Hell bent for their portion of the Alaska Highway, the lead company of Colonel Paules’ 18th Engineers left the opulent SS Aleutian; moved off the dock directly to the depot of the White Pass and Yukon Railroad.
They climbed into the passenger cars of the narrow gauge train, settled themselves on wooden benches, and felt the jerk of the couplings as they chugged up the middle of main street, headed for the steepest climb of any railroad on the planet.
Heads bobbing rhythmically, they didn’t feel hell bent, as the train rolled over the narrow three foot track up and over the White Pass, some men closed their eyes and tried to sleep. Tired or not, though, most of them had to have noticed the spectacular scenery along the steep climb out of Alaska into Yukon Territory.
With rotary plows clearing deep snow from the tracks ahead, the forward engine climbed 3,000 feet in the twenty miles to the Canadian Border. From the border they rumbled and rocked between high snow drifts for another ninety miles to the red painted depot in Whitehorse. Climbing stiffly off the train, into a frigid Yukon afternoon, they marched down Main Street to their bivouac at the North Star Athletic Association Hall.
The fun was just beginning for the men of Company A. Early morning on April 4th found them climbing the steep bluff to the plateau overlooking Whitehorse and the Yukon River—a hike one of them later recalled as “the toughest ten minutes of the entire movement”. At their new home, about a mile beyond the airport, they set about pitching tents in the wind and fixing pegs in frozen ground. Yukon Territory helpfully produced a blinding snowstorm.
The rest of the companies of the 18th followed close behind Company A.
From a Friend of mine who follows Steamer and Narrow Gauge Railroading.
“White Pass and Yukon. It’s still there. US govt took 7 out of the 10 class K-27 locomotives from the D&RGW narrow gauge line and shipped them up there during WWII, ran them to death and scrapped them. Considered a great tragedy by Colorado NG fans. The three survivors are still in service in Durango.”