Re: 493 June 28, 2019

When the war was over, the Army gave the White Pass a chance to buy any of the imported locomotives it wanted. Most of the motive power was on one leg when it arrived in Skagway. The Army only did enough maintenance to keep things moving.

The White Pass bought some of the inside frame 2-8-2s and that was about it.

The beloved K-28s were not popular with the White Pass crews. If you ever check an all-time White Pass roster you'll find the White Pass had a total of three outside frame locomotives that it purchased. The White Pass runs through what was once a glacier field and the ice is bad. The counterweights striking the ice supposedly was a problem.

If you look at the type of flangers the White Pass used compared to the ones used by the Rio Grande you realize this story is possible. The White Pass flangers were very narrow and mounted on specific cabooses. The Rio Grand drag flangers had wings that could push snow and ice away from the track, something the White Pass did not have.

Whatever the truth is, the White Pass was not a fan of outside frame locomotives. The 2-8-2s they kept could pull about as much as the 315. So there clearly was a bias that kept them from wanting the K-28s. Their 70-Class was their beloved motive power.