REFERENCE CODE: AkAMH

REPOSITORY NAME:
Anchorage Museum at Rasmuson Center
Bob and Evangeline Atwood Alaska Resource Center
625 C Street
Anchorage, AK 99501
Phone: 907-929-9235
Fax: 907-929-9233
Email: resourcecenter@anchoragemuseum.org

Guide prepared by: Sara Piasecki, Archivist

TITLE: Addison H. Laflin, Jr., Photographs

COLLECTION NUMBER: B2018.007

OVERVIEW OF THE COLLECTION

Dates: circa 1944

Extent: 1 box; 0.2 linear feet

Language and Scripts: The collection is in English.

Name of creator(s): Addison H. Laflin, Jr.; Charles F. Cann

Administrative/Biographical History:
Addison H. Laflin, Jr. (born 1911) served with the United States Army in Alaska during World
War II. He was apparently stationed at the Army camp in Nenana.1 After the war, he returned
to California and served as secretary of the Bay Area Electric Railroad Association for several
decades in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s. Nothing else was known about him at the time of
processing.

Scope and Content Description:
The collection contains 18 black-and-white negatives and 118 prints taken by Addison H. Laflin
Jr. during his service with the U.S. Army in Alaska during World War II. The images primarily
depict Alaska Railroad equipment and facilities, riverboats, and military installations. For more
information, see Detailed Description of Collection.

1 According to Lyman Woodman, “Nenana did not become a post, remaining merely a camp. Company E, 138th
/
Infantry, arrived in May 1943. One Army Transport Service unit, a platoon of the 878th
/ Port Company, medical
detachment, and a few Harbor Craft unit men were stationed there to protect military property and help load
river craft and barges bound for Galena.” Duty Station Northwest, vol. 2, p. 239.


Arrangement: Arranged by format and subject. Addendum numbered at end of series.


CONDITIONS GOVERNING ACCESS AND USE

Restrictions on Access: The collection is open for research use.

Physical Access: Original items in good condition.

Technical Access: No special equipment is needed to access the materials. A lightbox may be
used to view transparencies.

Conditions Governing Reproduction and Use:
The Anchorage Museum is the owner of the materials and makes available reproductions for
research, publication, and other uses. Written permission must be obtained from the
Anchorage Museum before any reproduction use. The Anchorage Museum does not
necessarily hold copyright to all of the materials in the collections. In some cases, permission
for use may require seeking additional authorization from the copyright owners.

Preferred Citation:
Addison H. Laflin, Jr., Photographs; Anchorage Museum, B2018.007

ADMINISTRATIVE INFORMATION

Acquisition and Appraisal Information
Transferred from the Western Railway Museum in April 2018. Addendum of 10 prints received
March 2019. Addendum of 10 prints (including 2 prints matching previously received
negatives) received in May 2019.

RELATED MATERIALS
Alaska Railroad Collection, B1979.002

SUBJECTS
Alaska Railroad
Railroads—Alaska
Paddle steamers—Alaska
World War, 1939-1945—Alaska
Transportation, Military—Alaska
Nenana (Alaska)
Fairbanks (Alaska)
Sitka (Alaska)
Skagway (Alaska)


Detailed Description of the Collection

Negatives
1 — [Alaska Railroad train at Nenana depot, passenger car 1332 at left, men on platform at right. Has print]
2 — [soldier posed next to sign reading “A golden spike was driven at this point by President Harding on completion of the Alaska Railroad July 15, 1923”]
3 — [Alaska Railroad locomotive 701 in Nenana yard]
4 — [paddle steamer Yukon at Nenana dock, two men on deck]
5 — [paddle steamer Yukon at Nenana dock, men on deck]
6 — [view across tracks to Nenana depot, businesses in background including Fowler’s and W.A. Coghill General Outfitters]
7 — [paddle steamer Yukon approaching Nenana dock. Has print]
8 — [paddle steamer Yukon approaching Nenana dock]
9 — [paddle steamer under way on Tanana River]
10 — [paddle steamer Alice and Alaska Railroad barge No. 201 approaching Nenana dock, men standing on barge, man on dock at left. Has print]
11 — [paddle steamer Barry K. leaving Nenana dock, crane on dock at left]
12 — [paddle steamers Alice and Yukon at Nenana dock, Nenana Ice Classic tower in right background]
13 — [paddle steamer Barry K. at Nenana dock, crane on dock at left. Has print]
14 — [paddle steamer Yukon at Nenana dock in winter]
15 — [military tents at Nenana, steam locomotive on railroad tracks in background, riverboat at dock in distance]
16 — [bird’s eye view of Fairbanks taken from Cushman Street Bridge, with railroad depot in center background, automobiles on street near Locomotive No. 1 display, Samson Hardware Company at left. Has print with note: “Fairbanks, end of line of Alaska Railroad, (x) [illegible] just across from the Ford sign”]
17 — [bird’s eye view of Fairbanks taken from Cushman Street Bridge, with railroad depot in center background, automobiles on street near Locomotive No. 1 display, Samson Hardware Company, Glenn Carrington & Co., Melody Inn, and West Coast Grocery at left. Cf. .90]
18 — [view down railroad tracks to Fairbanks depot, Locomotive No. 1 display at right, Consumer’s Co-op in right background, Melody Inn and West Coast Grocery at left. Has print with note: “Mixed train leaving Fairbanks. Tanana Valley No. 1 (now ARR 1) in foreground. Melody Inn’s radio advertisement ‘Just across the bridge by the little locomotive’”] Prints
 19 — My tent is 2 nd from the coal box in the same row, X marks the spot [Army tents set up near Nenana railroad yard]
 20 — Aerial view of Nenana [bird’s eye view, with railroad track at left, Army tents at right, buildings in distance. Cf. .23]
 21 — [view across railroad track to Army tents and railroad building, men walking in middle ground]
 22 — [view across curving railroad tracks to tractors parked next to Army tents, buildings in background, possibly depot in distance at left]
 23 — [bird’s eye view of Nenana, with railroad building and Army tents at left, other buildings at right. Cf. .20]
 24 — Passenger train at Nenana’s Grand Central Station [passengers boarding train, Army truck parked next to pile of baggage in middle ground, depot in background]
 25 — Another view PX train [McKeen motorcar at Nenana depot]
 26 — [locomotive 901 at head of train at Nenana depot, Army truck parked next to station]
 27 — [locomotive 703 at head of train at Nenana depot]
 28 — [distant view of Nenana depot, with long freight train of skeleton flatcars at left]
 29 — Old Alaska R.R. car, Nenana [passenger car X333 in yard]
 30 — Eng. 555, Alaska R.R., Nenana [locomotive 555 in yard]
 31 — Merry Christmas to Mother from Addison [locomotive 501 at Nenana]
 32 — [boxcars at Nenana]
 33 — Train at Nenana depot [caboose in foreground, passengers boarding near depot in background]
 34 — [locomotive 901 at head of train at Nenana depot, flatbed truck parked at left]
 35 — [mechanic standing next to locomotive 901 at Nenana]
 36 — [two soldiers in uniform posed on steps of passenger car X332]
 37 — [passenger car X332 at Nenana depot]
 38 — [locomotive 501 at head of train at Nenana]
 39 — Alaska Railroad PX train at Nenana, 1944 [engineer looking out of locomotive 605 at head of train]
 40 — [passenger cars and skeleton flatcar on track, probably near Nenana]
 41 — [locomotive 554 in front of railroad building, probably at Nenana]
 42 — [Army truck converted to rail motorcar in yard, probably at Nenana]
 43 — [Army truck converted to rail motorcar in Nenana yard]
 44 — [view of front of Nenana depot, train behind building, two soldiers walking at left, truck parked in front of building at right, baggage being unloaded from train in center background]
 45 — [locomotive 555 at head of train at Nenana depot]
 46 — PX train at Nenana [men walking next to McKeen rail motorcar at end of train, Nenana Ice Classic tower in left background]
 47 — [McKeen rail motorcar at end of train at Nenana, children playing with dog next to tracks in foreground]
 48 — [passenger train at Nenana depot, crowd of passengers next to station]
 49 — [view down road to locomotive 802 at head of freight train near Nenana dock]
 50 — [people walking in road next to passenger cars at Nenana, Railroad Crossing sign at left, possibly concrete mixer at right]
 51 — [locomotive 703 at head of train in Nenana yard, possibly coal being loaded at left]
 52 — [locomotive 802 at head of train in Nenana yard, possibly coal being loaded at left]
 53 — [soldier posed on boxcar 1101]
 54 — [soldier posed on boxcar 614]
 55 — [soldier posed on boxcar 815]
 56 — [parlor observation cars, probably at Nenana]
 57 — [men standing next to locomotive 501 and skeleton flatcar in Nenana yard]
 58 — Alaska Railroad passenger extra motor 111. A Kalamazoo Bus. Note the spare tires. This is the smallest unit called a “motor” (the Brill car is 114) [rail motorcar in Nenana yard]
 59 — [boxcars in Nenana yard]
 60 — [passenger car 50 at Nenana depot]
 61 — [view down road in Nenana, railroad yard and river at left, pedestrians in middle ground, bridge in background]
 62 — [soldier posed in front of Northern Commercial Co. store and Post Office at Nenana]
 63 — [soldier posed in front of Nenana Liquor Store and Fowler’s]
 64 — “House of Mystery.” The captains & the trainmaster hang out here. This is the original house of that [ferry?] stationery I was using for a while [exterior of small building with sign for American Yukon Navigation Co., railroad Freight Depot in background]
 65 — [soldier crouched on track approaching Nenana Bridge]
 66 — [soldier posed next to sign commemorating the driving of the golden spike on the Alaska Railroad, July 15, 1923]
 67 — [soldier sitting on steps of The Church Door Canteen]
 68 — [paddle steamer at Nenana dock]
 69 — [Alaska Railroad barge 201 at Nenana dock]
 70 — [Alaska Railroad barge 201 at Nenana dock]
 71 — [Alaska Railroad barge 401 at Nenana dock]
 72 — [soldier posed on Nenana dock next to paddle steamer Yukon]
 73 — [close-up of paddle steamer Nenana at Nenana dock, with sign for U.S. Mail]
 74 — Str. Nenana & Yukon & Alaska Railroad barge 401, Nenana [paddle steamers Nenana and Yukon with barge 401 at dock]
 75 — [steamboat Northland at dock]
 76 — [view down Nenana dock in winter, metal barrels in foreground, bridge in distance, paddle steamer under way]
 77 — [bird’s eye view of Nenana dock, man on deck of riverboat at left, metal barrels on dock, boxcar on railroad track at right]
 78 — [paddle steamer at Nenana dock, barge carrying lumber in foreground, crane at right]
 79 — [paddle steamer Barry K. at Nenana dock]
 80 — Str. Barry K in midstream. Note the snow on the dock [paddle steamer Yukon at Nenana dock, Barry K. under way at left]
 81 — Str. Nenana. Built new for Alaska Railroad in 1915. This boat has expansion engines and a condenser which is very rare on Alaska river steamers. It burns wood. Locally called the “White Elephant” it was built in Nenana at a cost of half a million dollars and it cost another half million to get it into navigating shape [paddle steamer Nenana under way]
 82 — Str. Alice & ARR barge 201 about to turn downstream. Alice is smallest steamer of the gold rush days [paddle steamer Alice and barge under way]
 83 — [paddle steamer Barry K. in dry dock at Nenana]
 84 — Yukon, Alice, Nenana, Barry K., [at] Nenana [bird’s eye view of dock, with one paddle steamer in dry dock at left, one at dock in center, one under way at right]
 85 — Str. Nenana, Marine Ways, Nenana, Alaska [paddle steamer Nenana at dock, second paddle steamer at right]
 86 — Str. Yukon about to turn downstream. A former White Pass & Yukon boat now owned by Alaska Railroad. Burns wood, has no condenser [paddle steamer Yukon under way pushing barge, possibly carrying bridge sections]
 87 — [paddle steamer under way]
 88 — [Fairbanks depot]
 89 — Another view Fairbanks depot. Little engine is Tanana Valley Railroad Engine 1, later taken over by ARR. It is narrow gauge [view down track to rear of train, locomotive No. 1 at right, depot in background]
 90 — Fairbanks depot [distant view of railroad depot in center background, Locomotive No. 1 on display at left in front of West Coast Grocery, boardwalk in right foreground. Cf. .17]
 91 — [bird’s eye view of Fairbanks taken from Cushman Street Bridge, with train at depot in center background, Locomotive No. 1 on display in front of West Coast Grocery at left. Cf. .17]
 92 — [view down road to Fairbanks depot, train next to Locomotive No. 1 display at left, automobile parked at right]
 93 — [view across Anchorage yard looking southeast, with locomotive 301 at head of train at left, railroad hospital on bluff in background, photographer’s shadow in foreground]
 94 — Anchorage yard, Burrel Willis [soldier posed on steps of passenger car, photographer’s shadow in foreground]
 95 — Anchorage yard [Brill motorcar 115 in yard]
 96 — Anchorage yard [passenger car #2, photographer’s shadow in foreground]
 97 — [Sitka in winter, cannon and totem pole in foreground, Lincoln Street in background]
 98 — [Lincoln Street scene in summer, with pedestrians and automobiles, St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral in distance]
 99 — [bird’s eye view of Sitka in summer, probably from Castle Hill, with St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral in center]
 100 — [bird’s eye view of Sitka in winter, possibly from Castle Hill, with St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral in center]
 101 — [Sitka in winter, taken from dock looking toward Totem Square, Pioneer Home at left, Lincoln Street buildings in background]
 102 — [church interior, probably St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral, Sitka]
 103 — [exterior of St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral, Sitka]
 104 — [exterior of St. Michael the Archangel Cathedral, Sitka]
 105 — [scenic with snow-capped Mount Edgecumbe]
 106 — [scenic with snow-capped Mount Edgecumbe]
 107 — [steamship Alaska at Sitka dock]
 108 — [steamship under way near Sitka]
 109 — [steamship North Sea under way]
 110 — [White Pass & Yukon Route locomotive on street in Skagway, Arctic Brotherhood building at left, signs for businesses including Washington Fruit Store, Canadian Pacific, Alaska Steamship Company]
 111 — Tanana River Bridge, Nenana, Alaska [photographic postcard]
 112 — Fairbanks, Alaska [photographic postcard. Locomotive No. 1 display in winter]
 113 — “Railfanning” at Nenana. Young Addison Laflin [soldier posed on boxcar 1203]
 114 — [men sitting on Plymouth ML-8 locomotive marked “U.S.A. 7613 Julia” in yard. Acquired by Alaska Railroad in 1946]
 115 — Str. Alice: Alaska Railroad’s smallest steamer. Smallest gold rush steamer. Burns woods & exhausts like a steam engine [paddle steamer Alice pushing barge at Nenana]
 116 — [paddle steamer Yukon at Nenana dock in winter, another steamer visible under way in background]
 117 — Rear view of Nenana, only steamer with a condenser & compound engines on Tanana, a wood burner [paddle steamer Nenana at Nenana dock]
 118 — Alaska Railroad steamer Nenana on Tanana River at Nenana [paddle steamer Nenana under way]
 119 — Alaska Railroad Nenana Bridge (Tanana River), Sept. 1944 [view across river, Mears Memorial Bridge at left, steam locomotive approaching bridge in distance, paddle steamer and barge at dock]
 120 — [bird’s eye view of Nenana from above railroad tracks looking towards depot, military tents at right, buildings in distance]
 121 — [Nenana docks, paddle steamer in dry dock in foreground, second paddle steamer and barge at dock at left, Mears Memorial Bridge in background]
 122 — Business section, Nenana [street scene, with businesses including Fowler’s, Nenana Liquor Store, W.A. Coghill, Northern Commercial Co.]
 123 — Regular passenger train, Alaska Railroad, leaving Nenana for Anchorage. Yard tracks you see are south of station and were put in when Nenana was [penurious?] [locomotive and cars approaching wye or siding, metal barrels at right]
 124 — First snow of winter season at Nenana. Freight from Fairbanks arrives 552 (Gypsee Rose Lee type the Railroad magazine calls it) pulling it [view across snowy yard to train next to depot at right, warehouses at left]
 125 — Alaska Railroad 751, largest engine on the Alaska Railroad. One of the very few stoker equipped engines. The 752 second largest engine is hand-fired [locomotive 751 in Nenana yard]
 126 — Former R1 ice car, for use in either freight or passenger trains [boxcar 911 in yard]
 127 — Passenger train ready to leave Fairbanks [locomotive and cars next to depot, automobile parked at left, light snow falling]
 128 — Curry Hotel, the Alaska Railroad. P-16, Cann [photographic postcard. Locomotive 605 at head of train at Curry depot, passengers on platform]
 129 — [photographic postcard. Nenana depot, with bicycle and baggage cart in front, Mears Memorial Bridge in background]
 130 — Nenana depot, the Alaska Railway. P-128, Cann [photographic postcard. Locomotive 601 at head of train at depot, passengers on platform] Guide updated: June 10, 2019