The Alaska Agricultural Action Council (AAAC), an Alaska State agency supporting the Delta Barley project in the early 1980s, not only purchased the grain cars but also leased land from the railroad in Seward for grain silos. They built the concrete foundations for the silos. When the dream faded in 1984, the AAAC went away. The State of Alaska was stuck with both the cars and the Seward leasehold. The State and the ARRC entered a Memorandum of Understanding to settle these matters.

The grain cars were sold off (except for the two retained by the ARRC for Alaska customers). The funds generated from the sale were used to satisfy the past-due leasehold payments and to end the lease in Seward. Then the funds were used to restore the leasehold, except the ARRC agreed to accept the grain silo foundations intact (they are still there today).

After that, the remaining funds were to be used for projects of mutual interest between the State and the ARRC.

Over the years, two state “land disposal” projects had left the ARRC with unresolved issues. The funds were used on to mitigate the impacts of these State projects. One was the 1995 construction of the Chase Trail from Talkeetna to MP 232. The other funded the maintenance of crossing signals at Cheri Lake crossing (MP 171.26, 868325J).

- Tom Brooks, ARRC Engineering Department Retired, (1986 to 2017).

Page created 1/3/24 and last updated 1/3/24