On Friday morning we caught the roundtrip White Pass &
Yukon Route Train from Skagway to Whitehorse Summit where the US/Canadian
boarder is.
This narrow gauge railroad was built in 1898 during the
Klondike Gold Rush in only 26 months.
This is a product of British financing to the tune of $10 million
dollars. And was totally paid for before
the railroad line was actually completed!
The railroad handled freight runs which fees paid for the construction
and it employed over 35,000 people while building the line!
The rail line climbs almost 3,000 feet in just 20 miles over
numerous bridges and trestles and two tunnels.
The White Pass & Yukon Route stopped running their
operation in 1982 when the mining business collapsed due to low mineral prices
and the new highway was put in which is able to move the freight in 2 hours vs.
8 hours that the train took. The
railroad reopened in 1988 as a tourist operation and has been in business ever
since.
We started the day with some fog in the mountains but by the
end of the ride most of the clouds had lifted some we were able to get some
really nice views. Waterfalls and
canyons! It really was something!
While on the train we met Brian the Conductor who
we found out works on the train line from May through October and then the
remainder of the year is at his home in Port Townsend! He and his wife own a local restaurant “Finns”. So we have made plans to get together this
winter in Port Townsend!
Bruce & I caught the return 3:00pm AK time
ferry back to Juneau with plans to depart for Sitka on Saturday.
No comments:
Post a Comment