The Trans-Alaskan Pipeline was an important oil pipeline cutting through Alaska down into the continental United States.
Background
During the Resource Wars, the US established the Anchorage Front Line to protect their pipeline and all of the oil from any outside attack. When the Chinese invaded Alaska in the winter of 2066, the Americans fought back with their new superweapon; power armor, and the Trans-Alaska Pipeline was reclaimed. A section of the pipeline traveled through Canada, and it was the pipelines near sabotage that prompted the military annexation of Canada.
 | The following is based on Fallout Extreme and is not canon. |
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After the Great War, the Trans-Alaska Pipeline was converted into a Brotherhood of Steel prison in Alaska, hidden in a line of pipes.
The Cause destroys the place when they visit Alaska.
| End of information based on Fallout Extreme and is not canon |
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Appearances
The Trans-Alaska Pipeline appears only in the Fallout 3 add-on Operation: Anchorage, but was going to appear in the canceled Fallout Extreme, and was mentioned in Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout 3.
Behind the scenes
The path of the actual Trans-Alaskan Pipeline.
In real life, there is no direct pipeline from Alaska to the continental United States. The actual "Alaskan Pipeline" goes from Prudhoe Bay Oil Field on the northern coast of Alaska to Valdez on the southern coast of Alaska. At Valdez, the oil is loaded into tankers to be transported to the mainland United States, bypassing Canada entirely.
The differing route of the pipeline in the Fallout universe can plausibly be attributed to the Divergence, as the pipeline in the real world only began construction in 1973, with a Canadian route being deemed too environmentally unfriendly to be considered.