White Pass and Yukon Route
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The White Pass and Yukon Route (WP&Y, WP&YR) is a Canadian and U.S. Class III
narrow-gauge railroad A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structur ...
linking the port of
Skagway, Alaska The Municipality and Borough of Skagway is a first-class borough in Alaska on the Alaska Panhandle. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,240, up from 968 in 2010. The population doubles in the summer tourist season in order to deal with ...
, with
Whitehorse Whitehorse () is the capital of Yukon, and the largest city in Northern Canada. It was incorporated in 1950 and is located at kilometre 1426 (Historic Mile 918) on the Alaska Highway in southern Yukon. Whitehorse's downtown and Riverdale areas ...
, the capital of Yukon. An isolated system, it has no direct connection to any other railroad. Equipment, freight and passengers are ferried by ship through the Port of Skagway, and via road through a few of the stops along its route. The railroad began construction in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush as a means of reaching the goldfields. With its completion in 1900, it became the primary route to the interior of the Yukon, supplanting the
Chilkoot Trail The Chilkoot Trail is a 33-mile (53 km) trail through the Coast Mountains that leads from Dyea, Alaska, in the United States, to Bennett, British Columbia, in Canada. It was a major access route from the coast to Yukon goldfields in the lat ...
and other routes. The route continued operation until 1982, and in 1988 was partially revived as a heritage railway. In July 2018, the railway was purchased by
Carnival Corporation & plc Carnival Corporation & plc is a British-American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over 100 vessels across 10 cruise line brands. A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of two companies – Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carniv ...
. For many years the railroad was a subsidiary of Tri White Corporation, also the parent of
Clublink TWC Enterprises Limited () operates ClubLink One Membership More Golf. It is based in King City, Ontario, and is listed on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) with the symbol "TWC". ClubLink is the largest owner and operator of golf courses in Can ...
, and operated by the Pacific and Arctic Railway and Navigation Company (in Alaska), the British Columbia Yukon Railway Company (in
British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...
) and the British Yukon Railway Company, originally known as the British Yukon Mining, Trading and Transportation Company (in Yukon), which used the trade name White Pass and Yukon Route. The railroad was sold by Clublink to a joint venture controlled by Survey Point Holdings, with a minority holding by the
Carnival Corporation & plc Carnival Corporation & plc is a British-American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over 100 vessels across 10 cruise line brands. A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of two companies – Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carniv ...
parent company of the
Carnival Cruise Line Carnival Cruise Line is an international cruise line with headquarters in Doral, Florida. The company is a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc. Its logo is a funnel shaped like a whale's tail, with a red, white, and blue color scheme. This ...
. The railway was designated as an international historic civil engineering landmark by the
Canadian Society for Civil Engineering The Canadian Society for Civil Engineering (CSCE) ( French: Société canadienne de génie civil) was founded in 1887 as the Canadian Society of Civil Engineers, renamed in 1918 as the Engineering Institute of Canada (EIC), and re-established in Ju ...
and the
American Society of Civil Engineers American(s) may refer to: * American, something of, from, or related to the United States of America, commonly known as the "United States" or "America" ** Americans, citizens and nationals of the United States of America ** American ancestry, pe ...
in 1994.


History


Construction

The line was born of the Klondike Gold Rush of 1897. The most popular route taken by
prospector Prospector may refer to: Space exploration * Prospector (spacecraft), a planned lunar probe, canceled in 1962 * '' Lunar Prospector'', a NASA spacecraft Trains * Prospector (train), a passenger train operated by the Denver & Rio Grande Western ...
s to the
gold Gold is a chemical element with the symbol Au (from la, aurum) and atomic number 79. This makes it one of the higher atomic number elements that occur naturally. It is a bright, slightly orange-yellow, dense, soft, malleable, and ductile me ...
fields in
Dawson City Dawson City, officially the City of Dawson, is a town in the Canadian territory of Yukon. It is inseparably linked to the Klondike Gold Rush (1896–99). Its population was 1,577 as of the 2021 census, making it the second-largest town in Yuko ...
was a treacherous route from the port in Skagway or
Dyea, Alaska Dyea ( ) is a former town in the U.S. state of Alaska. A few people live on individual small homesteads in the valley; however, it is largely abandoned. It is located at the convergence of the Taiya River and Taiya Inlet on the south side of the ...
, across the mountains to the Canada–US border at the summit of the
Chilkoot Pass Chilkoot Pass (el. ) is a high mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains in the U.S. state of Alaska and British Columbia, Canada. It is the highest point along the Chilkoot Trail that leads from Dyea, Alaska to Bennett La ...
or the
White Pass White Pass, also known as the Dead Horse Trail, (elevation ) is a mountain pass through the Boundary Ranges of the Coast Mountains on the border of the U.S. state of Alaska and the province of British Columbia, Canada. It leads from Skagway, Ala ...
. There, the prospectors were not allowed across by Canadian authorities unless they had sufficient gear for the winter, typically one ton of supplies. This usually required several trips across the passes. There was a need for better transportation than pack horses used over the White Pass or human portage over the Chilkoot Pass. This need generated numerous railroad schemes. In 1897, the Canadian government received 32 proposals for Yukon railroads, and most were never realized. In 1897, three separate companies were organized to build a rail link from Skagway to
Fort Selkirk, Yukon Fort Selkirk is a former trading post on the Yukon River at the confluence of the Pelly River in Canada's Yukon. For many years it was home to the Selkirk First Nation (Northern Tutchone). History Archaeological evidence shows that the site h ...
, away. Largely financed by British investors organized by
Close Brothers Close Brothers Group plc is a UK merchant banking group, providing lending, deposit taking, wealth management and securities trading. The company is listed on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 250 Index. History Close ...
merchant bank, a railroad was soon under construction. A gauge was chosen by the railway contract builder
Michael James Heney Michael James "Moose" Heney (October 24, 1864 – October 11, 1910) was a railroad contractor, best known for his work on the first two railroads built in Alaska, the White Pass and Yukon Route and the Copper River and Northwestern Railway. The so ...
. The narrow roadbed required by narrow gauge greatly reduced costs when the roadbed was blasted in solid rock. Even so, 450 tons of explosives were used to reach White Pass summit. The narrow gauge also permitted tighter radii to be used on curves, making the task easier by allowing the railroad to follow the landscape more, rather than having to be blasted through it. Construction started in May 1898, but they encountered obstacles in dealing with the Skagway city government and the town's crime boss,
Soapy Smith Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith II (November 2, 1860 – July 8, 1898) was an American con artist and gangster in the American frontier. Smith operated confidence schemes across the Western United States, and had a large hand in organized cri ...
. The company president, Samuel H. Graves (1852–1911), was elected as chairman of the vigilante organization that was trying to expel Soapy and his gang of confidence men and rogues. On the evening of July 8, 1898, Soapy Smith was killed in the
Shootout on Juneau Wharf The Shootout on Juneau Wharf was a gunfight between Jefferson Randolph "Soapy" Smith, Frank H. Reid, and Jesse Murphy that took place on Friday, July 8, 1898, at approximately 9:15 p.m. in Skagway, District of Alaska, in the United States. ...
with guards at one of the vigilante's meetings. Samuel Graves witnessed the shooting. The railroad helped block off the escape routes of the gang, aiding in their capture, and the remaining difficulties in Skagway subsided. On July 21, 1898, an excursion train hauled passengers for out of Skagway, the first train to operate in Alaska. On July 30, 1898, the charter rights and concessions of the three companies were acquired by the White Pass & Yukon Railway Company Limited, a new company organized in London. Construction reached the summit of White Pass, away from Skagway, by mid-February 1899. The railway reached
Bennett, British Columbia Bennett, British Columbia, Canada, is an abandoned town next to Bennett Lake and along Lindeman Creek (formerly known as the One Mile River). The townsite is now part of the Chilkoot Trail National Historic Site of Canada and is managed by Parks ...
, on July 6, 1899. In the summer of 1899, construction started north from
Carcross Carcross, originally known as Caribou Crossing, ( tli, Nadashaa Héeni) is an unincorporated community in Yukon, Canada, on Bennett Lake and Nares Lake. It is home to the Carcross/Tagish First Nation. It is south-southeast by the Alaska Highway ...
to Whitehorse, north of Skagway. The construction crews working from Bennett along a difficult lakeshore reached Carcross the next year, and the last spike was driven on July 29, 1900, with service starting on August 1, 1900. By then much of the Gold Rush fever had died down. At the time, the gold spike was actually a regular iron spike. A gold spike was on hand, but the gold was too soft and instead of being driven, was just hammered out of shape.


Early years

As the gold rush wound down, serious professional mining was taking its place; not so much for gold as for other metals such as
copper Copper is a chemical element with the symbol Cu (from la, cuprum) and atomic number 29. It is a soft, malleable, and ductile metal with very high thermal and electrical conductivity. A freshly exposed surface of pure copper has a pinkis ...
,
silver Silver is a chemical element with the symbol Ag (from the Latin ', derived from the Proto-Indo-European ''h₂erǵ'': "shiny" or "white") and atomic number 47. A soft, white, lustrous transition metal, it exhibits the highest electrical ...
and
lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
. The closest port was Skagway, and the only route there was via the White Pass & Yukon Route's river boats and railroad. While ores and concentrates formed the bulk of the traffic, the railroad also carried passenger traffic, and other freight. There was, for a long time, no easier way into the Yukon Territory, and no other way into or out of Skagway except by sea. Financing and route was in place to extend the rails from Whitehorse to Carmacks, but there was chaos in the river transportation service, resulting in a bottleneck. The White Pass instead used the money to purchase most of the riverboats, providing a steady and reliable transportation system between Whitehorse and Dawson City. While the WP&YR never built between Whitehorse and Fort Selkirk, some minor expansion of the railway occurred after 1900. In 1901, the Taku Tram, a portage railroad was built at Taku City, British Columbia, which was operated until 1951. It carried passengers and freight between the SS ''Tutshi'' operating on
Tagish Lake Tagish Lake is a lake in Yukon and northern British Columbia, Canada. The lake is more than long and about wide. It has two arms, the Taku Arm in the east which is very long and mostly in British Columbia and Windy Arm in the west, mostly in ...
and the MV ''Tarahne''The original meaning of the word ''tarahne'' not recorded. Appears to have been derived from Tlingit phrase ''táay aani'', which means ''village of gardens'' (''táay'' 'garden''+ ''aan'' 'village''+ ''i'' ossessed noun suffix. , at pp. at pp. i (''i'' = possessed noun suffix); A1, B60 (''aan'' = ''town''); A42, B25 (''táay'' = ''garden''). Most households in Atlin in 1907 had vegetable gardens. , at page 271. Note that the Tlingit language does not have an ''R'' sound. However, the word ''táay'' is known to have been corrupted with an ''R'' by European speakers. , at page 243 reports the pronunciation of ''táay'' (''garden'') to be "tār." Everything else about ''tarahne'' looks like it came from ''táay aani'' (''village of gardens''). operating across
Atlin Lake Atlin Lake ( Lingít: ''Áa Tlein'') is the largest natural lake in the Canadian province of British Columbia. The northern tip of the lake is in Yukon, as is Little Atlin Lake. However, most of the lake lies within the Atlin District of British ...
to Atlin, British Columbia. (While ''Tutshi'' was destroyed by a suspicious fire around 1990, ''Tarahne'' was restored and hosts special dinners including murder mysteries. Lifeboats built for ''Tutshis restoration were donated to ''Tarahne''.) The Taku Tram could not turn around, and simply backed up on its westbound run. The locomotive used, the ''Duchess'', is now in Carcross. In 1910, the WP&YR operated a branch line to Pueblo, a mining area near Whitehorse. This branch line was abandoned in 1918; a haul-road follows that course today but is mostly barricaded; a ''Whitehorse Star'' editorial in the 1980s noted that this route would be an ideal alignment if the Alaska Highway should ever require a bypass reroute around Whitehorse. By June, 1914, the WP&YR had 11 locomotives, 15 passenger cars and 233 freight cars operating on of trackage; generating $68,368 in passenger revenue and $257,981 in freight revenue; still a profitable operation as operating expenses were only $100,347. While all other railroads in the Yukon (such as the Klondike Mines Railway at Dawson City) had been abandoned by 1914, the WP&YR continued to operate. During the Great Depression, traffic was sparse on the WP&YR, and for a time trains operated as infrequently as once a week.


World War II

Alaska became strategically important for the United States during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
; there was concern that the Japanese might invade it, as Alaska was the closest part of the United States to Japan. Following the
Attack on Pearl Harbor The attack on Pearl HarborAlso known as the Battle of Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike by the Imperial Japanese Navy Air Service upon the United States against the naval base at Pearl Harbor in Honolulu, Territory of Hawaii ...
, the decision was made by the US and Canadian governments to construct the Alaska Highway as an all-weather overland route to ensure communication. One of the principal staging points for construction was Whitehorse, which could be supplied by the WP&YR. By that time the railroad was a financially-starved remnant from Klondike gold rush days, with well-worn engines and rolling stock. Despite this, the railroad moved 67,496 tons during the first 9 months of 1942, more than double its prewar annual traffic. Even this was deemed insufficient, so the U.S. Government leased the railroad for the duration, effective at 12:01 a.m. on 1 October 1942, handing control to the
United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...
. What became the 770th Railway Operating Battalion of the Military Railway Service took over train operations in company with the WP&Y's civilian staff. Canadian law forbade foreign government agencies from operating within Canada and its territories, but Japanese forces had occupied some of the
Aleutian Islands The Aleutian Islands (; ; ale, Unangam Tanangin,”Land of the Aleuts", possibly from Chukchi ''aliat'', "island"), also called the Aleut Islands or Aleutic Islands and known before 1867 as the Catherine Archipelago, are a chain of 14 large v ...
by this time, and an accommodation was quickly reached to "make an illegal action legal." The MRS scoured the US for usable narrow-gauge locomotives and rolling stock, and soon a strange and colorful assortment began arriving at Skagway. The single-largest group was seven D&RGW K-28 class 2-8-2's acquired prior to the lease, in August 1942, 2-8-0's from the Silverton Northern and the
Colorado & Southern The Colorado and Southern Railway was an American Class I railroad in the western United States that operated independently from 1898 to 1908, then as part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad until it was absorbed into the Burli ...
, all over 40 years old, and a pair of ET&WNC 4-6-0's soon appeared, among others, as well as eleven new War Department Class S118 2-8-2's. WP&Y's original roster of 10 locomotives and 83 cars was soon eclipsed by the Army's additional 26 engines and 258 cars. The increase in traffic was remarkable: in the last 3 months of 1942, the railroad moved 25,756 tons. In 1943, the line carried 281,962 tons, equivalent to ten years worth of typical prewar traffic: all this despite some of the most severe winter weather recorded since 1910; gales, snowdrifts and temperatures of -30 degrees F. succeeded in blockading the line from 5 – 15 February 1943 and 27 January – 14 February 1944. The peak movement occurred on August 4, 1943, when the White Pass moved 38 trains north and south, totaling 3346 gross / 2085 net tons, and 2236 locomotive-miles in 24 hours. Control of the railroad was handed back to its civilian operators late in 1944.


1946–1982

In May, 1947, the railroad purchased its last steam locomotives. These were a pair of 2-8-2 Mikado type engines built by the Baldwin Locomotive Works of
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
, numbered No. 72 and No. 73. In 1951, the White Pass and Yukon Corporation Ltd., a new holding company, was incorporated to acquire the three railway companies comprising the WP&YR from the White Pass and Yukon Company, Ltd., which was in liquidation. The railway was financially restructured. While most other narrow-gauge systems in North America were closing around this time, the WP&YR remained open. In 1959, the first dividend to stockholders was paid: 10 cents per share. The railroad began dieselizing in the mid to late 1950s: one of the few North American narrow-gauge railroads to do so. The railroad bought shovelnose diesels from
General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...
, and later road-switchers from American Locomotive Company (ALCO) and Montreal Locomotive Works, as well as a few small switchers. On June 30, 1964, the line retired its last steam locomotive. The railroad was an early pioneer of intermodal freight traffic, commonly called
containerization Containerization is a system of intermodal freight transport using intermodal containers (also called shipping containers and ISO containers). Containerization is also referred as "Container Stuffing" or "Container Loading", which is the p ...
; advertising of the time referred to it as the ''
Container A container is any receptacle or enclosure for holding a product used in storage, packaging, and transportation, including shipping. Things kept inside of a container are protected on several sides by being inside of its structure. The term ...
Route''. The WP&YR owned an early
container ship A container ship (also called boxship or spelled containership) is a cargo ship that carries all of its load in truck-size intermodal containers, in a technique called containerization. Container ships are a common means of commercial intermoda ...
(''Clifford J. Rogers'', built in 1955), and in 1956 introduced containers, although these were far smaller than the truck-sized containers than came into use in the United States in 1956 and could not readily be handed off to other railroads or ship lines. The Faro
lead Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
-
zinc Zinc is a chemical element with the symbol Zn and atomic number 30. Zinc is a slightly brittle metal at room temperature and has a shiny-greyish appearance when oxidation is removed. It is the first element in group 12 (IIB) of the periodi ...
mine opened in 1969. The railway was upgraded with seven new locomotives from ALCO, new freight cars, ore buckets, a
straddle carrier A straddle carrier or straddle truck is a freight-carrying vehicle that carries its load underneath by "straddling" it, rather than carrying it on top like a conventional truck. The advantage of the straddle carrier is its ability to load and unloa ...
at Whitehorse to transfer from the railway's new fleet of trucks, a new ore dock at Skagway, and assorted work on the rail line to improve alignment. In the fall of 1969, a new tunnel and bridge that bypassed Dead Horse Gulch were built to replace the tall steel cantilever bridge that could not carry the heavier trains. This enormous investment made the company dependent on continued ore traffic to earn the revenue, and left the railway vulnerable to loss of that ore-carrying business. As well, passenger traffic on the WP&YR was increasing as cruise ships started to visit Alaska's
Inside Passage The Inside Passage (french: Passage Intérieur) is a coastal route for ships and boats along a network of passages which weave through the islands on the Pacific Northwest coast of the North American Fjordland. The route extends from southeaste ...
. There was no road from Skagway to Whitehorse until 1978. Even after the road was built, the White Pass still survived on the ore traffic from the mines. During this time, the green-yellow engine color scheme, with a
thunderbird Thunderbird, thunder bird or thunderbirds may refer to: * Thunderbird (mythology), a legendary creature in certain North American indigenous peoples' history and culture * Ford Thunderbird, a car Birds * Dromornithidae, extinct flightless birds ...
on the front, was replaced with blue, patterned with black and white. (The green-yellow scheme was restored in the early 1990s, along with the thunderbird. , however, one engine still had the blue color scheme. The steam engines, however, remained basic black.) In 1982, metal prices plunged, striking with devastating effect on the mines that were the White Pass and Yukon Route's main customers. Many, including the Faro lead-zinc mine, closed down, and, with that traffic gone, the White Pass was doomed as a commercial railroad. Hopeful of a reopening, the railway ran at a significant loss for several months, carrying only passengers. However, the railway closed down on October 7, 1982. Some of the road's ALCO diesels were sold to a railroad in
Colombia Colombia (, ; ), officially the Republic of Colombia, is a country in South America with insular regions in North America—near Nicaragua's Caribbean coast—as well as in the Pacific Ocean. The Colombian mainland is bordered by the Car ...
, and three (out of four, and one of these was wrecked) of the newer ALCO diesels built by and in storage with ALCO's Canadian licensee MLW ( Montreal Locomotive Works) were sold to
US Gypsum USG Corporation, also known as United States Gypsum Corporation, is an American company which manufactures construction materials, most notably drywall and joint compound. The company is the largest distributor of wallboard in the United States ...
in
Plaster City, California Plaster City is an unincorporated community in Imperial County in the U.S. state of California. It is located west of El Centro, at an elevation of 105 feet (32 m). United States Gypsum operates a large gypsum quarry and plant there and owns ...
. Only one of these modern narrow-gauge diesels, the last narrow-gauge diesel locomotives built for a North American customer, was delivered to the White Pass. The five diesels sold to Colombia were not used there as they were too heavy, and were re-acquired in 1999; one was nearly lost at sea during a storm as it broke loose on the barge and slowly rolled towards the edge. The railway was the focus of the first episode of the BBC Television series ''
Great Little Railways ''Great Railway Journeys'', originally titled ''Great Railway Journeys of the World'', is a recurring series of travel documentaries produced by BBC Television. The premise of each programme is that the presenter, typically a well-known fig ...
'' in 1983.


Heritage railway: 1988–present

The shutdown, however, was not for long.
Tourism Tourism is travel for pleasure or business; also the theory and practice of touring, the business of attracting, accommodating, and entertaining tourists, and the business of operating tours. The World Tourism Organization defines tourism mor ...
to Alaska began to increase, with many
cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as ...
s stopping at Skagway. The scenery of the White Pass route sounded like a great tourist draw; and the rails of the White Pass & Yukon Route were laid right down to the docks, even along them, for the former freight and cruise ship traffic. Cruise operators, remembering the attraction of the little mountain climbing trains to their passengers, pushed for a re-opening of the line as a heritage railway. The White Pass was and is perfectly positioned to sell a railroad ride through the mountains to cruise ship tourists; they do not even have to walk far from their ships. Following a deal between White Pass and the United Transportation Union, representing Alaska employees of the road, the White Pass Route was reopened between Skagway and White Pass in 1988: purely for tourist passenger traffic. The White Pass Route also bid on the
ore Ore is natural rock or sediment that contains one or more valuable minerals, typically containing metals, that can be mined, treated and sold at a profit.Encyclopædia Britannica. "Ore". Encyclopædia Britannica Online. Retrieved 7 Apr ...
-haul from the newly reopened Faro mine, but its price was considerably higher than road haulage over the
Klondike Highway The Klondike Highway is a highway that runs from the Alaska Panhandle through the province of British Columbia and the territory of Yukon in Canada, linking the coastal town of Skagway, Alaska, to Dawson City, Yukon. Its route somewhat pa ...
. The railway still uses vintage parlor cars, the oldest four built in 1881 and predating WP&YR by 17 years, and four new cars built in 2007 follow the same 19th-century design. At least eight cars have wheelchair lifts. A work train reached Whitehorse on September 22, 1988, its intent being to haul two locomotives, parked in Whitehorse for six years, to Skagway to be overhauled and used on the tourist trains. While in Whitehorse for approximately one week, it hauled the parked
rolling stock The term rolling stock in the rail transport industry refers to railway vehicles, including both powered and unpowered vehicles: for example, locomotives, freight and passenger cars (or coaches), and non-revenue cars. Passenger vehicles can ...
flatcar A flatcar (US) (also flat car, or flatbed) is a piece of rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on a pair of trucks (US) or bogies (UK), one at each end containing four or six wheels. Occasionally, flat cars designed to carry ...
s,
tankers Tanker may refer to: Transportation * Tanker, a tank crewman (US) * Tanker (ship), a ship designed to carry bulk liquids ** Chemical tanker, a type of tanker designed to transport chemicals in bulk ** Oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tank ...
and a
caboose A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in railway switch, switching and Shunting (rail), shunting, keeping a l ...
– out of the downtown area's sidings, and the following year, they were hauled further south, many eventually sold. Most of the tracks in downtown Whitehorse have now been torn up, and the line's terminus is six city blocks south of the old train depot at First Avenue and Main Street. A single new track along the waterfront once enabled the operation of the
Whitehorse Waterfront Trolley The Whitehorse Waterfront Trolley was a heritage streetcar service in Whitehorse, Yukon, Whitehorse, Yukon, Canada. The line used a single reconditioned Tram, trolley which carried tourists along Whitehorse's waterfront along the Yukon River. ...
, a tourist line run by a local historical society. After customs and Canadian Labour Union jurisdictional issues were resolved, the WP&YR main line reopened to Fraser in 1989, and to Bennett in 1992. A train reached Carcross in 1997 to participate in the Ton of Gold centennial celebration. A special passenger run, by invitation only, was made from Carcross to Whitehorse on October 10, 1997, and there are plans to eventually re-open the entire line north to Whitehorse if a market exists. So far, the tracks are only certified to Carcross by the Canadian Transportation Agency; on July 29, 2006, White Pass ran a train to Carcross and announced passenger service would begin in May 2007, six trains per week, with motorcoach return trips. Since the distance between Skagway and Whitehorse is , and the distance of line between Skagway and Carcross is , this means that about 63% of the original line is now used again. Even when the length of the unused portion of the line is excluded, the WP&YR is longer than other notable North American narrow-gauge railroads, such as the Cumbres & Toltec Scenic Railroad () and the
Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad The Durango and Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad, often abbreviated as the D&SNG, is a 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge heritage railroad that operates on of track between Durango and Silverton, in the U.S. state of Colorado. The railway is a fe ...
(). WP&YR acquired some rolling stock from
Canadian National The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN ...
's Newfoundland operations, which shut down in November,1988; the acquisition included 8 side-pivot, drop-side air dump cars for large rocks, and 8 longitudinal
hoppers Hopper or hoppers may refer to: Places *Hopper, Illinois * Hopper, West Virginia * Hopper, a mountain and valley in the Hunza–Nagar District of Pakistan * Hopper (crater), a crater on Mercury People with the name * Hopper (surname) * Grace H ...
for
ballast Ballast is material that is used to provide stability to a vehicle or structure. Ballast, other than cargo, may be placed in a vehicle, often a ship or the gondola of a balloon or airship, to provide stability. A compartment within a boat, ship ...
, still painted in CN orange. These cars were converted from Newfoundland's gauge bogies to White Pass and Yukon Route's 3 ft (914 mm)
narrow gauge A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and . Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
bogies. Most trains are hauled by the line's diesel locomotives, painted in green (lower) and yellow (upper), but one of the line's steam locomotives is still in operation too, No. 73, a 2-8-2 Mikado-type locomotive. Another steam locomotive, No. 40 a 2-8-0 Consolidation type locomotive was on loan from the Georgetown Loop R.R. in Colorado for upwards of five years, but was returned after only two years. Former WP&Y 69, a 2-8-0, was re-acquired in 2001, rebuilt, and re-entered service in 2008. Also operational, a few times a year, is an original steam-powered
rotary snowplow A rotary snowplow (American English) or rotary snowplough is a piece of railroad snow removal equipment with a large circular set of blades on its front end that rotate to cut through the snow on the track ahead of it. The precursor to the rotary ...
, an essential device in the line's commercial service days. (The rotaries were retired in 1964, along with the remaining steam engines that pushed them, and snow clearing was done by
caterpillar Caterpillars ( ) are the larval stage of members of the order Lepidoptera (the insect order comprising butterflies and moths). As with most common names, the application of the word is arbitrary, since the larvae of sawflies (suborder Sym ...
tractor A tractor is an engineering vehicle specifically designed to deliver a high tractive effort (or torque) at slow speeds, for the purposes of hauling a trailer or machinery such as that used in agriculture, mining or construction. Most commo ...
.) While it is not needed, as the tourist season is only in the summer months, it is a spectacle in operation, and the White Pass runs the steam plow for
railfan A railfan, rail buff or train buff (American English), railway enthusiast, railway buff or trainspotter ( Australian/British English), or ferroequinologist is a person who is recreationally interested in trains and rail transport systems. Rai ...
groups once or twice a winter, pushed by two diesel locomotives (in 2000 only, it was pushed by two steam locomotives, Nos. 73 and 40). The centennial of the Golden Spike at Carcross was re-enacted on July 29, 2000, complete with two steam engines meeting nose-to-nose (No. 73 and No. 40), and a gold-coated steel spike being driven by a descendant of WP&YR contractor
Michael James Heney Michael James "Moose" Heney (October 24, 1864 – October 11, 1910) was a railroad contractor, best known for his work on the first two railroads built in Alaska, the White Pass and Yukon Route and the Copper River and Northwestern Railway. The so ...
. One organization chartered a steam-pulled train from Carcross to Fraser, with a stopover at Bennett, on Friday, June 24, 2005. When expected participants seemed unlikely to arrive in the planned numbers, surplus seats were sold to the public, 120 USD or 156 CAD, with bus return to Carcross from Fraser. This represents the first paid passenger trips out of Carcross since 1982, a feature that started regular service in 2007. White Pass president Gary Danielsen advised a CBC Radio interviewer that service to Whitehorse would require an enormous capital investment to restore the tracks, but the company is willing if there is either a passenger or freight potential to make it cost-effective. A June, 2006 report on connecting Alaska to the continental railroad network suggested Carmacks as a hub, with a branch line to Whitehorse and beyond to either Skagway or Haines, Alaska. In addition to the restoration of the actual rail line, several former White Pass steam locomotives are currently in operation at tourist attractions in the
Southeastern United States The Southeastern United States, also referred to as the American Southeast or simply the Southeast, is a geographical region of the United States. It is located broadly on the eastern portion of the southern United States and the southern por ...
. Locomotives 70, 71, and 192 are at the
Dollywood Dollywood is a theme park jointly owned by entertainer Dolly Parton and Herschend Family Entertainment. It is located in the Knoxville metropolitan area in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, near the gateway to The Great Smoky Mountains. Hosting nearly ...
amusement park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, as well as other events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central ...
in
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee Pigeon Forge is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 6,343. Situated just 5 miles (8 km) north of Great Smoky Mountains National Par ...
. Locomotive 190 is at the
Tweetsie Railroad Tweetsie Railroad is a family-oriented heritage railroad and Wild West amusement park located between Boone and Blowing Rock, North Carolina, United States. The centerpiece of the park is a ride on a train pulled by one of Tweetsie Railroad's t ...
in
Boone, North Carolina Boone is a town in and the county seat of Watauga County, North Carolina, United States. Located in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina, Boone is the home of Appalachian State University and the headquarters for the disaster a ...
. In late June, 2010, the railroad and the City of Skagway entered into an agreement whereby the two would jointly advocate for the restoration of freight service on the line, including the revival of the trackage north of Carcross back to Whitehorse and the possibility of constructing new track north from Whitehorse to Carmacks. The expansion would require federal funds, and, if completed, would serve the region's mining industry. In July, 2018, the railway was purchased by Klondike Holdings and
Carnival Corporation & plc Carnival Corporation & plc is a British-American cruise operator with a combined fleet of over 100 vessels across 10 cruise line brands. A dual-listed company, Carnival is composed of two companies – Panama-incorporated, US-headquartered Carniv ...
, in a joint venture.


Accidents

In 1951, engine No. 70 caught a guardrail with its snowplow and rolled over on its side. The locomotive is still in operation at
Dollywood Dollywood is a theme park jointly owned by entertainer Dolly Parton and Herschend Family Entertainment. It is located in the Knoxville metropolitan area in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, near the gateway to The Great Smoky Mountains. Hosting nearly ...
in
Pigeon Forge, Tennessee Pigeon Forge is a mountain resort city in Sevier County, Tennessee, in the southeastern United States. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 6,343. Situated just 5 miles (8 km) north of Great Smoky Mountains National Par ...
, working on the
Dollywood Express The ''Dollywood Express'' is a narrow-gauge heritage railroad and amusement park attraction located in the Dollywood amusement park in Pigeon Forge, Tennessee. Description It runs along a 2.5 mile loop-to-loop track from the Village to the t ...
. In 1994, during rock removal operations, a backhoe operator accidentally struck a petroleum pipeline near the railroad tracks. The operator's mistake caused the pipeline to rupture and spill between of heating oil into the Skagway river. Roadmaster Edward Hanousek Jr. and President M. Paul Taylor Jr. were charged with several crimes associated with the accident. Both men maintained their innocence throughout many years of extensive litigation. After remand by the 9th Circuit Court of Appeals, the President settled on a plea agreement on misdemeanor charges of making negligent misrepresentations to the Coast Guard. The Roadmaster was convicted on negligence-related charges. A serious derailment on September 3, 2006 resulted in the death of one section worker. A work train, Engine 114 pulling eight gravel cars, derailed approximately south of Bennett, injuring all four train crew, two Canadian and two American; one died at the scene and the others had to be airlifted to a hospital. Passenger operations on the blocked section had ended for the season just before the accident. In February, 2007, Engine 114 was taken for repair to the Coast Engine and Equipment Company (CEECO) in Tacoma, Washington. On July 23, 2014 a derailment occurred involving two vintage diesel locomotives and four passenger rail cars. The accident was due to a broken throw rod at a switch. Both locomotives derailed, and the rails broke. There were nine minor injuries initially reported, and those passengers were treated and released in Skagway. Later reports state that 19 passengers and four railroad employees were injured. Due to the derailment, the line was temporarily suspended, but service resumed.


Rosters of White Pass Locomotives and Cars, Boats, and Winter Stages

For the roster of White Pass locomotives and railroad cars, ''see''
List of White Pass and Yukon Route locomotives and cars The White Pass and Yukon Route railroad has had a large variety of locomotives and railroad cars. White Pass steam locomotives have been scrapped, while have been either put on display, or sold to other railroads. ''Passim'', '' Passim'', ''Wh ...
. For the roster of White Pass boats, ''see''
List of steamboats on the Yukon River This is a list of steamboats on the Yukon River. Please see Steamboats of the Yukon River for historical context. White Pass & Yukon Route vessels White Pass Barges (102 vessels): 25 barges built by White Pass. 58 barges (including 7 n ...
. For the roster of White Pass winter stages, ''see'' Overland Trail (Yukon).


War Department Baldwin 2-8-2 Locomotives

There are two persistent myths that show up in almost every book or article which mentions the role of the White Pass & Yukon Route in the building of the Alaska Highway during the Second World War. The myths concern the eleven new USATC S118 Class locomotives that the
United States Army Transportation Corps The Transportation Corps is a combat service support branch of the U.S. Army. It is responsible for the movement of personnel and material by truck, rail, air, and sea. It is one of three U.S. Army logistics branches, the others being the Qu ...
brought to the WP&YR in 1943. Myth No. 1 is that they were converted from gauge to gauge by the WP&YR shops in Skagway, Alaska. Myth No. 2 is that they were built for Iran and diverted to the WP&YR. These locomotives, designated USA 190 to USA 200, were constructed by Baldwin Locomotive Works as gauge and shipped fully assembled. No modification was needed. The MacArthur was designed by the American Locomotive Company for gauge and the smaller gauges were accommodated with various widths spacers (rings) between the wheels and the
truck A truck or lorry is a motor vehicle designed to transport cargo, carry specialized payloads, or perform other utilitarian work. Trucks vary greatly in size, power, and configuration, but the vast majority feature body-on-frame constructi ...
side frames on same length axles. The spacers were wide in the case of gauge and wide in the case of . In total, nearly 800 MacArthurs were produced by ALCO, Baldwin, and a few other manufacturers. The reason USA 190–200 were never destined for "Iran" as is often mistakenly stated in books relating WP&YR history, is that Iran's government railway was, and is, . Also, because of scarce water and extensive tunnels, Iran was the first case where the Army primarily used diesel locomotives. USATC narrow-gauge locomotives were never destined for Iran. The first locomotives of the MacArthur design that Baldwin Locomotive Works built were USA 190–200 for the WP&YR, which makes them unique. This initial 1942 sales order to Baldwin for 60 MacArthur gauge locomotives was for India's extensive meter-gauge railway system. The first eleven were diverted to the WP&YR as gauge, the next 15 went to India as meter gauge, another 20 went to
Queensland Rail Queensland Rail (QR) is a railway operator in Queensland, Australia. Owned by the Queensland Government, it operates local and long-distance passenger services, as well as owning and maintaining approximately 6,600 kilometres of track and relate ...
as gauge, and the remaining 14 were meter gauge for India where the order was destined before the Alaskan and Australian diversions.White Pass & Yukon Route Fan Page.
/ref>


Gallery

File:White Pass & Yukon Train. 2004.jpg, White Pass & Yukon Train. 2004 File:Skagway-Hoonah-Angoon Census Area Rail Bridge.jpg, Old wooden trestle, White Pass and Yukon Route. File:White Pass Parlor Cars.jpg, Parlor cars seen at Fraser, BC. File:Ferrocarril del Paso Blanco y Ruta de Yukón, Skagway, Alaska, Estados Unidos, 2017-08-18, DD 11.jpg, Steam Locomotive No. 73. File:WPY Steam Locomotive No 69 2011.jpg, Steam Locomotive No 69 filling water at Glacier station 2011. File:WPYR-Shops 20060609 13-45-17bf SkagwayAK.JPG, White Pass and Yukon Route shops in Skagway, Alaska. File:Ferrocarril del Paso Blanco y Ruta de Yukón, Skagway, Alaska, Estados Unidos, 2017-08-18, DD 13.jpg, Railway at Skagway Station. File:Ferrocarril del Paso Blanco y Ruta de Yukón, Skagway, Alaska, Estados Unidos, 2017-08-18, DD 15.jpg, Railway arriving in Skagway. File:Ferrocarril White Pass sobre el lago Bernard, Columbia Británica, Canadá, 2017-08-26, DD 76.jpg, Railway crossing the Bernard Lake, BC. File:Whitehorse station.JPG, Former station in Whitehorse. File:Skagway Train.jpg, Train returning to Skagway from the Yukon


See also

*
List of heritage railways in Canada A ''list'' is any set of items in a row. List or lists may also refer to: People * List (surname) Organizations * List College, an undergraduate division of the Jewish Theological Seminary of America * SC Germania List, German rugby unio ...
*
List of heritage railroads in the United States This is a list of heritage railroads in the United States. There are currently no such railroads in the states of Mississippi or North Dakota. Heritage railroads by state Alabama * Heart of Dixie Railroad Museum, Shelby & Southern Railroad a ...
* List of narrow-gauge railways in British Columbia *
Narrow-gauge railways in Canada Although most railways of central and eastern Canada were initially built to a broad gauge, there were several, especially in Atlantic Canada and Ontario, which were built as individual narrow-gauge lines. These were generally less expensive t ...
* List of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks


References


General references

* * * * :* :*


External links

*
Historic WP&Y route mapA WP&YR friend and fan web site by Boerries Burkhardt
* Davies/Scroggie Collection of White Pass and Yukon Documents and Ephemera. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Rare Book and Manuscript Library * {{DEFAULTSORT:White Pass Yukon Route 3 ft gauge railways in the United States 3 ft gauge railways in Canada Narrow gauge railways in British Columbia Narrow gauge railways in Yukon Narrow gauge railroads in Alaska Heritage railways in British Columbia Heritage railways in Yukon Heritage railroads in Alaska Defunct Alaska railroads Defunct British Columbia railways Defunct Yukon railways Passenger railroads in Alaska Passenger railways in British Columbia Passenger railways in Yukon Transportation in Municipality of Skagway Borough, Alaska Klondike Gold Rush Historic American Engineering Record in Alaska Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks Tourist attractions in the Municipality of Skagway Borough, Alaska Carnival Corporation & plc