In 1969, Jack Klingbeil and his wife started a miniature railway for their children in Alaska; by 2026, it had grown into a public family attraction with 3.5 miles of track, bridges and tunnels across 18 acres

A miniature railway that Jack Klingbeil and his wife built for their children in 1969 now carries visitors along 3.5 miles of track in Wasilla, Alaska. The line winds through tunnels, over bridges and past scale-model towns on 18 acres of woodland, according to a report by Dave Allgood for Aging Untold, published on 9 July 2026 and carried by Atlanta News First. The railway runs at one-eighth scale. Klingbeil said the reason for starting it was simple. “My wife and I founded this back in 1969 so our children could have something to do and stay out of trouble,” Klingbeil said.

A family business across generations

The railway is still run by the family, Aging Untold reported. Klingbeil’s daughter checks in passengers, and his grandson helps run the trains. Visitors ride or straddle the miniature cars as they pass through wooded terrain, with stops along the route for photographs. The trains weigh about 1,000 pounds each and can carry up to 10 passengers on a run, the report said. Some can haul larger groups. One visitor told Aging Untold that the family first came on Mother’s Day about two years earlier and had returned for another ride.

From Anchorage to Wasilla

Klingbeil began the railway in Anchorage in 1969, according to an earlier report by Allgood for Alaska’s News Source, published in June 2024. The line later moved to the Palmer Fairgrounds and then to Wasilla, where it had stood for the previous 14 years at the time of that report. The report did not say why the railway moved. Alaska’s News Source marked the railway’s 55th year in that 2024 piece. The railway operates as the Alaska Live Steamers Railroad Museum and the Alaska Central Railroad. Its engines are built on site, and the only item the group buys is the track itself. A full tour lasts 55 minutes. It crosses trusses, bridges and ponds and passes through a series of model villages. Allgood described the attention to detail as an engineering feat. He also wrote that the ride took him back to childhood, when the woods felt like a magical place.

Run by volunteers

Alaska Live Steamers is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit dedicated to preserving and teaching railroad history, according to notes published with the Alaska’s News Source report. The organisation says it is run only by volunteers and that nobody is paid for their time. The notes explain where the income goes. “All the money we make from train rides and donations is used to maintain the facility and extend the track.” Those who wish to donate or volunteer can contact the Alaska Central Railroad through its Facebook page or at alaskasteamers.com.

Track gauge, past plans and access

A 2014 account on the Alaska Rails site, written by railfan John Combs, described the line as a 7½-inch gauge railway and called Klingbeil the patriarch of Alaska Live Steamers. Combs wrote that Klingbeil had put his heart and soul into it, with the help of dedicated volunteers. At that time, the group planned to let visiting live steamers run their own equipment on the track and use sidings leading to private overnight cabins. This report could not confirm whether the cabins have since been built. The railway also has a carriage for passengers with special needs, according to the organisation’s notes. “Everyone can ride the train. We even have a chair car for those with special needs!” The group asks visitors to tell it in advance if the chair car is required.