Re: White Pass ore haulage

In an ore haulage related note:

The ore bins were just used by WP&Y for truck to Whitehorse and rail to Skagway. There, they were dumped into a storage building and the concentrated ore was loaded into a bulk ore ship.

The long term lease of the city docks to WP&Y was expiring, and after some contention is now controlled by the Municipality of Skagway who accepted responsibility for any future cleanup. WP&Y still owns and controls the railroad dock.

The bulk ore loading tower and conveyors were completely removed earlier this year. A large floating dock to extend the ore dock was in transit from Washington in February when it broke into three pieces. It's been in Ketchikan being repaired, and should arrive in Skagway soon as there are cruise ships scheduled to dock at it within a few weeks.

Any future ore shipments will only be accepted if they are in enclosed containers. Yukon Territory has been attempting to make an agreement to provide access to Skagway for ore shipments and offering some serious money. Evidently, Skagway is the only viable port for them right now.

Skagway's primary interest seems to be how to accommodate more cruise ships and their passengers. Despite charging $13.50 fee per passenger, the Municipality seems to be slow to react on what needs to be done to support the seasonal businesses and personnel needed - particularly for housing.

1,200,000 cruise ship visitors last year, and more expected this season. The modern Gold Rush has nothing to do with minerals.