Happy 27th Birthday, Chris!
Today we arrived in Haines, Alaska around 10:00 am. It was very foggy – the ship was blowing the fog horn since 3 am about every minute! This picture is the fog -- only the mountain top shows!
We had signed up for the White Pass & Yukon Route train trip out of Skagway. After a 45 minute ferry ride from the ship to Skagway we boarded the train. Construction began on the 
tracks in 1989. The narrow gauge railroad climbs from sea level in Skagway to almost 3,000 feet at the Summit in just 20 miles and features steep grades of almost 3.9%. There are 2 tunnels and numerous bridges and trestles (which Bob loved!). Thirty five thousand men worked on the construction of the railroad – some only for a day. It was completed in 1900. For all the engineers reading this – The White Pass & Yukon Route was designated an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1994. This is an honor shared with other world civil engineering marvels such as the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty and t
he Panama Canal.
The views were wonderful! We traveled up to White Pass where the engines changed ends of the train, we flipped the seats over, and headed back down the hill. We had a couple hours to check out Skagway.
tracks in 1989. The narrow gauge railroad climbs from sea level in Skagway to almost 3,000 feet at the Summit in just 20 miles and features steep grades of almost 3.9%. There are 2 tunnels and numerous bridges and trestles (which Bob loved!). Thirty five thousand men worked on the construction of the railroad – some only for a day. It was completed in 1900. For all the engineers reading this – The White Pass & Yukon Route was designated an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1994. This is an honor shared with other world civil engineering marvels such as the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty and t
he Panama Canal.The views were wonderful! We traveled up to White Pass where the engines changed ends of the train, we flipped the seats over, and headed back down the hill. We had a couple hours to check out Skagway.
The Arctic Brotherhood Hall is perhaps the most photographed building in Alaska. (Of course, we took a photo, too!) Lodge members collected over 8,800 driftwood sticks on the shores of Skagway Bay and nailed them to the front wall!
Rotary Snowplow No. 1 was built in 1898. It helped the White Pass & Yukon route railroad clear heavy winter snow up to 12 feet from their tracks. It was retired in 1965.
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