View source for Tanana Valley Railroad

{{Short description|Transport company in United States of America}}
{{Use American English|date=June 2025}}
{{Infobox rail
|railroad_name     = Tanana Valley Railroad
|logo_filename     = 
|logo_size         = 
|system_map        = 
|map_caption       = 
|map_size          = 
|marks             = 
|image             = TVRR train at Chatanika, Alaska, 1916.jpg
|image_size        = 300
|image_caption     = Train of the '''Tanana Valley Railroad''' at the station in [[Chatanika, Alaska]], 1916.
|locale            = [[Fairbanks, Alaska|Fairbanks]] to [[Chatanika, Alaska|Chatanika]]
|start_year        = 1904/1905
|end_year          = 1917<br/>AEC purchased TVRR assets and operated the Chatanika Branch line until decommissioning it in 1930
|predecessor_line  = Tanana Mines Railway
|successor_line    = Alaskan Engineering Commission Railroad, a.k.a. [[Alaska Railroad]]
|gauge             = {{RailGauge|3ft|lk=on}}
|old_gauge         = 
|electrification   = 
|length            = {{Convert|45|mi|km}} <ref name="History">Alaska Railroad Corporation. {{Cite web|title=Alaska Railroad History|url=http://www.akrr.com/ARRC119.html|accessdate=2011-11-24|archive-date=2006-07-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060710032602/http://www.akrr.com/arrc119.html|url-status=dead}}</ref>
|hq_city           = Fairbanks
|website           = 
}}
{{Location map+ | USA Alaska | border= | caption=Location of Tanana Valley Railroad | width=300 | places=
 {{Location map~|USA Alaska|lat_dir=N |lon_dir=W|lat_deg=65|lat_min=6|lat_sec=44|lon_deg=147|lon_min=28|lon_sec=38|marksize=4|position=right|label=Chatanika}}
 {{Location map~|USA Alaska|lat_dir=N |lon_dir=W|lat_deg=64|lat_min=51|lat_sec=19|lon_deg=147|lon_min=43|lon_sec=14|marksize=4|position=left|label=Fairbanks}}
}} 
The '''Tanana Valley Railroad''' (TVRR) was a {{RailGauge|3ft|lk=on}} [[Narrow gauge railway|narrow gauge]] railroad that operated in the [[Tanana Valley]] of [[Alaska]] from 1905 to about 1917. A portion of the railroad later became part of the [[Alaska Railroad]].

== History ==
The TVRR was incorporated as the '''Tanana Mines Railway''' in 1904, construction on the first section started and completed in 1905. The main speaker at the gala golden spike ceremony was Judge Wickersham and Mrs. Isabelle Barnett accepted the golden spike.<ref name=harper>{{cite book|last1=Borneman|first1=Walter R.|title=Alaska : saga of a bold land|date=2003|publisher=HarperCollins|location=New York, NY|isbn=0-06-050306-8|edition=1st}}</ref>{{rp|217}}  The builder was Falcon Joslin who was called the "Harriman of the North".<ref name=harper />{{rp|260}} It was renamed the Tanana Valley Railroad in 1907. The company declared [[bankruptcy]] and was liquidated c. 1917. The U.S. government purchased the railroad in June 1917.<ref name="History" /> The section between [[Fairbanks, Alaska|Fairbanks]] and [[Happy, Alaska|Happy]] was converted to [[dual gauge]] by the [[Alaskan Engineering Commission]], in order to complete a {{RailGauge|4ft8.5in|allk=on}} railroad line from [[Seward, Alaska|Seward]] to Fairbanks. This line became the [[Alaska Railroad]] (Alaska RR) in 1923. The Alaska RR continued to operate the former TVRR narrow-gauge line as the Chatanika Branch, until decommissioning it in 1930.

== Preservation ==
In 1922, the railroad's Engine No. 1, the first [[steam locomotive]] in Fairbanks and the [[Yukon]], was retired. Its restoration was begun in 1997 and completed in 2000. As of 2011 it is still being steamed up several times a year. A small museum for the engine was built in 2005 in [[Pioneer Park, Fairbanks|Pioneer Park]]. On July 20, 2019, Engine #1 was a star attraction when it operated on its 120th birthday at a reenactment of the TVRR's Golden Spike ceremony.

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{Refbegin}}
* Friends of the Tanana Valley Railroad. [http://www.fairnet.org/agencies/tvrr/history.html "History of the Tanana Valley Railroad."] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160117131848/http://www.fairnet.org/agencies/tvrr/history.html |date=2016-01-17 }} Accessed 2011-11-14.
* [http://www.fairnet.org/agencies/tvrr/news.html Friends of the Tanana Valley Railroad news archive]
* {{Cite web |title=Tanana Valley Railroad |publisher=(independent) Alaska Railroad historical organization |url=http://www.alaskarails.org/historical/construction/tvrr/index.html |accessdate=2008-07-17 }}
{{Refend}}

== External links ==
{{Portal|Railways}}
{{Commons category-inline}}
* [http://206.103.49.193/odds/ak/htm/tvr01.htm Photo of a battery-electric car of the Tanana Valley Railroad]
{{clear}}
{{Gallery
|title=
|width=200
|height=200
|align=center
|File:Falcon Joslin.jpg|Falcon Joslin
|File:TVRR train crossing a trestle bridge, 1916.jpg |alt3= TVRR crossing a trestle bridge over Fox Gulch in 1916 |A train of the Tanana Valley Railroad crossing a [[trestle bridge]] over Fox Gulch in 1916.
|File:Tanana Valley No 1.jpg |alt1= Locomotive 1 in Pioneer Park, Fairbanks, 2011 |Tanana Valley Steam Locomotive No. 1 in Pioneer Park, Fairbanks, 2011
|File:Tanana Valley No 67.jpg |alt2= Replica locomotive in Pioneer Park, Fairbanks, 2011 |Replica of Tanana Valley Steam Locomotive, running trains in Pioneer Park, Fairbanks, 2011
}}

{{Alaska railroads|state=collapsed}}
{{Alaska history footer|state=collapsed}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Tanana Valley Railroad}}
[[Category:Defunct Alaska railroads]]
[[Category:Transportation in Fairbanks North Star Borough, Alaska]]
[[Category:Narrow-gauge railroads in Alaska]]
[[Category:3 ft gauge railways in the United States]]
[[Category:Alaska Railroad]]
[[Category:Tanana Athabaskans]]
[[Category:Railway lines closed in 1930]]
[[Category:Railway lines opened in 1905]]


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