Brian, You are correct that the WP&Y has long sought out and catered to cruise vessels. Advertising for the 1920s and 1930s indicates that there was a recognizable tourist trade in the summer months. A lot of those were people traveling on the Alaska Steamship Co vessels providing general freight and transportation between Seattle and Alaska ports, rather than vessels specifically taking tourists on a cruise to see the wonders of the Inland Passage. The Alaska Steamship passenger of the 1930s had fairly spartan accommodations; today's cruise vessel is a luxury hotel afloat.
The big rise of the large west coast cruise fleet in the 1970s and 1980s was important for the survival of the WP&Y. It is still the cruise passengers, and not the relatively small number of auto tourists who have given the railroad the traffic base it needs to not merely survive, but to thrive.
Again, like the D&RGW Silverton branch, timing and placement probably saved the WP&Y. Both were pretty much the last 36 inch gauge railroads left in the USA after 1950 with passenger cars, and a scheduled passenger service that tourists could ride without extraordinary efforts. Word of mouth brought riders to each, but with important differences.
The D&RGW was trying to abandon its narrow gauge operations, but the movies, the modest publicity by Robert Richardson's motel at Alamosa, the hard work of the Silverton crew to insure riders had a good time and then word of mouth by satisfied customers gradually built summer traffic from a couple of combine on a weekly mixed in 1950 to a daily ten car train in 1960. That increase in business made the ICC turn down the railroad's petition to abandon the Silverton. During that same decade, steam locomotives had, for all practical purposes, been replaced by the passenger railroads, or they would be gone by the end of 1961. The scenery and the rapidly rare experience of riding behind steam helped sell the concept to vacationers. Durango being on a highway travel route to Mesa Verde, reasonably easily accessible from Chicago and the midwest as well as southern California in the 1950s helped greatly. By the time the interstates had become the preferred travel routes for many vactioners in the 1970s, both the Silverton and Mesa Verde were well established and popular summer vacation places. After 1970, the D&RGW was actively seeking a buyer for the Silverton, because it was an archaic albeit profitable oddity in its system. Although technically a common carrier, there was virtually no freight after 1968, and the railroad had become strictly a seasonal operation for the summer tourists. The rest of the year, the region's transportation needs were met by motor carrier. The tourists didn't care, they just rode the train in the summer.
The WP&Y had seen business shrink after 1945, but it remained a vital transportation route: a short route from the port to the interior around Whitehorse. An early intermodal carrier, the WP&Y enthusiastically sought freight bound to and from the interior, this was the railroad's primary business. A small but growing number of people with vehicles used the mixed train as a way to shorten the drive up the Alaska Highway, which was an arduous trip that had minimal accommodations and a lot of dust and mud. You had to like camping out to drive the Alaska Highway, and that wasn't for everyone, especially a lot of tourists seeking an air conditioned motel with a swimming pool at the end of their day. However, more passengers on ships and the rise of a west coast cruise industry gave the railroad reason to increase the passenger car fleet in the 1960s and 1970s to cater to this summer-time business. Closure of the Cypress Anvil mine and highway improvements - paving much of the Alaska highway, and completion of a highway from the Alaska Highway to Skagway - killed much of the freight business. But the increase in cruise ships made a summer-only operating WP&Y very profitable. The railroad has become very successful, and its management caters to the cruise industry.
Notice I haven't talked about the railfans. Neither the D&RGW, or today's D&SNG or the WP&Y would survive on our rather small volume of business. Both railroads have made themselves into very successful enterprises marketing the experience of their ride to specific segments of the vacation travel business. Most of the passengers on the D&S are vacationing by automobile, and they want comfortable motels, WIFI, and other amenities at all times. Most of the passengers on the WP&Y are vacationing by cruise, enjoying a stay in a luxury hotel afloat with all the creature comforts at all times. For both groups of tourists, the train ride is part of the vacation experience, but not the primary reason for the trip. For the serious fan, the long and still rather arduous drive to the WP&Y may be acceptable, but it is probably harder to sell to the rest of the family unless they like camping out. Flying is an option, but not inexpensive.
I've enjoyed my ride on the WP&Y. It's got great scenery - and it is still not a convenient drive from anywhere in Washington State, which may also reduce the number of railfan visitors.
CVM
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Re: WP&Y, who rides this, among train buffs?
