Gasoline-electric railroad car, Alaska Northern Railroad, Turnagain Arm near Mile 70, 1909

• Other Authors: University of Washington Libraries, Special Collections Division
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Railroad cars > Alaska > Railroad tracks > Alaska; Bays > Alaska; Alaska Northern Railroad; Turnagain Arm (Alaska); Railroads > Cars; Railroads > Track; Anchorage; Pacific; Beluga; Beluga*; Alaska
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/alaskawcanada/id/484

On verso of image: The gasoline-electric car on the Alaska Northern Ry. in 1909, along Turnagain Arm near Mile 70. PH Coll 1185.58 Turnagain Arm is an arm of Cook Inlet, located just south of Anchorage. Named by Captain Cook on his last voyage to Alaska and Hawaii. While searching for a shortcut to the Pacific Ocean, they had to turn again, again and again at low tide. The Turnagain Arm is actually a glacial fjord from the late Holocene, infilled with intertidal sediment. Located in the lower arm of the Cook Inlet, east of Anchorage, the Arm is housed between the Kenai peninsula and Chugach mountains, making a very picturesque backdrop. The region experiences the second largest tidal range in the northern Americas, reaching twelve metres (over 30 feet). The tidal bore is first visible at the Arm's broadest a long way out from Beluga Point as a small surge. The bore then meanders it's path through the many banks that line the Arm, eventually following a course along the Chugach side, parallel to the Seaward Highway. From this point the bore is at it's most impressive as far as Girdwood, and then for the remainder of it's journey to Portage the bore dissipates. It takes over five hours for the bore to travel it's course, and there are many suitable stop-offs along the highway to watch the spectacle. An array of wildlife follows the bore up the Arm, including Beluga whales in late summer.