of 85 lantern slides, glass, colored, 3 1/4 x 4 inches in diameter, selected for showing to evoke interest in the then-newly constructed Alaska Railroad and what was known as The Great Circle Tour. From the description in the online archive: “This collection of 85 colored lantern slides advertised The Alaska Railroad's Tour #2 in the first year of operation for the Alaska Railroad, 1923. The slides are imprinted with "Alaska Railroad, Washington D.C." The tour began at the Alaska Steamship pier in Seattle and continued by steamship up through the Inside Passage to Seward where the passengers boarded the train. The images start at Seward and show the scenic views along the tour as the train heads to Fairbanks and then by automobile to Valdez. Tour #2 covered 4,402 miles in 22 days, and cost $240.65. The slides advertised the scenic beauty of Alaska and activities of Alaskans living along the route.” According to one of the slides in the collection, the cost of Tour No. 2 was $240.65 round trip, Seattle to Seward via steamer, meals and berth included. The Seward to Fairbanks leg via the Alaska Railroad included the fare only, and the Fairbanks leg to Valdez or Cordova via the Richardson Highway included the auto fare, apparently a rental car. The distance was 4,402 miles, time 22 days. There was also a Tour No. 1 which cost only $178.10 and covered 4,672 miles (270 miles shorter); apparently that meant a return to Seward on the Alaska Railroad.
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