White Pass & Yukon 41 years ago-Carcross, YT to Whitehorse, YT

In 1979 as now, Whitehorse was the capital of the Yukon Territory. It was never large except relative to everything else in the Territory, about 25,000 in 2016. It was not even incorporated until 1950 and is the only city in the Territory, in fact, it remains the largest city in Northern Canada. During WWII the Alaska Highway was rushed through in response to the Japanese invasion of the Aleutian Islands. The White Pass was the only real way to get equipment and supplies in for a long stretch of it, hence the takeover by the U.S. Army.

In 1979 you could still talk to folks who remembered it all. In the North country where there is permafrost, occasionally someone will stumble on a frozen mammoth carcass (often the dogs found them first). Some have cut off a steak and tried the meat. And they had ivory tusks. One Army veteran ruefully told me they used to uncover them and just threw them in with the highway fill when they did. Now of course each one is worth thousands and thousands of dollars....

The rails still run to Whitehorse; when they started to open up the railroad again they ran all the way and retrieved equipment. But there was no reason to maintain the trackage, and while technically not abandoned, I am told most of the that which was within the city has been removed. The depot remains but has been repurposed. The present terminus of the White Pass is Carcross, so everything here is history. I will share everything I can, no one is going to get back any time soon! I wish it was more.

A repost of leaving Carcross:


With all the delays, it is getting late and the light is getting low:


Above the river; I cannot remember if this is glacial till or mining detritus, but I believe the latter (the Sumpter Valley was rebuilt on dredge tailings, too):


Low light at evening provides opportunities:


An old homestead along the tracks; I would love to see if it remains:




Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 05/30/2020 02:52AM by heatermason.