In 1905 Myron K. Rodgers received a four-year contract to assist the Guggenheim family with their interests in Alaska. This work consisted of establishing coal claims in the Bering River coal field and building a railroad (Northwestern) to serve them. Myron Rodgers employed his brother Wesley P. Rodgers to carry out the surveys in 1906 and to build the railroad in 1907. The railroad started at Palm Point and extended to the northeast past the town of Katalla towards the coal fields. At Palm Point a loading pier was built into the bay and a branch line for the Copper River railroad was extended west to connect to it. The 1907 winter storm destroyed all of these facilities, including the engine house and support base.