Trip on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad July 2013

[BNSFEng]

As part of a cruise to Alaska, my wife and I bought a tour on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad up to Fraser BC. I'm putting this all on the Western US forum even though part was in Canada.

1. This is our train which was only going to Faser, BC, 27.7 miles away. Another train left earlier and went all the way to Carcross, Yukon 65 miles. Behind us were three other trains going shorter distances.

2. View from the head end.

3. #97, a GEX 3441, Alco 251A 6 cylinders, 930 HP, initially built in March 1963, rebuilt 2011.

4. #91, same as #97 above except initially built in June 1954 and rebuilt 2010. We didn't see any of the Alco DL 535Es which are 1200 HP, uses a Alco 251D and were built in May 1969 and December 1971. The odd engine is the #114 a DL535E 5 built by MLW in September 1982 but uses AC traction motors and doesn't play well with others.

 

[BNSFEng]

Trip on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad July 2013, Part II

5. Mikado #73 suffered a cylinder failure earlier in the year and its fate is unknown. #69, a 2-8-0 built by Baldwin for WP&YR in 1908 was steamed up and I saw it move around later in the day.

6. At MP 5.8 is a caboose for rent and at the trail head of the Denver Glacier trail. A train stops here to drop off and pickup hikers.

7. Climbing the hill.

8. 7 of the 14 passenger cars we had on our train. Going around a curve.

 

[BNSFEng]

Trip on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad July 2013, Part III

9. There is the bridge we were on in the last picture.

10. The rock walls that had to be blasted out for the tracks to be laid.

11. A real feel for the 3.9% grade behind the cars.

12. The tough grade ahead amid the fire weed flowers.

 

[BNSFEng]

Trip on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad July 2013, Part IV

13. I took a bunch of videos between pictures. I haven't downloaded any so I may put on You tube and connect them later to the Forum. Here, after the summit, is an old water tower. Notice the landscape has changed dramatically with the bare rock and stubby trees. This is arctic plateau where winds can whip by at 100 MPH and snow is measured in 10s of feet during the winter time.

14. Starting to drift down grade to Fraser, BC

15. At Fraser the engines are cut off and ran around. We met a bus here that had just let off passengers who will ride the train back to Skagway.

16. My wife, in the blue coat on the left with a multicolored backpack, joins the passengers getting off while on the right are the passengers getting on.

 

[BNSFEng]

Trip on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad July 2013, Part V

17. Wade our conductor. I commented that we use the same conductor hats on our commuter trains.

18. The Lake Kathleen passenger car had a wee bit of a lean. A crewmember said they keep sending it to the shops and they can't seem to fix it right.

19. The Fraser, BC station and water tower.

20. The engines reenter the mainline and will back down shortly onto the train for the return trip. I had to skedaddle to the bus or risk being left behind so this was my last shot of our train.

 

[bcp]

The diesels in your first post have Cummins diesels inside, not ALCo.

The ALCo powered ones have only the one winterization hatch fully to the rear.
http://home.comcast.net/~wpyphotos/diesel/98_(1)high.JPG

From:
http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2010/02/global-locomotive-to-modernize-skagway-trains

Global is fitting Cummins diesels in the locomotives from White Pass & Yukon. The conversion raises the locomotives' horsepower from the 930 of their '50s vintage engines to 1,450. Modern microprocessor controls allow more of that power to get to the rails. The total adhesive force of the remodeled locomotives is 30 percent greater than that of the old models, Swanson said.

Gary Danielson, White Pass & Yukon Route president, said the railroad can now use two refitted engines to do the work that three did before. In the first few months of tourist train work, the remodeled locomotives consumed 28 percent less fuel despite their higher power, he said.

The re-equipped engines are so much more powerful, he said, that at the end of the season, the railroad pulled a 24-car train up the steep rail line from Skagway to Canada without the engines even straining. That rail line sees a 3,000-foot elevation gain in just 20 miles.

Bruce
http://home.comcast.net/~wpyphotos/

 

[CGW101c]

Great Shots. Rugged yet beautiful. I rode in the cab of the 69 in 1964 when it was on the BHC and in the cab in 1983 when it was at the Stuhr Museum in Nebraska. Now I guess I have to go to Alaska to ride it on it's home rails. TZ

 

[BNSFEng]

Trip on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad July 2013, Part VI

21. This is the car we rode in.

22. One of the first building you see at the Shops

23. All three Steam engines. Maybe, they're get around to restoring #52.

24. #69 had just done a little run back and forth on the yard tracks that I just missed with my camera but did hear it.

 

[BNSFEng]

The diesels in your first post have Cummins diesels inside, not ALCo.

The ALCo powered ones have only the one winterization hatch fully to the rear.
http://home.comcast.net/~wpyphotos/diesel/98_(1)high.JPG

From:
http://www.manufacturing.net/news/2010/02/global-locomotive-to-modernize-skagway-trains

Global is fitting Cummins diesels in the locomotives from White Pass & Yukon. The conversion raises the locomotives' horsepower from the 930 of their '50s vintage engines to 1,450. Modern microprocessor controls allow more of that power to get to the rails. The total adhesive force of the remodeled locomotives is 30 percent greater than that of the old models, Swanson said.

Gary Danielson, White Pass & Yukon Route president, said the railroad can now use two refitted engines to do the work that three did before. In the first few months of tourist train work, the remodeled locomotives consumed 28 percent less fuel despite their higher power, he said.

The re-equipped engines are so much more powerful, he said, that at the end of the season, the railroad pulled a 24-car train up the steep rail line from Skagway to Canada without the engines even straining. That rail line sees a 3,000-foot elevation gain in just 20 miles.

Bruce
http://home.comcast.net/~wpyphotos/

Thanks. I was using the diesel roster sheet from the current WP&YR website which has none of that information. I don't know why they haven't updated it for the rebuilt locomotives. I wish I had more time there to actually talk with WP&YR trainmen but it was a rushed tour just to get it in before sailing.

 

[BNSFEng]

Trip on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad July 2013, Part VII

25. The yard tracks. The car shop is on the left and the engine shop is on the right.

26. Some MoW cars for dumping ballast. I missed the number on this engine. I didn't want to trespass. All of these pictures are from public crossings or roads.

27. #52, a 2-6-0, the first locomotive for the WP&YR from Brooks Locomotive works built in 1881 used by the Utah Northern Railway and then bought by the WP&YR in 1898. It was retired from service in 1936. The railroad president said it's going to evaluated it for restoration which should take a minimum of 2 1/2 years.

28. A trainman is preparing the #69 for dropping its fire and securing it for the day.

 

[BNSFEng]

Trip on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad July 2013, Part VIII

29. One of the old boxcars.

30. That engine might be #98, a rebuilt GEX 3341 originally built in May 1966 and rebuilt in 2009.

31. The modern ballast cars.

32. The next pictures are taken at the garden I left to hit the shops. I had to return to see my wife and let her know I was still alive. This is model of a gold rush camp.

 

[BNSFEng]

Trip on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad July 2013, Part IX

33. I believe this is a model of the reenactment of the killing of the criminal leader in Skagway, Soapy Smith.

34. Downtown Skagway.

35. A very short train with the old paint scheme on the DL535E.

36. Going under one of the trestles.

 

[BNSFEng]

Trip on the White Pass and Yukon Railroad July 2013, Part X

37. Another trestle and a nice creek bed.

38. This is the biggest trestle. Must have taken quite some time to build.

39. Last train shot as it goes over the dry creek bed.

40. Last shot of this thread is a nice miniature waterfall. My wife and I saw many waterfalls on the train trip and the bus trip in Alaska. If you've never been there, I highly recommend you take a trip!