Train-ing time

WHITE PASS SUMMIT, Alaska / Yukon Territory
Sunday, May 21, 2006

It's been 9 days since the last post which means lots of bus washing, vacuuming, window cleaning and talking. There are now at least 72 Aussies (3 tours of 24 each) who have had the pleasure of riding with the Silver Tongued Devil. "And how long have you lived here, mate?" (Three weeks). "My, but you sound like you've been doing this awhile." (7 separate tours to date). "How bad does it get in the winter?" (I'll be enjoying the sunshine back in Florida by then.)
Long story short: the Aussies (that's pronounced Ozzie, not auss like boss) are great, fun lovers who can take and give a bit of 'roughing it up'.

So today, Sunday, May 21, was a day off and in commemoration of this auspicious occassion we took a trail ride to the summit of the mountains to the North of us and back.
On this day in 1898 construction began on the British financed, American engineered and Canadian contracted White Pass & Yukon RailRoad. The project, which saw 35,000 individuals working -- at one time or another -- to finish it, continued non-stop for 26 months. Snow with depths to 30-feet, raging North winds and temperatures which dipped to nearly -60below did not deter the company from completion. Of course the sickness, frostbite and avalanches didn't help much...and when you're playing with 450 tons of explosives you have to expect a little collateral damage.
The rail line was supposed to make money from those pursuing their dreams in the Klondike Gold Rush, but by the time it was finished on July 29, 1900 gold had been discovered elsewhere and it was "freight and passengers" rather than Stampeeders and Gold that the line hauled.
**The above photo is of one of the trains as it is today, a tourist bonanza for the company. Here, we are just about to reach the summit of White Pass (2,865') still under snow cover. At this point the Stampeeders in 1898 are getting ready to cross the Canadian Border at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police checkpoint on the trail towards the Yukon. By Feb. 20, 1899 tracks had been laid to this point - - but the gold rush was in its waining days.
The best part about the train ride was that we got a deeeep discount on the tickets because the WP&YRR encourages all the "summer help" to take a ride so they can better inform cruise ship passengers about the trip. Even competitors like us because to really get the full impact of the scenery you need to do both types of tours.