Friday, July 4, 2014

Alaska Journal #19: Chugging Right Along to White Pass Summit



We aren't the only ones riding the rails.

Spare parts for rail repairs?


The majority of these photos are taken through the windows, thus reflecting light appears now and then.

Moving water like this is always a joy to see.







The snow and ice looks crude and forbidding when we get a close look at it.

Formidable.






Tunnel Mountain.  Elevation 2,275 feet.

Passenger coaches are named after lakes and rivers in Alaska, Yukon and British Columbia.


It's mind-boggling to contemplate the building of this railroad through such rugged terrain.

Notice the faint lines, the rails wrapping around the mountains.

Inspiration Point, 17 miles up into the mountains from Skagway, provides an unparalleled view of Lynn Canal, Mt. Harding and the Chilkat Range.  





Get ready for a sharp turn.

A couple of times I went outside the coach like the people you can see here.  It was safer than it looks.







Constructed in 1901, this was the tallest cantilever bridge in the world.  Used until 1969.







This excursion is popular; the trains keep rolling and the people keep riding.

In 1969 this 675-foot tunnel was driven through the mountain and a new bridge was built to replace the steel bridge. 

l
3,000 pack animals, victims of neglect by stampeders and overloading, met their end in the stampede of '98.



We're getting up pretty high.










We're almost to White Pass Summit at the U.S./Canadian border.

I excluded a great number of my photos on this ride, to make it easier on all of us.  

3 comments:

Gullible said...

So glad you chose to make this trip. The photos are great and I'm glad the weather was nice so you could see how really beautiful it is. Combine all this with the history of the place, and WOW!

Cap said...

You noted that the snow can look crude .. foreboding .. formidable .. oh yes ! IF I did not hang-out-the-side of railway cars in India I would not have too many photos. Fresh air and NO glass to shoot through.

On a more serious note .. the horrific cruelty to the pack animals by the gold prospectors is well known and noted. Words fail me as to that.

I am left wondering how you got some of the photos of the train .. did you see a second train and photograph that train? I doubt it but one sure looks like it had to be another train .. Smiles from Cap and Patti ..

Cheryl Peters said...

Cap & Patti: I'm going through my comments and found this one I haven't seen before. We did see other trains and that's how I got those photos. I don't understand how there could be another train operating on the track at the same time we were. Wonders never cease!!!