The Klondike Gold Rush and the WP&YR construction
The WP&YR during World War II
The fifties and the WP&YR dieselization
Today's WP&YR tourist operations
Gateway to the Yukon Version française

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The WP&YR during World War II


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US Army mikado #195, used on the WP&YR during the war and now on display in Skagway.

    Once the Klondike Gold Rush was over, the bulk of White Pass & Yukon traffic became mining equipment for the Klondike mines and lead, zinc and silver from the recently discovered ore deposits of the area shipped to Skagway. These and the early development of tourism were sufficient to keep the company afloat until the end of World War I. Then traffic declined during the twenties and the financial situation of the railroad deteriorated, eventually to become disastrous after the Great Depression of 1929. During the thirties, the railroad hardly carried 10,000 tons of freight a year and was on the verge of bankruptcy. This situation would change dramatically with the beginning of World War II and the entry into war of the US against Japan in 1941.

    The attack on Pearl Harbor and more specifically the invasion of the Aleutian Islands by the Japanese posed a threat on Alaska and prompted the US Army to deploy troops and military equipment there. To bring these supplies it was decided to build a 1,500 miles route inland through Alaska and North-Western Canada, the Alaska Highway (Alcan), less exposed to the Japanese threat than the waterway around Alaska. This East-West highway was to pass through Whitehorse, the Northern terminal of the White Pass & Yukon, which became the main feeder to supply equipment for the construction of the Alaska Highway. The Army then asked the railroad to transport a huge amount of construction material, besides troops and military equipment. In addition to this, the railroad moved a lot of supplies for the construction of a critical pipeline and military airfields built to defend Alaska. The amount of freight transported by the railroad in 1942 increased tremendously and the company had a lot of difficulties to keep up with demands from the Army.

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A D&RGW K-28, similar to those used on the WP&YR, seen on the Durango & Silverton Narrow Gauge Railroad in Colorado.

    As soon as fall 1942, it was clear that the limited and aging rolling stock of the White Pass & Yukon, as well as its physical plant in disrepair, would be unable to meet the ever growing transportation needs of the Army in Alaska. The government took then a drastic measure: the railroad was rented in its entirety to the US Army, which took over the company (keeping equipment and civilian employees of the WP&YR) and operated it for its own benefit. The 770th Railway Operating Battalion was deployed in Skagway to run the railroad. This unit, with most of its men coming from Southern states and not used to harsh winters, assumed control of the White Pass & Yukon until the end of the war and operated it, often in difficult conditions.

    In addition to the military personnel it brought in, the Army wanted to increase the notoriously insufficient rolling stock of the railroad, to deal with the huge foreseen traffic. The Department of Defense looked for 3ft gauge equipment all across the US and bought or requisitioned a large number of freight cars of all types, new or used, and shipped them to Skagway. Steam locomotives, usually old, were also brought from several narrow gauge railroads such as the East Tennessee & Western North Carolina Railroad in Eastern US, or from the Colorado & Southern and the Silverton Northern in Colorado. These already declining railroads readily accepted the deal. The Denver & Rio Grande Western (D&RGW) was less pleased to give away its 10 powerful K-28 narrow gauge mikado, built in 1923 by Alco. Eventually, after an agreement with the D&RGW, 7 K-28 would go to Alaska, where they will end up their short career. At last, the Army obtained from Baldwin a series of 11 metric-gauge mikado originally bound to India, but diverted and delivered new to the White Pass & Yukon in 1943 after conversion to 3ft gauge.

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One of the cars requistioned by the Army to be used on the WP&YR, where it is still in use today.

    At the highest point of the military activity in 1943, 36 steam locomotives and nearly 300 freight cars were operating on the White Pass & Yukon. The Corps of Engineers built a large number of warehouses served by the railroad in the small port of Skagway, and the maintenance facilities of the company were also extended. It was usual that dozens of trains a day were run to Whitehorse on the single-track mainline and in 1943 the White Pass & Yukon carried about 250,000 tons of freight for the Army, almost 10 times the amount it had transported during its best pre-war year. In 1944, the war was going away from Alaska, the railroad activity progressively decreased and a part of the equipment brought by the Army left Skagway. Eventually in May 1946, the Army returned control of the railroad to the civilian management of the WP&YR. The traffic generated by World War II probably prevented the White Pass & Yukon to go bankrupt and allowed it to start the post-war years in better conditions than most of the other US narrow gauge railroads.



The Klondike Gold Rush and the WP&YR construction
The WP&YR during World War II
The fifties and the WP&YR dieselization
Today's WP&YR tourist operations
Gateway to the Yukon
Back
Index Maps