Gilahina Trestle
The largest of the trestles along the Copper River & Northwestern Railway ( dubbed Can't Run and Never Will by skeptical locals ), this was built in January 1911. The thermometer fell to as low as -67 F during the construcion. 880 feet long and 90 feet tall, it used over 500,000 board fett of lumber.
The bitter cold lasted throught the entire construction of the Gilahina Trestle. As winter temperatures plummeted, workers bundled up against the piercing chill of winter.
Carpenters struggled with timbers that split and cracked from the cold. It was impossible to drive pilings into the frozen ground. Holes had to be blasted to anchor the pilings.
In spite of the terrible working conditions, skilled workers rose to the challenge and completed the trestle in just eight days !
On 1/28/1911 the first train crossed, carrying construction supplies to continue the work of building a railway to the site of the future Kennicott copper mine.
Gilahina Trestle
The largest of the trestles along the Copper River & Northwestern Railway ( dubbed Can't Run and Never Will by skeptical locals ), this was built in January 1911. The thermometer fell to as low as -67 F during the construcion. 880 feet long and 90 feet tall, it used over 500,000 board fett of lumber.
The bitter cold lasted throught the entire construction of the Gilahina Trestle. As winter temperatures plummeted, workers bundled up against the piercing chill of winter.
Carpenters struggled with timbers that split and cracked from the cold. It was impossible to drive pilings into the frozen ground. Holes had to be blasted to anchor the pilings.
In spite of the terrible working conditions, skilled workers rose to the challenge and completed the trestle in just eight days !
On 1/28/1911 the first train crossed, carrying construction supplies to continue the work of building a railway to the site of the future Kennicott copper mine.