One outcome of the remarkable success attending the pioneer Alaskan railway was the embarkation upon another undertaking in the same country, this time under United States auspices. This, however, was a far more ambitious scheme. It involved the building of a standard-gauge road from Seward, in Resurrection Bay, some miles north of Skaguay, to the town of Fairbanks, 463 miles inland, the idea being not only to bring the latter point into touch with the coast, but also to tap rich coal deposits and vast forests of lumber. Unfortunately this project has not been attended with that success which marked the White Pass & Yukon line. After 54 miles were completed its finances became so entangled as to require the offices of a receiver to straighten matters out. However, it must be explained that several unforeseen circumstances contributed to this chequered career over which the engineers had no control. Such calamities as floods, arising from the melting snows swelling the glacial rivers, landslides and avalanches wrought widespread damage time after time. Moreover, constructional work was not quite so straightforward as on the road more to the south, for progress was arrested repeatedly by the necessity of carrying out heavier work than the surveys contemplated. Seward is situate on a flat, and the line was driven through a convenient river valley from this point into the mountains. The absence of any roads or even trails rendered investigation of the country fringing the proposed route precarious and trying because large stretches of swamp occupied the valleys, while the mountains were torn and broken, rising up steeply on either side. [Illustration: THE WONDERFUL HORSESHOE TIMBER TRESTLE 1,240 FEET LONG, VARYING FROM 40 TO 90 FEET HIGH, ON THE CENTRAL ALASKAN RAILWAY Over 1,000,000 lineal feet of timber was used in its construction.] The line was to conform in every particular to a first-class trunk system, with a maximum grade of only 1 in 50, with few and easy curves. That was the idea on paper, but it proved a terrible task to attempt to reduce theory to practice. Directly the base of operations at Seward was left, the engineers found the country in its primeval condition, the ground being covered with a tall, dense, dank grass between five and six feet in height, and tangled thick forests. Clearing alone was a tedious job, and the prevalence of bog rendered movement slow and exasperating. [Illustration: A WASH-OUT CAUSED BY THE PLACER RIVER IN FLOOD Showing-the extensive damage inflicted upon the embankment.] [Illustration: THE OBLITERATION OF THE LINE BY A LANDSLIDE Over 1,200 feet of track was torn up and carried 2000 feet down the mountain-side. TWO VISITATIONS OF NATURE WHICH OVERWHELM THE CENTRAL ALASKAN RAILWAY PERIODICALLY.]