FRIDAY, JULY 19 (PART II)

FRIDAY, JULY (PART II):

     After our first ranger-led walk in the morning, in the afternoon, we’d scheduled a train excursion on the WP & YR (White Pass & Yukon Route) railroad.  This train has 3 or 4 different runs out of Skagway; we wanted to ride one with the old steam engine, which only runs a couple of times a week. 

        This railroad has a rich history.  It was built in 1898-99, expressly designed to be a route to the Yukon and its gold fields as an alternate to either of the grueling trails.  It was an enormous engineering feat . . . had to overcome steep grades, solid granite mountains, cliff-hanging turns, and hazardous weather; work on one section of it took place in the dead of winter, with heavy snow and temperatures as low as 60 below.  It was built with narrow gauge to lower construction costs.  (It was recognized as a national Civil Engineering Landmark in 1994.)  And even though the gold rush was mostly over by the time the railroad was completed, it ensured Skagway’s stability as a town and transportation corridor.  For decades after the Klondike gold rush, the WP&YR carried tons of ore out of the now corporation-owned mines in the Yukon to the coast, to be loaded on ships.  Then, in WWII, it was the chief supplier for the U.S. Army’s Alaska Highway construction project.  Its last metamorphosis has been as a tourist excursion train.

        The excursion is known for its spectacular scenery – mountain panoramas, steep canyons & gorges, waterfalls, and tunnels and trestles.  And we have great memories & photos of some of what we were able capture on film. 

But what we’ll really remember is the unplanned adventure. 

      Old Steam Engine No. 73 (vintage 1947) faithfully pulled us up the mountain, lulling us into hypnotic relaxation with its classic steam locomotive clickety-clack, clickety-clack rhythm.  But just as we reached White Pass Summit, just barely over the border into Canada, we all of a sudden stopped. 

 

 

 After several minutes of general hubbub and commotion – brakemen setting brakes, conductors outside scouring the ground, we were told that Faithful No. 73 had blown a piston.  She was no longer the Little Engine that Could.   

 

 

The explosed piston blew off its cover (lower right)

A helicopter flew in some supplies & tools, but to no avail. 

A diesel which was pulling another excursion train would have to rescue us!  Sounds like a book I read to Landon!

 

     After several maneuverings on track sidings, and getting disengaged from the steam engine, we got coupled to the larger train and were pulled down the mountain by two diesel engines. 

 

 

“’Hurray!’, cried all the boys and girls . . .”  Oh wait, that’s from Landon’s book.  :)  Plus of being pulled down:  because of the size of the train now, we had to go slowly, so we were able to see more detail.  Con:  no more romantic clickety-clack.  Only the hum of a mighty diesel.

                                          Remnants of one of the few surviving sections of the White Pass Trail 

      Wonder if they’ll be able to bring Old No. 73 back to life.  We asked for an adjustment on our tickets, since #1 – we didn’t make it to the original destination, about 7 miles further down the track, and #2 – we specifically booked for the steam engine experience.  They were cooperative.      

      As we strolled around town, both before and after our adventurous ride, we’d often be reminded, by a mournful locomotive whistle, of the strong presence of the train here – both in years past,

                                              Abandoned to die on the tracks

 and today.

 

 

 

                                                             

                                                    Rotary snowplow built in 1898, last used in 2011