Alaskan Oil Pipeline $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$

Island Drive

Island Drive

Otto/Dads College Roommate/Cleveland Browns
Silver Member
Any players out there that worked this beat back in the early seventies? I had a gal that wanted to go and hook while I played, that's not me. But there were some that did, kinda like the Dakota Oil boom town goin' on as we type. Lot$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ of ''fun ne mon knee'' goin on up there I'm sure.
 
Could be a pretty dangerous place unless you are local or know a lot of locals. Noone is going to go looking for a missing pool player hustling the oil fields.
 
Island Drive said:
Any players out there that worked this beat back in the early seventies? I had a gal that wanted to go and hook while I played, that's not me. But there were some that did, kinda like the Dakota Oil boom town goin' on as we type. Lot$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ of ''fun ne mon knee'' goin on up there I'm sure.
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I did. The money was great working the bars in Fairbanks (1976). What do you want to know? My best memory though was my experience at Gold Nugget Billiards in Whitehorse in the Yukon. I taught all the locals how to play Pay-Ball on a 6X12 snooker table (9 handed).
 
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I tried to get part of the material spec for the Spray Foam. They goofed however as they believed Urethane Foam was a Vapor barrier. Today much of the pipe is rusted out.
 
I could easily key in a hundred posts on this thread. It could be very dangerous up there. Thousands of people went to Alaska to work on the pipeline. Many had sordid pasts and went there to escape all kinds of trouble.
 
Go to Fort MacMurray Alberta. If the hookers don't get your money, the drug dealers will. May as well take a piece of the action for yourself.
 
Once I posted, it made me think of BCAPL Mark Griffin as he owned a room up there. Must of been a few canadians workin' it then. Paul you def. have dabbled in the throws of life if you did that jaunt. Gave U a good taste of human kind. I worked in this brewery yrs ago running the pool room/bar and one of our waitresses that lived there talked about this guy so drunk, his buddies nailed his boots to the wooden floor when he passed out so he wouldn't drive home.
 
Island Drive said:
Once I posted, it made me think of BCAPL Mark Griffin as he owned a room up there.
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MG owned a room in Anchorage. It was after I was up there. He was moving used cars up to Alaska for re-sale at that time. In my one brief encounter with Mark a few years ago, we talked about those years in Alaska. Those times were surreal.
 
Paul Schofield said:
MG owned a room in Anchorage. It was after I was up there. He was moving used cars up to Alaska for re-sale at that time. In my one brief encounter with Mark a few years ago, we talked about those years in Alaska. Those times were surreal.
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I was born and raised in Anchorage, as was Mark Griffin. The action was great during the pipeline days. There was a bar in Anchorage called the Pines Club that had 5 or 6 bar tables with ring games going on all of them.

Bill Stock
 
Bill S said:
I was born and raised in Anchorage, as was Mark Griffin. The action was great during the pipeline days. There was a bar in Anchorage called the Pines Club that had 5 or 6 bar tables with ring games going on all of them.

Bill Stock
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Bill,

Was the Pines Club near a train or subway station, underground, and near 5th Ave.? An old military vet described a place like this.

The bars around Naknek attract a rough crowd; these guys came off the fishing boats. :bash:

Yukon Ed
 
Dreaded Pipeline

I first worked the Alaskan Pipeline in 1973. Worked from Prudhoe Bay to the Valdez Terminal and a few places in between. Like any other boom place in American history, Alaska had an influx of people who cared only about money. Lots of hookers, dopers, drunks, gambling, card and pool sharks. Several murders and other various homocides and a bunch of thieves and all around dirt bags. The problem is the Pipeline brought to many people to Alaska and to many of them stayed. With it came a million rules and do's and dont's. Alaska is a great place to live for people like me. But, it is not as great as it was before the Pipeline. A lot of freedom was lost because of the Pipeline. Crap.
 
Yukon Ed said:
Bill,

Was the Pines Club near a train or subway station, underground, and near 5th Ave.? An old military vet described a place like this.

The bars around Naknek attract a rough crowd; these guys came off the fishing boats. :bash:

Yukon Ed
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Yukon Ed'

No, it was on the corner of Lake Otis Blvd and Tudor Rd. It was kind of a hole in the wall that was very crowded. Several years later it moved east on Tudor. Closed up many years ago.
 
Alaskan Oil Pipeline $$$$$$$$$$$

I was born in Anchorage, Alaska and lived there through the pipeline 'boom'.

I was actually managing a company that did a lot of business with the Alyeska Pipeline Company.

I owned 2 pool halls in Anchorage from 1969 to about 1972. And the action was quite extravagant. I watched the wife of a small bar play liars poker for 'slope' workers checks! (often in the $1,000 range!)

Remember I was a pool table mechanic back then. In fact, I was the FIRST private vehicle to drive the Dalton (Pipeline Hwy)! The yukon river bridge was not even completed when I did it.

And the reason for my trip? To recover all the pool tables from Livengood (near Fairbanks) to Prudhoe Bay. I had done all of the tables at BP and Arco for several years, plus all of the table at Fort Wainright, Eielson, and many other military locations - some of them very remote. I was also at all of the old Dew Line sites.

So we got to see a lot of the old Fairbanks action. Polaris hotel was always a good spot, but most of the bars on 1st and 2nd street had tables. They stayed open till 5 am - and then reopened at 8 am.

One eyed Tony was killed up there - called a suicide - but no one believed it. He was a pretty good player. His stick was as tall as he was. I really think he was only about 5'2". Trying to remember his last name.

Terry bell of APA fame was up there twice that I know of. And stayed once for close to 2 years (so I heard). He was on the road back then.

Several good players came through Alaska, David Matlock, junior Weldon a couple of times, plus a few others. Bill Amadeo came up around 73 or so and stayed for 17 years!

Btw - the rooms I owned back then were Q & 8 (on Spenard Road) and Lazy Cue Billiard Academy (on Mt. view Drive).

Those were some pretty good old days!

Mark Griffin
 
Mark, glad you chimed in, I only heard about those days....but that def. was the wild/wild west for sure....great stories.
 
I played in Fairbanks, Fort Wainright, Big Delta, and FT Greely from 63-65. I think I was making $80 a month Army pay and most nights in Fairbanks I made at least $80. It was nothing to see someone walk into a bar and rest his rifle/shotgun against the bar. Many had two 44 mags in Mexican style holsters. I believe I made more money up there in 18 months playing pool than any 18 months in the lower 48. This thread brings back a lot of good memories. Johnnyt
 
Mark Griffin said:
I was born in Anchorage, Alaska and lived there through the pipeline 'boom'.

I was actually managing a company that did a lot of business with the Alyeska Pipeline Company.

I owned 2 pool halls in Anchorage from 1969 to about 1972. And the action was quite extravagant. I watched the wife of a small bar play liars poker for 'slope' workers checks! (often in the $1,000 range!)

Remember I was a pool table mechanic back then. In fact, I was the FIRST private vehicle to drive the Dalton (Pipeline Hwy)! The yukon river bridge was not even completed when I did it.

And the reason for my trip? To recover all the pool tables from Livengood (near Fairbanks) to Prudhoe Bay. I had done all of the tables at BP and Arco for several years, plus all of the table at Fort Wainright, Eielson, and many other military locations - some of them very remote. I was also at all of the old Dew Line sites.

So we got to see a lot of the old Fairbanks action. Polaris hotel was always a good spot, but most of the bars on 1st and 2nd street had tables. They stayed open till 5 am - and then reopened at 8 am.

One eyed Tony was killed up there - called a suicide - but no one believed it. He was a pretty good player. His stick was as tall as he was. I really think he was only about 5'2". Trying to remember his last name.

Terry bell of APA fame was up there twice that I know of. And stayed once for close to 2 years (so I heard). He was on the road back then.

Several good players came through Alaska, David Matlock, junior Weldon a couple of times, plus a few others. Bill Amadeo came up around 73 or so and stayed for 17 years!

Btw - the rooms I owned back then were Q & 8 (on Spenard Road) and Lazy Cue Billiard Academy (on Mt. view Drive).

Those were some pretty good old days!

Mark Griffin
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I could tell some crazy stories about the Q & 8 on Spenard Road, but I won't. I like my job!!
 
Mark Griffin said:
I owned 2 pool halls in Anchorage from 1969 to about 1972.

Mark Griffin
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Sorry Mark. I thought you were a room owner in the early 80s.

Fairbanks was another world. I looked back in a log that I kept and found prices that I paid for certain things. I plugged the numbers into a government CPI calculator to get a today's dollars perspective.

$32.37 for a 12" cheese pizza (pepperoni was extra)
$11.13 for a plain hamburger at a roadside stand
$404.16 a night for a motel room (bare bones, linolium floor etc)
$7.28 for a 16 oz soft drink at an ice cream stand. (that was the biggest drink you could buy anywhere at that time, cup full of ice with soda pop)

God help you if your car broke down.
 
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Paul Schofield said:
Sorry Mark. I thought you were a room owner in the early 80s.

Fairbanks was another world. I looked back in a log that I kept and found prices that I paid for certain things. I plugged the numbers into a government CPI calculator to get a today's dollars perspective.

$32.37 for a 12" cheese pizza (pepperoni was extra)
$11.13 for a plain hamburger at a roadside stand
$404.16 a night for a motel room (bare bones, linolium floor etc)
$7.28 for a 16 oz soft drink at an ice cream stand. (that was the biggest drink you could buy anywhere at that time)

God help you if your car broke down.
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What year were those prices Paul? Johnnyt
 
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