1923 Alaska Railroad Tour Lantern Slides

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]

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.

The photographers are not named, the photographs are all simply attributed to the Alaska Railroad. The 1923 edition of Polk’s Directory, published shortly after the official opening ceremony of the railroad in Nenana, included the following description of the Alaska Railroad’s tours: “With the completion of The Alaska Railroad, a most remarkable circular tour through the interior of the Territory is now possible. This tour included a 1,600-mile ocean voyage from Seattle or Vancouver up the Inside Passage, then across the Gulf of Alaska, through Prince William Sound, and up Resurrection Bay to Seward, touching at all Alaskan ports; then 470 miles over The Alaska Railroad to Fairbanks, then 320 miles over the Richardson Highway to Chitina, then 130 miles over the Copper River & Northwestern Railway to Cordova, and then a 1,400-mile return ocean voyage through Prince William Sound, the Gulf of Alaska, and the Inside Passage. This tour was formally inaugurated last summer by the Brooklyn Daily Eagle party of 70 people, over half of them being ladies.”

The slides here are presented in roughly chronological geographic order. You can see the entire collection at the Alaska State Library online: enter Alaska State Library Alaska Railroad Tour Lantern Slide Collection, 1923. ASL-PCA-198; with identifying numbers on each slide. ~•~

A 1923 Department of the Interior map showing the route of The Alaska Railroad Tours.

View of Seward from hillside. No. 74.

Upper Trail Lake, looking toward Moose Pass. No. 9.

Bartlett Glacier, view from high trestle. No. 12.

Bartlett Glacier from trestle. No. 13.

Turnagain Arm on Alaska Railway, near Anchorage, where sea and railroad meet. No. 85.

Hospital in Anchorage. No. 18

Old Russian church, Eklutna. No. 20.

Knik River bridge looking southeast. No. 28.

Wasilla Lake. No. 25.

Little Susitna highway, looking up trail. No. 26.

Hurricane Gulch Bridge looking toward Susitna N. bend. No. 29.

Curry Hotel. No. 45.

Train on Nenana River Bridge. No. 30.

Mrs. Wm. Green; Broad Pass; only woman telegraph operator in Alaska, 1923. No. 31.

Prospectors and dogs. Morenas (?) Roadhouse. [Ed. note; at Denali Park]. No. 38.

Mount McKinley. No. 40.

Crossing Hines Creek. No. 63.

At Stoney Creek. Road Commission tent. No. 64.

Birch Lake. No. 55.

Ferry at Tanana at McCarty’s Roadhouse. No. 54.

Paxson Roadhouse and depot. No. 52.

Teckell (Tiekel) Roadhouse. No. 53.

Chevrolet (automobile) crossing glacier stream on highway near Worthington Glacier, below falls. No. 56.

On Richardson Hwy. Coast range Chugack [Chugach] Mtns. No. 57

On Richardson Highway. No. 59.

Waterfall Keystone Canyon. No. 60

Bridge across Sheep Creek. No. 61

Keystone Canyon and highway. No. 62.

Salmon boat at Valdez. No. 69.

Landing of S.S. Northwestern, Seward dock. No. 75.

S.S. Northwestern at Columbia Glacier. No. 76.

Columbia Glacier from deck of S.S. Northwestern; with icebergs. No. 77.

Approaching Port Benny. No. 78.

Group of small islands between Valdez and Cordova. No. 79.

Cordova, dock and harbor. Copper concentrates from Kennecott Copper Mines, loading for Tacoma smelters. No. 80.

Ketchikan. No. 70.

To see online visit: Alaska State Library, Alaska Railroad Tour Lantern Slide Collection. ASL-PCA-198- (and slide number)

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]