White Pass & Yukon 41 years ago-Skagway, AK to Bennett Lake, BC

The train for Whitehorse was scheduled to depart Skagway at 10 AM. On Sunday the 20th of May, 1979, it would not leave until about 11:30 and that was only the beginning. One of the reasons for the delay I suspect was that two Americans wanted their pickup loaded even though there was a perfectly good and brand new highway. The train that day was a true mixed train; a freight with some coaches on the rear for the few passengers. The tourist season hadn't really begun yet (schools were still in) and the cruise ship era was well in the future.

The brakeman (whose name I regretfully neglected to write down) drove our pickup onto the flatcar and it was tied down and added to the train. He is from the town of my birth in Oregon and attended the same college as my sister (he said he came up to look around and just never went back. Our locomotives are a pair of GE 90 class and four of the MLW DL-535E's led by WP&Y #110 still in its bicentennial colors. The grade out of Skagway is steep.

I am not sure why I have no pictures of the makeup of the train, I certainly have enough on either side. Perhaps there was so much going on I couldn't get to my camera. More likely, the roll of film was lost or damaged in our Alaska journey as I had no film developed until returning. So the next series of pictures doesn't begin until the train is past the shops out of Skagway.

We are in the rear coach, White Pass #268, formerly Sumpter Vallley RR Coach (and then Combine) #26. I say "in" loosely, there are few passengers and no one seems to care if you ride the platform. The brakeman (when he is not working) and I spend the trip there. The weather is perfect for looking and taking photos, clear and sunny. It is near the summer solstice so the day will be long. This far north, very long, and that will turn out to be more of an advantage than I first imagined.

The coach yard out of Skagway; look closely at the switch...


After a climb, looking down the river toward Skagway, river crossing at center:


The grade literally hangs to the side of a cliff; the reason for 3' gauge is obvious:


Both the river and the railroad go up sharply, the river and the new highway below:




Edited 5 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2020 11:30AM by heatermason.