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Building the White Pass & Yukon Railway
Building the White Pass & Yukon Railway
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Nook version of vintage magazine article originally published in 1900. Contains 14 Nook pages, with 12 illustrations.
Contains lots of great info and illustrations seldom seen in the past 100 years.
Read excerpt -
But another candidate had already appeared to contest with Brackett's wagon-road the commerce of White Pass. The "White Pass & Yukon Rail¬road Company" had been organized. Some adventurous promoters from the east, visiting Skaguay, had walked over the wagon-road; paid their 25 cents toll to the summit and back, and concluded that a narrow-gauge steam rail¬road was practicable. If it was practicable, of course it must be built. They raised the necessary funds and invited Mr. Brackett to a conference. They needed his right of way. He saw that his large investment would be greatly diminished in value by the realization of this new plan; but he also saw that it was feasible, and that it would be a great public benefit in making Alaska more accessible. He bowed to the inevitable, and made with the new-comers the best terms he could.
Among the chief promoters of the new railroad who now appeared upon the ground were Mr. E. C. Hawkins, of Denver, and a well-known English engineer, Sir Thomas Tankford. They obtained a charter from the British Yukon Company, and rapidly completed arrangements to build the line from Lake Bennett, on the Yukon, in British territory, over White Pass and down to Skaguay. The only eligible line was that already occupied by the wagon-road, and this fact compelled a compromise with Mr. Brackett.
The conference thus resulted to the advantage of both parties, making the railroad feasible while saving the large amount that had already been invested in the wagon-road. Abundant funds for the railroad were forthcoming. The wagon-road was utilized for the transportation necessary. Before winter came again the railroad company had spent more than $2,000,000, and had completed 20 miles of substantial track, well ballasted, 3-foot gauge, 56-pound rail, and put on rolling stock before New Year's Day. During the first month of 1899 a train of elegant cars was making regular trips from Skaguay to the summit of White Pass, and the company was pushing forward the road-bed down the eastern slope of the range into the valley of the Yukon. By the middle of the summer the road was completed to Lake Bennett, and it is being continued down the Yukon to Selkirk, 150 miles further north. The completed road rises 2,900 feet from Skaguay to the summit, and descends 450 feet in reaching Lake Bennett and the waters of the Upper Yukon.
Contains lots of great info and illustrations seldom seen in the past 100 years.
Read excerpt -
But another candidate had already appeared to contest with Brackett's wagon-road the commerce of White Pass. The "White Pass & Yukon Rail¬road Company" had been organized. Some adventurous promoters from the east, visiting Skaguay, had walked over the wagon-road; paid their 25 cents toll to the summit and back, and concluded that a narrow-gauge steam rail¬road was practicable. If it was practicable, of course it must be built. They raised the necessary funds and invited Mr. Brackett to a conference. They needed his right of way. He saw that his large investment would be greatly diminished in value by the realization of this new plan; but he also saw that it was feasible, and that it would be a great public benefit in making Alaska more accessible. He bowed to the inevitable, and made with the new-comers the best terms he could.
Among the chief promoters of the new railroad who now appeared upon the ground were Mr. E. C. Hawkins, of Denver, and a well-known English engineer, Sir Thomas Tankford. They obtained a charter from the British Yukon Company, and rapidly completed arrangements to build the line from Lake Bennett, on the Yukon, in British territory, over White Pass and down to Skaguay. The only eligible line was that already occupied by the wagon-road, and this fact compelled a compromise with Mr. Brackett.
The conference thus resulted to the advantage of both parties, making the railroad feasible while saving the large amount that had already been invested in the wagon-road. Abundant funds for the railroad were forthcoming. The wagon-road was utilized for the transportation necessary. Before winter came again the railroad company had spent more than $2,000,000, and had completed 20 miles of substantial track, well ballasted, 3-foot gauge, 56-pound rail, and put on rolling stock before New Year's Day. During the first month of 1899 a train of elegant cars was making regular trips from Skaguay to the summit of White Pass, and the company was pushing forward the road-bed down the eastern slope of the range into the valley of the Yukon. By the middle of the summer the road was completed to Lake Bennett, and it is being continued down the Yukon to Selkirk, 150 miles further north. The completed road rises 2,900 feet from Skaguay to the summit, and descends 450 feet in reaching Lake Bennett and the waters of the Upper Yukon.
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