Skagway, Whitehorse and the White Pass and Yukon Route Railway
The White Pass and Yukon Route, a 177 km narrow gauge railway linking the Alaskan coastal port of Skagway with Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon Territory, ceased operations in October, 1982, a casualty of the economic recession of the early 1980s which brought about the collapse of the Territory...
| Published in: | Cahiers de géographie du Québec |
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| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | unknown |
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Consortium Erudit
2005
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| Online Access: | http://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/cgq/1990-v34-n91-cgq2663/022078ar.pdf https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/cgq/1990-v34-n91-cgq2663/022078ar.pdf https://doi.org/10.7202/022078ar https://www.erudit.org/fr/revues/cgq/1990-v34-n91-cgq2663/022078ar/ https://www.erudit.org/revue/cgq/1990/v34/n91/022078ar.html?vue=resume http://id.erudit.org/iderudit/022078ar https://core.ac.uk/display/59286588 https://academic.microsoft.com/#/detail/2049691528 https://id.erudit.org/iderudit/022078ar |
| Summary: | The White Pass and Yukon Route, a 177 km narrow gauge railway linking the Alaskan coastal port of Skagway with Whitehorse, capital of the Yukon Territory, ceased operations in October, 1982, a casualty of the economic recession of the early 1980s which brought about the collapse of the Territory's hardrock mining industry. The railway had been constructed by British interests between 1898 and 1900, that is, in the aftermath of the Klondike gold rush, and had been in continuous operation since that time. In this paper, the author traces the broad lines of the history of the railway and shows the various ways in which it influenced the development of Skagway and of Whitehorse, its ocean and inland termini respectively. The closing of the railway was a major blow to Skagway, where White Pass Transportation and its subsidiaries were the principal employers, and where over two-thirds of the railway's employees were located. The closing appears to have had a more limited impact on Whitehorse, a much larger community whose economy is now highly diversified. Jusqu'en octobre 1982, le chemin de fer à voie étroite White Pass and Yukon Route, d'une longueur de 177 km, reliait le village côtier alaskien de Skagway et la ville de Whitehorse, capitale du territoire du Yukon il avait été construit entre 1898 et 1900 par des intérêts britanniques dans la foulée de la ruée vers l'or du Klondike et avait fonctionné de façon continue depuis lors. Sa fermeture a été provoquée par la récession économique du début des années 1980 et l'effondrement de l'économie minière du Yukon qui a suivi. Dans cet article, l'auteur retrace les grandes lignes de l'histoire de ce chemin de fer en insistant sur la façon dont il a influencé le développement de ses terminus océanique et intérieur, c'est-à-dire Skagway et Whitehorse. La fermeture du chemin de fer fut un coup dur pour Skagway, où la compagnie White Pass Transportation et ses filiales étaient les principaux employeurs et où résidaient plus des deux tiers des employés du chemin de fer. ... |
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