White Pass & Yukon Route train, trestle, and tunnel, ca. 1899

• Main Author: Doody, Jeremiah
• Format: Other/Unknown Material
• Language: unknown
• Subjects: Gold rushes; Railroads; Trestles; Tunnels;White Pass & Yukon Route (Firm); White Pass; Yukon; Skagway; Alaska
• Online Access: http://cdm16786.contentdm.oclc.org:80/cdm/ref/collection/imlsmohai/id/6990

The first leg of the White Pass & Yukon Route railroad line was the most difficult to build. Between Skagway and White Pass, the tracks climbed 2,885 feet in just 21 miles. This required several switchbacks and careful tracklaying in order to make the route safe and passable. A 250-foot tunnel had to be blasted through solid rock. This took weeks to complete, exhausting workers and slowing construction of the line. This photo by J. Doody, probably taken around 1899, shows a White Pass & Yukon train crossing a trestle and entering the route's one tunnel, some 16 miles north of Skagway. Original title: At the tunnel 16 miles from Skagway. W.P. & Y.R. in Alaska 1 photographic print mounted on cardboard: gelatin, b&w; 22 x 19 cm.