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Article: Fairbanks, the transportation hub of interior Alaska.
- Article from:
- Alaska Business Monthly
- Article date:
- May 1, 1997
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1997 Alaska Business Publishing Company, Inc. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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From sternwheelers and dog sleds in the early years, to airplanes, trucks, trains, and (in nearby Nenana) modern tugs and barges, Fairbanks continues to provide shipping services to much of Alaska's remote landmass.
Larry Shelver grew up near Puget Sound watching the ships and dreaming of a day he could be the man at the helm. When he was a teenager, he took a Pan American jet to a two-week job on the Tanana River ferry at Nenana.
His dream was coming alive. "It was come to Alaska and never leave," he says.
He moved on to bigger boats and worked his way up from mate to pilot to skipper, and then moved ashore to work as operations manager at Yutana ...