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Web posted
Gamble treated the audience at the World Trade Center Alaska to a history lesson May 29, as he spoke of the past, present and future of the railroad and the importance of a rail connection to tidewater in Alaska. In the early 1900s, conservationists successfully lobbied President Teddy Roosevelt to withdraw coal lands from Alaska, Gamble explained. In May 1911, a group of Cordova residents protested the use of imported coal rather than local resources. They shoveled Canadian coal into the bay, imitating the Boston Tea Party. The event, which came to be known as the Cordova Coal Party, highlighted the need to connect the region's natural resources to the water. Presidents William Howard Taft and Woodrow Wilson formed a commission in 1914 tasked with linking coal fields in Alaska to tidewater. According to Gamble the project started with $1 million and permission to use any of the equipment left over from the recently completed Panama Canal project.
In addition, the railroad hauls loads of naptha from the Williams refinery for export to Japan. The train also meets up weekly in Whittier with a barge from Seattle operated by Alaska Railbelt Marine. The 50 rail-car capacity barge hauls cars loaded with product, primarily mining equipment. "The bad news is we don't move much out of Alaska," said Gamble, suggesting the need for more exports. Last year, Korea cancelled a contract with Usebelli Coal Mine for exported coal. The railroad, which hauled the coal from the mine to Seward, estimated a loss of about $4 million annually in revenue. The parties involved are negotiating to resume the relationship, although the quantity of shipments would be less, said Pat Flynn, spokesman for the railroad. The success of the negotiations could mean two more years of coal shipments for the railroad. While the company can look back on a century of service, it can also look forward to fulfilling an important role in future transportation for the state. One prospective endeavor for the railroad may be to support the Army's new Stryker Brigade, Gamble said. The brigade is scheduled to have initial operational capabilities at forts Wainwright and Richardson by May 2005. The brigade, designed for quick-reaction capability, would require movement on short notice. The railroad hopes to be instrumental in that, according to Gamble. The railroad's role would be to transport the Stryker vehicles and other heavy equipment and supplies to the Port of Anchorage, where it would be loaded onto ships for deployment around the world. Another possibility for the future of the railroad is to extend the rail into the interior of Alaska, said Gamble. According to Flynn, the company has explored the possibility of adding rail to support mining in Delta and Nome. It has also studied the possibility of expanding to the North Slope to transport goods and equipment. The two questions the company must address before expanding into the Interior are: Who is going to pay for it? and how do we make revenue from it? said Gamble. The third point that Gamble touched on for the future of the railroad is hauling containers from the ships at the port. The railroad moves some containers now but he explained that is a service they would like to expand. In closing, Gamble stressed the importance of natural resources to Alaska's economic future. "We are never going to make computer chips here," he said. "Our natural resources are it." The Alaska Railroad will play a major role in transporting those resources, Gamble said -- just like it has for almost a hundred years.
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