The White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad

1. Origin and Construction				result of the temporary transfer, totaled 34 daily train
The clouds, draping the mountains like strands of silver				operations collectively carrying more than 2,000 tons
steel wool, hung low over the Lynn Canal, gateway to				of cargo per day-or 47,506 tons per month.
the historic city of Skagway, Alaska, itself the origin of				Demand had also been created by the crude oil
thousands of stampeders who had begun their 45-mile				refinery in Whitehorse and the pipeline connecting it
treks over the White Pass Summit toward the				with Norman Wells in the Northwest Territories.
Klondike gold fields of the Yukon in Canada in 1897				Modernizing its increasingly outdated equipment after
and 1898. The throngs continued to infiltrate the area				the war, the White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad
today from vessels which also sailed from Seattle, but				acquired new locomotives and rolling stock, replacing
all disembarked from one of the many daily cruise				its traditional steam engines with diesel-electric
ships which docked a short distance away.				propulsion in 1954. The very last steam operation
The passengers crowding the White Pass and Yukon				occurred ten years later, in 1964.
Route Railroad Depot spilled out to the concrete				In 1955 it operated the world's first integrated,
platform and into one of many departing trains, including				intermodal container service from Vancouver to
those to Fraser, British Columbia. I myself would trace				Whitehorse when the first purposefully-designed
the path of the gold seekers to the White Pass				container ship, the Clifford J. Rogers, transferred cargo
Summit, located 2,865 feet above sea level on the				at the Port of Skagway to the railroad's flatbed cars
United States-Canada border, but would do so on the				for ultimate transfer to semi-trucks using the Alaska
rail which had been built to replace the overland foot				Highway.
trail and capitalize on the demand for travel created by				In order to cater to the transportation demands of the
the historic event.				lead-zinc open-pit mine operation in the Yukon's Anvil
The imminent journey had actually had its origin some				Range, the railroad embarked on a significant
110 years ago. Prospectors, searching for gold along				modernization program in 1969, acquiring heavier,
the Yukon River, had not yielded their first crop until				higher-capacity locomotives, 50-ton flatbed cars, and
1896 when George Carmack and two Indians,				ore containers; rebuilding bridges and tunnels;
Skookum Jim and Dawson Charlie, uncovered some				constructing a warehouse in Skagway; and dredging a
gold flakes in Bonanza Creek in the Yukon, although it				deep-sea fishing wharf.
had been another year before the world had been				Passenger transport had equally factored into its
alerted to the discovery when the Seattle				revenue base, with 16,000 having been carried as far
Post-Intelligencer published its now-famous headline of				back as 1901. During the 1970s, it carried passengers
"GOLD! GOLD! GOLD!" in its July 17, 1897 issue shortly				during the day and ore concentrates at night,
after disembarkation of 68 prospectors from the				accommodated in trains 80 to 100 cars long.
Steamer Portland in Seattle, Washington. The promise				The White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad had been
of seemingly instant, easy wealth, coupled with the				the principle transportation means to and within
deprivation of the Depression, sparked an historical				northern British Columbia and the Yukon for 84 years,
event which involved 100,000 players and would				from its 1898 construction to 1982 when the Anvil Mine
ultimately shape parts of Alaska and the Yukon itself.				had closed and obviated its need. Because the
With the exception of seasonal steamship service on				remaining demand had been insufficient to sustain
the Yukon River, and road and railroad construction not				profitable services, it ceased operations at that time,
permitted in Alaska until Congress had passed the				ending a long history whose match had been lit by the
Homestead Act of 1898, there had been no internal				Gold Rush of 1898.
infrastructure to support the stampeders' access to				But an invisible flame continued to flicker in the ensuing
the klondike gold fields.				years of darkness. Gradually increasing demand,
The Yukon itself, the vast, thinly populated expanse of				spurred by cruise ship arrivals in Skagway, sparked
land located above the 60th parallel in northwestern				the railroad's 1988 seasonal, passenger-only service
Canada which shares its border with Alaska and				re-inauguration, its centennial year, resulting in an annual
accurately earns its self-proclaimed slogan of "larger				passenger count of 39,000. Both the increasing number
than life," is a topographically diverse, but ruggedly				of ship operations, and their increasing size, took the
insurmountable territory of barren, treeless plains,				annual passenger total to over 100,000 in 1991 and
boreal forests, rugged mountains, glaciers, and				290,000 in 1998, all within a short, five-month season.
mirror-reflective lakes and rivers inhabited by Canada's				By 2006, it carried more than 430,000 yearly
First Nations people and abundant wildlife.				passengers.
Because of its high latitude, it experiences more than				As the self-proclaimed "Gateway to the Yukon" and
20 hours of daylight in the summer, but fewer than five				"Railway built of gold," the White Pass and Yukon
in the winter, replaced, instead, by the northern lights				Route Railroad had been designated an International
known as the "aurora borealis." Aside from the major				Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1994, one of only
"cities," most communities are only accessible by				36 world designs, including the Panama Canal, to do so,
floatplane or dogsled.				because of the obstacles surmounted during its
The Yukon's history is, in essence, that of the Gold				construction, and today it is the only international
Rush, and traces its path to five significant locations in				narrow-gauge railroad still operating in North America.
both the United States and Canada.				Its current fleet consists of two steam engines, a
The first of these, Seattle, Washington, had served as				restored 1947 Baldwin 2-8-2 Mokado designated
the gateway to the Yukon. Advertised as the "outfitter				Engine Number 73 and a 1907 Baldwin 2-8-0 originally
of the gold fields," it sold supplies and gear stocked ten				built for the railroad and designated Engine Number 69;
feet deep on storefront boardwalks, grossing $25				20 diesel-electric locomotives, comprised of 1950
million in sales by early-1898, and was the launching				General Electric and 1960 ALCO types; and 80
point for the all-water route through the Gulf of Alaska				restored and replica passenger coaches, the oldest of
to St. Michael, and then down the Yukon River to				which dates back to 1883.
Dawson City. Despite the high fares, which few could				3. To White Pass Summit
afford, all passages had been sold out.				The original White Pass Depot, a wooden, dual-floor
Dyea and its Chilkoot Trail, the second location, had				train station facing Broadway where the tracks had
provided a slower, more treacherous, alternate route,				originally been located, had been constructed in 1899
via the 33-mile Chilkoot trail which linked tidewater				and had been adjoined to the Railroad Administration
Alaska with the Canadian headwaters of the Yukon				Building the following year. Upon its closure in 1969, at
River.				which time it had been taken over by the National Park
Skagway, Alaska, the third location, quickly replaced				Service, it erected a new, single-story structure on
Dyea as the "Gateway to the Klondike" because of its				Second and Spring Streets and, with increasing
more navigable White Pass route which, although ten				passenger numbers, added a second floor in 1997.
miles longer than that of the Chilkoot Trail, had entailed				Following the street-embedded, narrow-gauge tracks
a 600-foot-lower climb. Located at the northern tip of				at 1245 past the White Pass and Yukon Route
Alaska's Inside Passage, Skagway, now a major				Railroad Maintenance and Restoration Facility, my
port-of-call on Alaska cruise itineraries, became the				12-car train, pulled by three diesel-electric locomotives,
first incorporated city in Alaska in 1900 with a				paralleled the shallow, rock-embedded Skagway River
3,117-strong population, the first non-native of whom				beneath the deep green, spruce-carpeted mountains
had been Captain William Moore, who discovered the				of Tongass National Forest, commencing its slow
White Pass route into interior Canada.				ascent on the 3.9-percent grade of track.
Metemorphosed from a cleared, tent-dotted field to a				The six-track coach yard just beyond the
boardwalk-lined town sporting wooden stores, dance				maintenance facility had been used for rolling stock
halls, gambling houses, and some 80 saloons in the				overnight storage, servicing, and cleaning.
four-month period between August and December				Curving to the right at Mile 5.8, the train, moving through
1897 as a result of stampeders piling off of steamships				402 feet, crossed the east fork of the Skagway
in its port, it quickly swelled to a city of 20,000, its				River, near the Denver Glacier Trail, which had been
temporary inhabitants destined for the overland White				marked by the red White Pass and Yukon Route
Pass Trail and the Klondike gold fields themselves.				railroad caboose available for nightly rental from the
At Bennett Lake, the fourth location, 30,000				US Forest Service.
stampeders awaited the spring thaw, constructing				Re-curving to the left at Mile 6.9, the train passed
7,124 boats from whipsawn green lumber and				Rocky Point, affording dramatic views of Mt. Harding
launching their flotilla on May 29, 1898, fighting the				and its glacier-carved canyon. Skagway and its
Whitehorse rapids before following the Yukon River to				now-tiny cruise ship armada had been reduced to
Dawson City.				miniature proportions, dwarfed by the treeless,
Dawson City itself, the fifth location, had been the				snow-capped mountains towering above them.
actual site of the first gold flake discovery and had				Clifton Station, at a 638-foot elevation with a
begun as a small island between the Yukon and				792-foot-long side track, had formerly served as a
Klondike Rivers hitherto only occupied by the Han First				section house staffed by foremen, sectionmen, and
Nations people, but exploded into Canada's largest city				cooks, but had been removed in the 1960s after track
west of Winnipeg and north of Vancouver with up to				and roadbed improvements had eliminated its need. Its
40,000 gold seekers covering a ten-mile area along the				name had emanated from the granite ledge hanging
river banks. Thirty cords of firewood were used to				over it.
burn shafts through the permafrost to the mines				Bridal Veil Falls, at Mile 11.5, descended 6,000 feet in a
themselves.				series of curved steps, a "humans" of white, foamy
The White Pass trail in Skagway, quickly destroyed				water "skipping" down the dark green pine path from
because of overuse, screamed of the need for a rail				their Mt. Cleveland and Mt. Clifford glacier parents. The
line replacement. Seeking to capitalize on the demand				cloud quilt tore open to reveal patches of blue sky.
for safe, fast, and reliable transportation from its port				The thin, barely visible silhouette of the 1230 Fraser
to the Yukon, Thomas Tancrede, a London investor				train, equally pulled by three yellow and green
representative, and Michael J. Henry, a railroad				diesel-electric engines, could be seen hugging the
contractor, had both proposed such a line and, after a				mountain ahead and at a higher elevation.
chance, overnight meeting, sketched initial plans for the				The tracks arced into a 90-degree right turn again. At
route.				Henry Station, which had been named after a White
The White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad Company,				Pass and Yukon Route Railroad contractor, cargo had
established in April of 1898, had been comprised of				been transported down a steep tramway to
three enterprises: the Pacific and Arctic Railway and				packhorses stationed at the mostly tent-comprised
Navigation Company, responsible for the				White Pass City in the valley below for final delivery to
Skagway-White Pass rail section; the British Columbia				the summit.
Yukon Railway, whose division linked the US-Canada				Shortly before reaching 1,871-foot Glacier Station at
border at White Pass with the provincial border				Mile 14.0, the tracks doubled, and then briefly tripled.
between British Columbia and the Yukon Territory; and				The station itself had served as home to railroad
the British Yukon Railway, whose track ran from the				section crew who had maintained the rail bed and
Yukon Territory border to Whitehorse.				replenished steam engines with water during their uphill
The railroad's four principle directors included Samuel H.				climbs.
Graves, President; E. C. Hawkens, Chief Engineer; John				The wider roadbed of Box Canyon catered to the
Hislop, Assistant Engineer; and Michael J. Henry himself,				prevalent spring snow slides which carried streams of
Contractor.				rock, gravel, and vegetation with them.
Construction of the $10 million, three-foot-wide, narrow				Crossing over Glacier Station Bridge, the train, whose
gauge rail, which permitted sharper curves than the				12-unit, vintage-car chain now snaked behind it,
standard gauge would have and entailed engineering				surmounted the deep, dark green mountain, covered
obstacles of hitherto unimaginable proportions,				with western hemlock and shore pine, as evidenced
commenced on May 28, 1898, and involved a				through the left coach windows. It yielded to the gray,
ten-foot-wide road bed, an almost 3,000-foot elevation				lightly snow-covered Mine Mountain ahead, its jagged
gain over a 20-mile stretch, cliff-laid track, 16-degree				peaks partially obscured by the soft touch of
turns, tunnels, bridges, bitter cold and snow, and 450				marshmallow cloud puffs resting atop it. A cable car
tons of explosives.				had once spanned the canyon to the silver mine's
Built in three sections, from Skagway to White Pass,				portal on the other side.
White Pass to Carcross, and Carcross to Whitehorse,				The two parallel mountains, descending into the gulch
the first of these proved the most difficult, although its				1,000 feet below, formed a velvet green "v" whose
first seven miles of track had actually been completed				base had been cut by the now-minuscule "slice" of light
in only two months. On July 21, 1898, the day after the				blue river.
first locomtove had been delivered, an excursion train				Traversing the wooden trestle at Mile 16, the train
for invited dignitaries operated for the first time, pulling				plunged into the 250-foot-long Tunnel Mountain, the
three flat-bed cars with wooden benches. Two				chasm of Glacier Gorge disappearing into it as the
months later, in September, the prepared track grade				horizontal light beams cast on its granite walls flickered
stretched 17 miles from Skagway, but a gold				into progressive darkness at its center, leaving a dead,
discovery in Atlin enticed a majority of the laborers				perceptionless, breath-inhibiting void.
away, complete with the vitally-needed picks and				Inspiration Point, at Mile 17.0 and 2,400-foot elevation,
shovels for the project. At Mile 18.7, the deep,				once again afforded breathtaking views of Mt. Harding
v-shaped, 215-foot-high canyon could only be				and the Chilkat Range, while the train passed the
connected with a 400-foot steel cantilever bridge built				branch track leading to the no-longer used cantilever
up of three-hinged arches.				bridge, which had been constructed in 1901 and had
The first train to operate to White Pass did so nine				constituted the world's tallest such design at the time.
months after construction had begun, on February 20,				Swallowed again by the unpenetrable, sense-defying
1899.				blackness of the 675-foot tunnel at Mile 18.8, the
Another significant milestone took place still five				three-locomotive, 12-coach chain bored through the
months later, on June 6, when the tracks had reached				mountain, a path obviated by the circumventing
Bennett at Mile 40.6, providing the first intermodal				suspension bridge prior to 1969, at which time it had
transportation connection with the smaller steamers				closed.
which navigated the lakes and rivers through Miles				The multiple-layer valley, draped in deep green,
Canyon and the Whitehorse Rapids. Some 20 miles				stretched out below on the left side.
later, the track reached Lewis Lake.				Reducing speed to a crawl and threading its way
With the last spike driven at Whitehorse, Yukon				through craggy rock walls, which appeared to scrap
Territory, on June 8, 1900, the second of the three				against the outside coach windows, the train inched
sections had been completed, permitting rail travel to				past the sub-arctic pine toward the 2,865-foot White
Carcross, British Columbia, for the first time. This				Pass Summit, named after Canadian Minister of the
became the only overland route between the two				Interior Thomas White in 1887 and located on the
cities until the South Klondike Highway had been				US-Canada border, the narrow-gauge tracks
constructed 78 years later.				multiplying into three branches. The locomotive gently
With installation of the rails across the bridge in				griped its brakes and the 15-unit chain ceased motion in
Carcross on July 29, 1900, and the driving of the last				the cold, stark, thin air.
spike at 17:30 local time, the second of the three				The silence, a sharp contrast to the steady buzz at its
sections had been finished, thus completing the White				Skagway origin, almost screamed of the closed history
Pass and Yukon Route Railroad, whose track				chapter which had sparked the railroad's engineering
extended 110 miles from the United States to Canada,				feat, of the gold seekers who had once passed this
of which 20.4 miles lay in Alaska, 32.3 miles ran				way, but were no longer existent. It had been at the
through British Columbia, and 58.1 miles stretched				White Pass Summit where mounted police had
through the Yukon Territory.				cleared the thousands of stampeders, overburdened
Skagway quickly became the "Gateway to the				with their year's worth of supplies and gear needed
Klondike" and White Pass became the "Gateway to				for survival in the frigid north, to enter Canada and
the Yukon."				continue their expedition to the gold fields of the
2. In Service				Klondike, in hopes of attaining wealth. Of the some
The White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad not only				40,000 who had made the journey, only ten percent
proved an engineering feat, but a sound commercial				had actually discovered gold and of that, only a few
one with numerous, evolving purposes. Initially				hundred had actually fulfilled their dreams of becoming
transporting mining equipment, materials, supplies, and				"rich."
tools on northbound runs, it carried copper ore destined				For the others, the journey itself, and not the
for Washington smelters on return journeys in 1908,				destination, had proven the ultimate value of the
the commodity later replaced by silver lead in 1923,				adventure. Like life, whose ultimate "purpose" remains
which it continued to carry until 1970. In fact, freight				elusive, it sometimes seems that the path followed to
constituted an ever-increasing proportion of its revenue				a destination offers a better reward than the
base until 1918, when the Depression had exerted its				destination itself. Yet, without anticipation of destination
effects, and then re-increased, reaching 21,450 annual				or purpose, it is unlikely that the trip would be
tons by 1940.				undertaken at all. If anything, the gold rush had provided
Perhaps the greatest increase in demand occurred in				a life lesson.
August of 1942 when the US Army commenced				Disconnecting and following the 1,296-foot-long spur line,
construction of the Alcan Highway, taking the daily				the three locomotives reattached themselves to the
tonnage from 200 to 2,000, and on October 1 of that				(now) front of the train, pulling it over the White Pass
year, the railroad had been altogether leased to the US				Summit and commencing its gradual, path-retracing
Army's 770th Railway Operating Battalion, which				descent down the mountain toward Skagway. During
re-equiped it with much-needed personnel, locomotives,				the return journey, I would think about that lesson...
and rolling stock. Indeed, its all-time highest volume, as a

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The White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad