the chickaloon coal works were the reason the RR from ship creek was undertaken in the first place; the US Navy in the Pacific was desperate for coal. by the time the buisness was well in hand, however, the Navy had begun to convert to oil. still. Deb's Grandpa and Uncle worked the mines. and the RR was used to bring colonists to Palmer.
Holt's Continous Linked Track Steam Tractor, or "caterpiller" became an icon of the turn of the century; the first really usable tracked vehicle was in demand for road building, farming, and moving heavy artillery, and could be found working heavy hauling jobs on rough ground into the 1920s,and even the 30s in out of the way places. the Holt running gear was the basis of "little willie" churchill's early prototype tank, and the evolutionary stem ancestor of the Tank Mk I, the Whippit, and the French Renault T-18 machines.
Holt catapiller tractor towing tracked wagons and wheeled wagons of supplies for constructing the AK RR, the location is approximately where Anderson, Alaska is today, a few miles south of Nenana. pretty nifty image.
