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"WE ALWAYS want to keep steam on the White Pass."
Gary Danielson, vice president of the White Pass & Yukon
Route, is dispelling rumors that steam operations on the narrow
gauge railroad out of Skagway, Alaska, has been slowed or terminated.
He asserts that steam locomotive operation and restoration on
the WP&Y are alive and well-and growing.
Appearances may have been deceiving over the past year. The railroad's
celebrity steam locomotive, 1947 Baldwin 2-8-2 No. 73, has been
cold. No. 40 was returned to its owner, the Georgetown Loop Railroad,
well before the expiration of its lease to the WP&Y. No. 40
was the 1920 Baldwin 2-8-0 borrowed from Colorado primarily to
share the spotlight with No. 73 in the gala centennial celebration
on July 29, 2000, of the WP&Y's memorable golden spike ceremony
at Carcross, Yukon Territory.
The famous "Gold Rush Narrow Gauge" railroad, a favorite
with Alaska cruise ship passengers, was opened in 1900 between
Skagway, Alaska, and Whitehorse, Yukon Territory. Today, the WP&Y
regularly runs diesel-equipped tourist trains up to spectacular
White Pass Summit, along with daily service to Fraser, B. C.,
and Saturday service to Lake Bennett, B. C.
The steam action has been behind the scenes. The White Pass &
Yukon has quietly been working to bring three steam locomotives-Nos.
52, 69 and 73-back on its tracks. All of them have long historic
ties to the railroad.
First is No. 73, the last narrow gauge steamer built by Baldwin
for an American railroad. Work is well underway in the shops at
Skagway to thoroughly overhaul the oil-burning Mikado for many
more years of dependable service. Once again, it will lead trains
out of the depot at Skagway to the summit of White Pass and on
to Bennett.
"Right now, we are in the process of removing all tubes
and flues for inspection of the bottom and side sheets of No.
73," Danielson said. "We had a new crown sheet made
for it by the Grand Canyon Railway and it needed new flues."
The vice president said No. 40 was returned to Colorado only
two years into its five-year lease when plans to run the small
2-8-0 between Bennett and Carcross were delayed by the need to
do additional trackwork. Instead, Consolidation No. 69 is returning
to the White Pass after 46 years in the "Lower 48."
The outside frame 2-8-0 first arrived on the White Pass in 1908,
and saw extensive use in freight service between Skagway and Carcross,
Yukon, before serving out the 1940s and early 1950s as the railroad's
yard goat. It went to the Black Hills Central Railroad, one of
America's first tourist or recreational railroads, in Hill City,
South Dakota, in 1956. From 1973 to 2001, it operated and was
then stored on the Nebraska Midland Railroad. It had been repurchased
by the WP&Y in late 2001, and is now in Colorado-and is expected
to return to Skagway in 2003.
"We are limited on how much steam work we can do at one
time," Danielson explained. "Our hope is to bring No.
69 into our shops for evaluation. We would like to run it, but
if not, we will cosmetically restore it. We estimate it will cost
$300,000 to put it back in operating condition."
Most surprising of all is the White Pass's No. 52-a small 2-6-0
and the first locomotive to operate on the railroad in 1899 when
the track was being pushed out of Skagway. The 1881 Brooks Mogul
was purchased third hand in 1898. It was the railroad's No. 2
until it was renumbered in 1900. Sister 2-6-0 No. 51, formerly
No. 1, is on display at the McBride Museum at Whitehorse.
Since shortly after a disastrous roundhouse fire at Skagway in
1969, No. 52 had been displayed beside the United Transportation
Union Hall opposite the Skagway depot. It was the deterioration
of this locomotive from neglect and the harsh Alaska weather that
prompted its return to the rails of the WP&Y and protective
indoor storage, asbestos removal, and evaluation for operating
or cosmetic restoration.
"We have leased No. 52 from the group in Skagway that owns
it," Danielson said. "It is at our shops. The asbestos
has been removed. We have determined it is restorable. The boiler
needs some work, but is essentially sound. It would be nice to
run it around Skagway-but more likely we will cosmetically restore
it."
Much more unusual is the odyssey of No. 69. The outside frame
of this locomotive, a pioneering concept in locomotive design
at the time, proved to be a problem for No. 69. The counterweights
of the driving wheels had to be placed outside the frame-where
they tended to strike the frozen ice along the track during the
winter and lift the locomotive off the rails. As a result, it
was often restricted to non-winter operation.
In 1956, No. 69 was sold by the WP&Y and shipped to South
Dakota, where it was christened "Klondike Casey" and
ran on the Black Hills Central Railroad from 1958 to 1964, and
was then placed in storage until 1973. In that year, it was sold
and restored by the Nebraska Midland Railroad, which initially
operated at North Platte, Nebraska, in 1973 and 1974 before the
entire railroad and its equipment moved over 100 miles east to
Grand Island, Nebraska, to become part of the Stuhr Museum of
the Prairie Pioneer. No. 69 operated at Grand Island until the
early 1990s.
A revival of steam locomotive operations has been a key element
of its White Pass. From 1968 to 1979, No. 73 was on display at
Bennett. In 1979, it was taken to Whitehorse and restored in 1982
just before the railroad closed down. Operation of the locomotive
resumed shortly after the railroad reopened in 1988.
Success brought a pressing need for additional steam power. Fortunately,
because of its remote location and use of steam locomotives years
after other railroads had dumped their fires in favor of diesels,
numerous former WP&Y steamers are still in existence. Some
had been dumped into the Skagway River as riprap and were beyond
redemption-except as sources of parts. A few are on display.
Other WP&Y steam locomotives had been sold to various tourist
railways in the Lower 48-but getting one of the subsequent owners
to consider reselling a locomotive, even if it was not being used,
back to its original owner proved to be a formidable task. The
Dollywood Railroad at Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, has three of the
White Pass's Mikados, but reportedly did not want to part company
with them.
"We also looked at other locomotives such as the former
Army 2-8-2, No. 195, that is on display in Skagway," Danielson
continued. "It is a heavy locomotive, and not the type of
engine we could use. It does not have much pulling power on our
grades. It was designed for running on flat terrain in Iran.
"We are definitely trying to upgrade our steam program within
budget," he emphasized.
Steam or no steam, the White Pass & Yukon Route is a tourist
train success story, thanks mostly to the passengers who arrive
via cruise ships daily during the summer months. The WP&YR
carried 318,993 passengers during its 2001 season.
Built: Brooks Locomotive Works, 1881
Type: Mogul 2-6-0
Drivers: 42 inches
Cylinders: 14½" x 18"
Total Weight: 95,900 pounds
The decision by the White Pass management to take No. 52 under its enginehouse and evaluate the century-old locomotive for possible restoration or cosmetic restoration came as a surprise to many. For many years, the first steam locomotive to arrive in Skagway and run on the WP&Y had set in deteriorating condition next to the United Transportation Union Hall across Second Street from the depot.
No. 52 emerged in 1881 from the Brooks Locomotive Works at
Dunkirk, New York, for the Utah & Northern Railroad. It was
sold in 1890 to the Columbia & Puget Sound Railroad. In 1898,
the White Pass was being built in isolated Alaska at the same
time many narrow gauge railroads in the Lower 48 were standard
gauging or going out of business, allowing the WP&Y to tap
the used locomotive market-including No. 52, originally No. 2
on the White Pass, and No. 1, later No. 51, which is now on display
at Whitehorse. The Two Spot got to Skagway first-and was fired
up on July 10, 1898. It was renumbered 52 in 1900.
The locomotive was on the White Pass until 1931, when it was
moved to a White Pass subsidiary rail operation, the Taku Tram,
operating overland from Scotia Bay to Taku, British Columbia.
It was retired in 1936, but was not returned to Skagway until
1964. The historic locomotive was damaged in a major roundhouse
fire at Skagway in October 1969. In 1971, it was given minor repairs
and moved to its display location across from the depot, where
it deteriorated for the next 29 years.
On September 21, 2000, the locomotive, tender and a tiny four-wheel flatcar behind it were removed from the display location and inched back onto the White Pass rails. From there, it was moved to the railroad's shop for asbestos removal and evaluation for restoration.
Gary Danielson, WP&Y vice president, confirmed the locomotive
is restorable to operating condition. The boiler is in good condition
but needs some repairs. However, full restoration may be uneconomical.
Instead, the locomotive may be cosmetically restored. It would
get a new cab and extensive repairs and repainting-but it would
be showcased as a static display.
Built: Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1908, CN 32962
Type: Consolidation 2-8-0
Drivers: 42 inches
Cylinders: 21" x 22"
Boiler Pressure: 160 pounds
Total Weight: 134,360 pounds
No. 69's return to the White Pass & Yukon Route will cap
an odyssey that saw the heavy 2-8-0 steam locomotive intermittently
operated or stored on two historic tourist railroads. The engine
was originally purchased from the WP&Y in 1956 to operate
on the Black Hills Central Railroad in South Dakota. In 1973,
it moved to Nebraska, where it steamed on the Nebraska Midland
Railroad at the Stuhr Museum of the Prairie Pioneer until the
early 1990s.
No. 69 was equal to any standard gauge locomotive when it
was delivered to the WP&Y in late 1908-two years after its
smaller sister locomotive No. 68, which was later destroyed in
an avalanche in 1917. The large and prominent counterbalances
on the outside-frame locomotive enhanced its capabilities as a
heavy hauler and mountain climber-but were a bane in winter operations,
when the counterweights would strike ice just outside the rails
and lift the engine off the rails. As such, No. 69 was restricted
to non-winter operations whenever possible-and probably did not
venture north of Carcross because of the light rail in use at
that time. It served out its last years as the switcher at Skagway.
No. 69 left Skagway in May 1956, bound for the new Black Hills
Central Railroad, an early narrow gauge tourist line being built
out of Hill City, South Dakota. For the next eight years, "Klondike
Casey," as No. 69 was christened, hustled passengers between
Hill City and Oblivion. It was tucked inside a shed at the end
of the 1964 season, and remained there until it was purchased
in 1973 by the Nebraska Midland Railroad, located at North Platte
until 1974, when the entire railroad and its equipment moved over
100 miles east to Grand Island to be an integral part of the Stuhr
Museum of the Prairie Pioneer.
From 1976 until the early 1990s, No. 69 and its train operated as part of a pioneer village. The railroad stopped running and the locomotive was placed in storage and partly dismantled. In 2001, the White Pass & Yukon regained title to No. 69 from the Stuhr Museum in exchange for three sets of narrow gauge passenger car trucks to go under the Nebraska Midland's cars.
No. 69 was removed from the Stuhr Museum and is now stored at
Fort Lupton, Colorado, before it will make the long journey north
to its old home at Skagway. It will hopefully be restored in the
WP&Y shop to eventually join No. 73.
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Built: Baldwin Locomotive Works, 1947, CN 73352
Type: Mikado 2-8-2
Drivers: 44 inches
Cylinders: 17" x 22"
Boiler Pressure: 215 pounds
Total Weight: 238,000 pounds
No. 73 was playing a key role in the expanding tourist train
operations of the White Pass & Yukon even before the railroad
closed down for six years in 1982. The steamer was pulled out
of retirement and display at Bennett in 1979 and taken to Whitehorse
for restoration.
No. 73 is the last narrow gauge steam locomotive constructed
by Baldwin for domestic service. For years, it shared duties with
the other WP&Y steam locomotives as they assaulted in unison
the 3.9 percent south slope of White Pass with heavy freight and
passenger trains-and then rolled north to Bennett, Carcross and
Whitehorse. Two of its sister Mikados, Nos. 70 and 71, are at
the Dollywood theme park at Pigeon Forge, Tennessee, awaiting
restoration.
Following the reopening of the White Pass in 1988, No. 73
escorted many of the trains from the Skagway depot to the yard
limit, where diesel power took over. In later years, the steamer
was put on the point of the regular train to Lake Bennett two
Saturdays a month. Once again, it was possible to see steam power
resolutely climb the twisting grade to White Pass Summit.
The oil-burning Mikado was withdrawn from service in 2001
to undergo extensive and needed repairs. "The locomotive
had reached the point where it needed a thorough overhaul,"
Gary Danielson, WP&Y vice president, said.