Ron & Anne in Canada; 2016: All Aboard!

The White Pass and Yukon Railroad ran for 110 miles part way to the Goldfields, taking miners and chancers up towards the Klondyke, where the miners boarded a steamship to carry them on. In 1897 gold was discovered, and tens of thousands of gold crazed men and women steamed up the inside passage to begin the overland trek to the Klondyke, six hundred miles away, by foot and horseback.

Each person was required to carry a year’s supply of provisions, almost a ton, over rough ground, through swamps and over rivers. The track was only one man wide, so busy that if you stepped off it you could wait for a few hours to find space to get on again.

So when the railway was completed in 1900 after two years work it made things much easier. The track rises 3000 feet in 20 miles to the summit of White Pass, the snowline in these latitudes. The 3 foot wide narrow gauge railway has steep grades of almost 1 in 25, and in those first twenty miles passes through two long tunnels, crossing numerous bridges and trestles.

This trestle was taken out of service in the 1950s, at one time the longest cantilever bridge in the world, it is now falling down. I wouldn’t like to walk across it, much less ride a train over it!

At the summit is the border between Alaska and Canada, we were not required to show our passports as we would not get off the train, merely doing a loop and taking the same track down.

We had expected to be disappointed with the views as it was raining and there was much low cloud, however for most of the way and at the top we were able to see some views, and they were truly magnificent.

At one point we passed a sandy bar with clear footprints of a large bear which had passed earlier in the day. Pity we didn’t see the bear!

Below us were numerous creeks and rivers, many running white with glacial silt, above us is the icefield which feeds rivers which flow both ways from the White Pass, unfortunately the day was not clear enough to see the glacier.

The Trains originally ran year round, cutting through the deep snow with special snow blowers. I will show more views below.

As with Juneau, the buildings here reflect their frontier heritage, this is the Brotherhood hall, where the miners would meet when returning from their travels.

Almost next door is the Red Onion saloon, a famous bordello of its day, still serving drinks but probably not other services!

The Mascot, built in 1898, was another place that the travellers could meet to drink and play, with music till dawn. This is a faithful reproduction of the bar, in the original building.

Last night we had a wonderful show on board, ‘In the Bayou’. It was performed in a theatre we hadn’t been in before, on a set that contained no less than three revolving stages. I must say that the entertainment had been pretty lacklustre before, but this was great. We are looking forward to a similar performance later in the cruise.