Alaska Railroad employees made an incredible committment to get the line back on its feet. By working 70-80 hours a week, stop gap repairs allowed freight to flow from Whittier to Alaska's interior in less than three weeks. "In the weeks after the quake, ARR personnel - supervisory and union - were out working 16 hour days, seven days a week, daylight and dark." [4] Additionally, the ARR hired an additional 200 to 300 people in Anchorage and Seward.

The engineering department had dealt with earthquake damage before. Even though it had not been of this magnitude, they at least has a general idea of the task at hand. Thus, they began the work of rebuilding even as aftershocks from the earthquake threatened to wipe out these repairs.

The cleanup in Anchorage began almost immeiately. "Anchorage Freight Depot employees, their regular jobs temporarily eliminated by the quake, were recruited for other jobs. All through that first week they worked, righting file cabinets, pounding drawers back into shape, cleaning up broken glass and furniture, filling Preco heaters, carrying water for rest rooms, moving furniture. There was no heat in the General Office Building and no water. Employees brought jugs of water for drinking and making coffee." [6] During the next several days, the railroad "hired between 200 and 300 temporary employees to assist in the big job ahead. Long lines of men extended into the passenger depot, as they waited to be fingerprinted by the special agents before being transported to damaged areas." [6]

A rather unique problem presented itself. Since the land had risen and fallen plus the occurance of landslides, there was no way of knowing how far tides would now come in. Turnagain Arm has the second greatest range of tides in the world and it was one of the areas hit hardest by the quake. The ARR would have to make an educated estimate and hope for the best. History would later prove them correct.

Next, ARR turned its attention to Whittier. The port facilities at Seward were so severely damaged that Whittier was the best bet for sea access. "150,000 cubic yards of fill had slipped out and a mile and a half of railroad had to be virtually rebuilt. Other track-restoration and bridge repair jobs dotted the 62-mile route. Then the April tides came in. And says Chief Engineer Irvin P. Cook, "we continually found our trackage for a number of miles anywhere from two to six feet under water. Later engineering studies indicated that the entire mountain ranges and bedrock ahd subsided four to six feet." [4] Work continued at various points along the line with crew working in both directions. In some spots the track had to be raised ten feet.

In Seward, a $6 million contractor was awarded to William A. Smith Co., of Kansas City, Kansas to rebuild the facilities in Seward. This would include a new dock with berthing facilities, transit shed and 10 spur railroad yard. The approcah through the bay was dredged to a depth of 35 feet below low tide.

The Alaska Railroad ordered 75 new flat cars, 25 bulkhead flats, 50 open-top hoppers, 49 air-dump cars. Two new GP35s were on order and would be delivered in February 1965.

In Anchorage, a new wheel shop was built. The mechanical offices were moved to a building occupied by a model railroading club (who was forced to relocate). The freight-car shop was stripped to its support structure and rebuilt.

Others came in to help. "Stateside railroads were quick with offers of help. Great Northern sent up a bridge foreman and bridge gang and loaned a fleet of flat cars to the hard pressed ARR. Pacific Fruit Express took in, at its Tuscon shops, a group of air-dump cars which ARR had bought second-hand. The cars were in such bad shape that they couldn't be moved by rail - but PFE took them in, repaired wheel and truck and air-brake deficiencies, and had the cars on the ARR by mid-July. Says ARR's chief mechanic officer, Randall: 'If we hadn't had this cooperation, we'd never have built the railroad up against the tides and the ice this winter.'" [4] Suppliers rushed through various tool orders for the rebuilding process.

"All told $27,000,000 was spent on the restoration of Railroad facilities including an overrun of over $3,000,000 on the Seward Dock. About $4,000,000 went for new equipment including badly needed air dump cars. Bridge work alone required 1.5 million. And finally, 3,100,000 cubic yards of gravel, rock and mud were loaded, hauled and placed in repairing ballast and subgrade, enough material to load enough cars to make up a single train with the caboose in San Francisco and the lead unit in Vancouver, B.C." [5]

In summary, the damage to this railroad was without precedent. Every aspect of the railroad was affected including accounting, payroll and support to military and missile warning stations. Yet, despite it all, the railroad came back with spirit and speed. In a way, the Alaska Railroad eventually benefitted from the disaster: more efficient service locations, new and bigger facilities, more stability in trackage and bridges, better track drainage, earthquake proof construction, new equipment. The civil defense organization undertook an effort to provide earlier warnings for tsunamis and educate the public on what to do during an earthquake. Below is a list of online resources portraying this:
 

West Coast and Alaska Tsunami Warning Center
 
 

Footnote: What many people do not realize is that a tsunami generated by the earthquake caused extreme damage along Vancouver Island, and in Northern California and Hawaii. Crescent City, California, was hit the hardest. Eleven lives were lost, and where the estimated losses elsewhere in California were between $1,500,000 and $2,375,000 (1964 dollars), Crescent City's damage was estimated at $7,414,000. Additionally, in Oregon four lives were lost and estimated losses were $716,000. Two other areas reported losses: Canada $10,250,000 and Hawaii $67,590. [info link] Other noted occurances are: Anartica, 8,445 miles away, recorded a seismic wave 22 hours later; the Mississippi was lifted 1 foot at New Orleans, causing docked vessels to break their mooring lines; a report from Milwaukee, Winconsin noted that a 400 foot deep well fluctuated 12 feet.

The maximum wave at Crescent City was approximately twenty to twenty-one feet. The first of the four tsunami waves struck Crescent City causing no significant damage. The second and third waves were smaller than the first. The fourth was the largest of the waves and was preceded by a withdrawal of the water which left the inner harbor almost dry. This fast moving fourth capsized, sank, and washed several boats onto the beach. Extensive damage was inflicted to the piers. About thirty blocks of Crescent City were completely devastated.