The historic Potter section house and Potter Marsh Wildlife Viewing Area mark the junction of Cook Inlet and Turnagain Arm,  so named when Captain Cook's search up the arm for the Northwest Passage ended when he had to "turn again."

The section house was originally was built by the Alaska Railroad for the section foreman and his family plus rooms for the track laborers. Each foreman had a section of track (usually about 20 miles) to take care maintain.  Before the 1964 quake there were large hay flats here.  This is where the AEC kept a large stable for their draft animals during construction, and where there used to be large baseball games which drew trains from Seward and Palmer.

The old section house now serves as headquarters for the Chugach National Forest. There are also a few historic railroad items such as an old Rotary plow, a gas car, and some miscellaneous track materials.

Watch for the bore tide, a huge wall of water rushing into or out of the arm during tide changes. The wave sometimes reaches 30 feet, the second highest tide in the world.

It also has a 2,176 foot (43 car) siding.

Added 11/27/23:

Potter Section House is located at ARR milepost 100.6 or mile 115.3 Seward Highway which is a few miles south of Anchorage near Potter Marsh. The section house was built in 1929 and is the only surviving section house between Seward and Anchorage.   

The MOW department ceased using this location as housing in 1978, and the building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985 and today is the Chugach State Park Headquarters.   On site is a railroad display with Rotary 4 and a 1500E series outfit car. Rotary 4 was built for the Milwaukee Road as their X-900207. Originally steam it was converted to electric in the late 1950s for use on the Milwaukee Road's electrified Western Extension. The rotary was purchased in 1981 and retired in 1984 then donated to Chugach State Park in 1985 but wasn't put on display until later. Rotary 4 never wore ARR colors, only a patch until it was painted black. Rotary 4 is the only standard gauge rotary accessible on the road system.   

The number for the kitchen car is unknown, other than it was retired with a 15xxE number. It is however a WWII Pullman Standard troop kitchen car that later was used in MOW as part of their fleet of outfit cars.   As part of the display an old gas car and wheels are present. The engine in the gas car is fully intact and complete. There are some placards that talk about the early days of the railroad and important figures of the time. The buildings are in good shape with the meat cache, two seater outhouse and shed, the green and white colors were what would have been used in the early days of the ARR and would be a good source to get a close match for painting a model of an ARR structure of the period.   
 
 
 

Section House now serves as park HQ	Old section car on display