The Epic Story of Alaska's Copper River Railway

Between 1907 and 1911, in the face of howling winds, surging glaciers, and temperatures falling to 60 below zero, the Copper River & Northwestern Railway was built through the wilderness of eastern Alaska. This video traces the epic story of the railroad's construction.

The sequel to this video follows my journey along the Copper River in search of the railroad's remains:

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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction
0:43 Copper at Kennicott
1:51 The Alaska Syndicate
2:49 Big Mike Heney
3:29 The Copper River route
4:08 Construction begins
4:57 Bringing boats over the mountains
5:41 Canyons, dynamite, and ice
6:41 Planning the Million Dollar Bridge
7:49 Piers and caissons
8:30 Working through the winter
9:00 Laying the falsework
10:05 The spans begin to rise
11:05 The final push
12:16 The Chitina Bridge
12:50 The Kuskulana Bridge
13:28 The Gilahina Trestle
14:02 The tracks reach Kennicott
15:20 The railroad is abandoned
16:24 My journey down the Copper River