Re: White Pass WWII
| November 17, 2019 07:34PM |
My project for the day has been trying a new scanner out as well as trying to file some stuff I've been collecting. Found this that may be of interest:
This is an old news print that is only in fair condition by ACME Newspictures. The caption on the back states:
"RAIL LINKS ALCAN HIGHWAY AND COAST
ALASKA - The only connection between the ALCAN Highway and the ocean is the narrow gauge (three feet in width) White Pass and Yukon line. Built some forty years ago to tap the gold fields of the Klondike, it runs 111 miles, winding up from Skagway, at the head of the Inside Passage, to Whitehorse in the heart of Canada's fabulous Yukon Territory. Facilities of the railroad have been leased by the U.S. Army for the duration. Soldiers operate the line under Major John E. Ausland, Military Superintendent, with the help of 200 civilians. Brig. Gen. James A. O'Connor, who heads the Northwest Service Command with headquarters at Whitehorse, is in supreme command. For twenty miles out of Skagway the railroad ascends 2,800 feet, which is one of the steepest railway grades in the world. Before the Japs captured Lashio, Major Ausland was building a railroad from Rangoon to Inner China paralleling the Burma Road. Natives call the White Pass and Yukon the 'Wait Patiently and You'll Ride.'"
"Three engines are required to haul a load of the slopes out of Skagway. This 'shot' was made at Glacier Bridge curve, 14 miles north of Skagway." Date: 12/22/42
Lead engine is the 70. Detail of middle engine:
Somebody more familiar than I will have to provide additional details and place what we are looking at in a wider perspective.
This is an old news print that is only in fair condition by ACME Newspictures. The caption on the back states:
"RAIL LINKS ALCAN HIGHWAY AND COAST
ALASKA - The only connection between the ALCAN Highway and the ocean is the narrow gauge (three feet in width) White Pass and Yukon line. Built some forty years ago to tap the gold fields of the Klondike, it runs 111 miles, winding up from Skagway, at the head of the Inside Passage, to Whitehorse in the heart of Canada's fabulous Yukon Territory. Facilities of the railroad have been leased by the U.S. Army for the duration. Soldiers operate the line under Major John E. Ausland, Military Superintendent, with the help of 200 civilians. Brig. Gen. James A. O'Connor, who heads the Northwest Service Command with headquarters at Whitehorse, is in supreme command. For twenty miles out of Skagway the railroad ascends 2,800 feet, which is one of the steepest railway grades in the world. Before the Japs captured Lashio, Major Ausland was building a railroad from Rangoon to Inner China paralleling the Burma Road. Natives call the White Pass and Yukon the 'Wait Patiently and You'll Ride.'"
"Three engines are required to haul a load of the slopes out of Skagway. This 'shot' was made at Glacier Bridge curve, 14 miles north of Skagway." Date: 12/22/42
Lead engine is the 70. Detail of middle engine:
Somebody more familiar than I will have to provide additional details and place what we are looking at in a wider perspective.
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488 stops for water at Los Pinos tank on closing day Oct. 1979. Photo courtesy Don Richter
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