Tim,
Those pictures suggest much more than simply augmenting wet wood. Could it be it was cheaper to burn coal when enough wood was not available, maybe at the South Baker end? Wasn't the OLC mill at South Baker primarily kilns and planer, so not generating any slabs for loco fuel, but didn't they haul logs into the BWP mill in Baker? If they didn't get slabs from BWP, that means they had to haul it into South Baker. The coal was likely from Utah, but handling it would have been awkward as I don't recall any mention of coal transfer, crane or tipple. I guess the labor by hand would likely be about the same handling coal or wood.
Chris - thanks for the info.
Brian,
To better explain Casey's comments, it was my understanding from him that the issue with the coal supply had to do with cycle time and capacity of transporting the coal to the Skagway dock and unloading. The collier (ship) assigned evidently had limited capacity (1,000 tons?). Even with the priority, I would imagine that there may not have been other ships available to be assigned to increase coal deliveries.
Based on the photos on Bruce's site, I am guessing the coal buckets were actually loaded out of the ship's holds by hand.
http://wpyphotos.com/skagway/SKcoal/SKcoalindex.html
http://wpyphotos.com/skagway/SKcraneDumperOreBunker/index.html
The dock transfer crane was apparently also used to unload general freight at the dock, so there would have been a huge traffic jam during this period. Not to mention that when winter hit I'm sure some of that coal was used to try and heat the temporary barracks/tents in Skagway, Whitehorse and in between. Don't forget the rotaries and their engines consumed their fair share.
Dan
