Our plan formulated early in our trek to Alaska was to return to Whitehorse, Yukon to spend a few days and sightsee – we were anxious to get to Alaska as quickly as possible to beat some of the tourist rush so we only spent a day or two here in June. In particular, we wanted to take the narrow gauge train from Fraser, British Columbia down to Skagway, Alaska because of the good press everybody had given it. We returned to Pioneer RV Park where we stayed in early June because they can arrange for several different tours and were basically a nice place to stay (they even have gas, diesel and propane available right at the park.) It was a good thing we are here in Whitehorse now because Pioneer stops the convenient bus trip from the park to the train next week. The tourist and RV season is really winding down now because the park is only 20% full compared to 75% full in June. (We too will be joining the south-bound crowd from Haines, Alaska on the Alaska Ferry – we have purchased fare for us, the coach, the Jeep, and the cats and we leave Sept. 7.)
We were told to meet the bus at 7:40 AM by the park’s office and we were on time and so was the bus! There was only one other couple joining us from the park, so it is no wonder why they pull the plug on the tour next week. We get on the bus and went to downtown Whitehorse and picked up a couple of more passengers and then off we go for Carcross, Yukon for a brief stop, then for Fraser, British Columbia where we board the train. The rolling stock for our train included three GE diesel-electric locomotives from the 1950s and maybe a dozen period and replica passenger coaches. From Fraser to Skagway is only about 28 miles long and takes about 90 minutes. We won’t discuss it here, but the White Pass and Yukon Route have a fascinating history directly related to the Klondike gold rush of the late 1800s. For more details about the gold rush and the railroad, click here. We have ridden many trains over the years in several different countries and this trek was not the most spectacular we have seen, but it was still very enjoyable with beautiful scenery and a couple of great bridge crossings.
We arrived in Skagway and had about three hours to kill before the bus returned us back to the RV park. We have been in Skagway before on a cruise ship but fortunately thanks to our very deficient memories, it almost all seems new! Being a Saturday, there was only one cruise ship in town and the streets were pretty quiet. In the middle of the week in the peak season there can be three or four ship-loads of passengers in the tiny town.
For more pictures of the trip, please see the photo gallery