While converting the entire White Pass roster to steam makes most of those on this board salivate it does make sense that it would be impractical. I do have two issues that bother me about the White Pass operation:
1) Why are they so stinkin' expensive? $125 for the trip to the Summit and back, $300 to go to Carcross and return by bus. What is the deal and that is with diesels? Fuel costs in Alaska are not much higher than in the lower 48 from what I saw when I was there but maybe I do not have all of the pieces to the puzzle. Don't get me wrong I enjoyed the ride and will do it again (next time to Carcross and not just the Summit) but you can ride in style (parlor car) for about the same price as going just to the Summit and back. I guess it is simple economics as they are charging what the market will bear as they have huge ridership numbers every year.
2) Why do they only run the steam on the weekends? This drove me nuts that I could not ride behind steam because they didn't even offer it on the weekday when I had come into port. We passed the steamers at the shops. It would seem that they could run the steam as an option and charge a little more with proper advertising and salesmanship on the part of the cruise lines. Out of the 10,000 people that come into port on an average day you would think that there would be enough folks interested in riding behind steam to fill up a train if it was offered as a premium service. That I would pay more for. My wife detests diesels and would take steam any day even with the higher costs.
I realize that the two items listed above seem to be contradictory as I am asking for cheaper prices but am willing to pay more for steam but I am more willing to part with the cash for the steam any day.
As I said above I enjoyed the trip and it is a well run operation. I will ride the train again when I get back to Alaska, but what is the deal?
Daniel
