Talk:Alcan–Beaver Creek Border Crossing

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Right off the bat, problems with this article's accuracy[edit]

First of all, Tok is nearly 100 road miles away from the border crossing, with another community (Northway) in between. "Connecting Tok and Beaver Creek" makes it sound as if the two are adjacent to each other. The U.S. station is actually in the Alcan Border census-designated place. The immediate "community" has historically been known as Border City or Scotty (or Scottie) Creek. Beaver Creek is 20 or so road miles away from the U.S. station. The highway mostly traverses the sides of mountains in between, which may explain why the Canadian station is so far inland from the border.

The infobox shows the U.S. station and says it was built in 1946. This is at the very least misleading, if not downright false. 1946 is when the highway was opened to civilian traffic. Since the 1949 (first edition of) The Milepost was reprinted in 2003, there are plenty of copies floating around. On page 33, it mentions Snag Junction (mile 1188), Paul Niemann's Lodge and Trading Post (mile 1191), Snag Creek maintenance camp (mile 1206) and Sourdough Inn (mile 1210, "last stop on Canadian side"). No mention of Beaver Creek, whose article lists its location as being at historical mile 1202. Continuing down the log, mile 1221 says "Canadian Customs and Immigration offices, formerly at Snag Creek. All cars must stop here for clearance from Canada.", with the border at Mile 1221½. On page 37, we see the following: "MILEPOST 1318. Tok Junction, the point where traffic for Anchorage diverges to the south over the Slana-Tok Highway (today known as the Tok Cut-Off), and the site of the U.S. Customs and Immigration offices. All traffic must stop here for clearance. Tok Lodge, ½ mile down the Tok Road, is conveniently located for travelers arriving after closing of the customs."

The article on Tok states that Customs was located here until 1971, when it was moved to the border. The 1970 Milepost does mention Beaver Creek and Canadian Customs at mile 1202 (page 116). Pages 119 and 122 mention the U.S. station as being at Tok. Page 119 mentions that travelers planning on entering Canada via the Taylor Highway need to stop in Tok first. There is no mention of a pending move of the U.S. station to the border. RadioKAOS / Talk to me, Billy / Transmissions 19:30, 6 September 2014 (UTC)[reply]

Agreed, the infobox coordinates can be a bit misleading insofar as the Canadian border post is nearly 18 road miles further southwest, just north of the town of the same name, at 62.408747, -140.859457. As there are two border posts plus an actual point of border crossing, any single geographic point cannot be entirely correct, especially insofar as these coordinates are picked up by mapping systems external to WP. 209.161.178.12 (talk) 20:49, 1 September 2022 (UTC)[reply]

Clarified[edit]

Right, I meant the highway was completed in 1946, not the border station. I have made this clarification, and added some additional details including some from your observations. I still contend that the first real village encountered in the US is Tok. The "border city" consists of little more than the housing for the border inspectors themselves. That said, since you felt misled by the "communities connected" statement, I have to assume that your are not alone, so I have removed this. Wbaron (talk) 19:18, 31 December 2014 (UTC)[reply]