Palmer Railroad i
Depot "Grows Up" 1
The railroad depot was only a '
£>oxcar when the Colonists came 1
to Palmer. j1
Palmer was a siding. Trains I 1
ran to Fairbanks on Friday and j
back on Tuesday. There were five <
or six freight cars on the usual \ i
run, and one passenger coach. j i
Growth of the Alaska Railroad !
into the Matanuska Valley was j £
briefed today by C. L. Nelson, ! (
first agent in charge at Palmer *
and still on the job; and second *
oldest in employe length of time ,r
with the Alaska Railroad.
Nelson, who started “in busi- j
ness” as a Western Union mes- *
sejnger when he was 13, broke in- .
to railroading when he came to .
know the telegraph operator in .
his town and gave him good ser- f
vice. In 1909 he went to work .
with the Northwestern Railroad,
then to the New York Central.
He came to Alaska in 1934, for t
the Alaska Railroad. r
As relief agent at Seward he j
saw the arrival of the Colonists j r
on the North Star and St. Mihael ! '•
—“just good, everyday families” I c
he described them. A bit be- s
wildered some of them; some;
highly hopeful.
Since coming to Palmer as agent t
in charge, he has seen the rail- a
road staff here grow from a one
man job to eight; from two trains j c
weekly, which went to Premier, : \
Eska and Jonesville for coal mine j t
service, to a daily train. From a j
h*tlf dozen cars to half-a-hundred. s
“Where we used to ship in one I:
sack of sugar now we get a car- t
load,” Nelson said. “Instead of r
one sack of fertilizer we now 1
ship in 2,000,000 pounds.”
When Nelson first came to p
Palmer, John Bugge was raising : o
horses on what now is the main r
street. There was no highway to n
Anchorage, only the railroad, t’
When the first road was put f<
Maska Salmon
banners Named On
Actional Board
The office of price stabiliza
ion’s national office in Washing
on, D. C., has invited Alaska and
Washington salmon cannery men
o serve on advisory committees.
Industry advisory committees
ire set up preliminary to drafting :
lew regulations to obtain opin
ons and technical assistance.
Included on the canned salmon
idvisory group are: Howard L.
:ott, Pacific American Fisheries;
'rank Wright. Pyramid Fisheries;
I. A. Fleager, Alaska Pacific Sal
non Co.; H. B. Friele, Nakat
’acking Corp.; Vance F. Sutter, I
'idalgo Island Packing Co.; Chas. !
). Alhadeff, Whiz Fish Products |
'o.; Oscar Bergseth, New Eng- j
and Fish Co.; Guy V. Graham, j
dbby, McNeill & Libby; E. O. ]
>aup, P. E. Harris & Co., and C. |
'. Johnson, Port Ashton Packing j
'orp.
hrough, floods from the Mata
uska River washed it out.
Main line of the Alaska Rail
oad was first to Chickaloon,
/hich means “bad wind” — the
pposite of Chinook, the mild and
unny winds.
Expansion Needs
Nelson told of additions built
o the first little unit of the Al
ska Railroad depot of Palmer.
“It’s not big enough yet,” he
ommented. “We need more
warehouse space, among other
lings.”
Received this week are new
witch ties for the extension of
ouse track. Present siding is
30 small and the extension will
?ach to about the location of the
ost Service Station.
The main street of Palmer runs
arallel to the railroad and most
f the main street is railroad
ight-of-way. So far no ease
lents have been granted—and
lat might be another problem
)r the new city fathers.
Senate Passes
SIIV2 Millions
For Alaska
A total appropriation of $11
1-2 million for Alaska has been
approved by the senate appropri
ations committee in reporting the
third supplemental appropriation
bill for the 1951 fiscal year.
This is an increase of $500,000
over House allowances.
Fire-destroyed facilities will be
rebuilt at Bethel and Anchorage
with the money contained in the
bill, $3 1-2 million for a 70-bed
hospital at Bethel and $4 1-2 mil
lion for shop facilities at Anchor
age for The Alaska Railroad.
The remainder of $3 1-2 million,
would go for highways in the
Tongass National Forest. Funds
earmarked for surveys, construc
tion, reconstruction and main
tenance of highways in the for
est to be used in connection with
establishment of pulp plants near
Ketchikan, Juneau and Sitka.
During the 81st Congress author
ization in the amount of $7 mil
lion was granted for such high
ways, and the money contained
in the bill reported to the Senate
represents half the authorization.
The remainder is contained in the
budget for the 1952 fiscal year.
The increase of $500,000 over
the amount allowed by the House
when the third supplemental bill
was passed represents the full $4
1-2 million budget request for re
placing shop facilities of The Al
aska Railroad destroyed in Jan
uary. The House committee on
apropriations in reducing the re
quest to $4 million had stated
that by consolidating the struc
tures a saving could be accom
plished. The Senate committee
restored the request to $4 1-2 mil
THE ALASKA LINE
SEATTLE
MEMORIAL DAY
A day to renew a promise . . . that
we the living shall pass on to those
who come after us, their heritage of
Freedom, unstained, unfettered and
unbound.
Closed Memorial Day
May 30th
MATANUSKA VALLEY BANK
Palmer, Alaska
Open Friday Evenings—5 to 7 P. M.
2 PER CENT ON SAVINGS
Passenger Service
FROM SEWARD
SS Denali SS Baranof
Thurs., May 31,
Valdez
Juneau
Petersburg
Wrangell'
Seattle
. Freighter Service
From Seattle
M.V. SUSITNA
May 30
Sutter and Seward
A FREIGHTER
June 6
for Seward and Valdez
FOR INFORMATION
Phone 22001
Thurs., June 7
Sitka
Juneau
Petersburg
Ketchikan
Seattle
T. J. MALONEY, Agent
Office: Westward Hotel
Anchorage, Alaska
ALASKA
STEAMSHIP COMPANY
lion as “testimony before this
committee was to the effect that
best railroad practices call for
separate buildings to reduce fire
hazards. The committee there
fore recommended the budget es
timate of $4 1-2 million in order
that separate buildings may be
constructed to house the various
shops.”
Coffey Insures Everything—
Remember?
r\jnTrir:v,!vn iTV'.rrr
rr^^rnnjriflrnT^^inmiTramr.MiwT
D. G. Gott, one of two travel
ling auditors for the Alaska Com
munication System, is in Palmer
before going Outside on vacation.
He’s breaking in his cohorts on
the job. Mrs. Jane Clifton and
David Peckham. Gott has co%’
ered the entire Territory many
times. His four years in Alaska
have been continuous travel to
even remotest points.
.. .
Fine Photography
Palmesi Studio
Palmer Drug Bldg.
J
!il
Just Arrived
>
Long-awaited
ZENITH REFRIGERATORS
and DEEP FREEZES
GRASSER'S
HARD WA RE &
SPORTING GOODS
NOW
OPEN
i««<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<
Hallea Lodge N2°
KENAI PENINSULA ON
KATCHEMAK BAY AT MOUTH
OF BRADLEY RIVER
FISH ARE NOW RUNNING AND
BEAR HUNTING IS GOOD
Clayton DeLand, Resident Guide
Leo Lucas, Non-resident Guide
For Information, Reservations, Write to
H. E. FREDERICK
Box 14, Wasilla. Alaska — Lodge No. 1