White Pass &Yukon Railroad, Alaska, U. S.A.

 

Built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, this narrow gauge railroad is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.   The WP&YR railway was considered an impossible task but it was literally blasted through coastal mountains in only 26 months. The WP&YR climbs almost 3000 feet in just 20 miles and features steep grades of up to 3.9%, cliff-hanging turns of 16 degrees, two tunnels and numerous bridges and trestles.  The 110 mile WP&YR Railroad was completed with the driving of the golden spike on July 29, 1900 in Carcross Yukon connecting the deep water port of Skagway Alaska to Whitehorse Yukon and beyond to northwest Canada and interior Alaska. The WP&YR suspended operations in 1982 when Yukon's mining industry collapsed due to low mineral prices. The railway was reopened in 1988 as a seasonal tourism operation operating on the first 67.5 miles (Skagway, Alaska to Carcross, Yukon) of the original 110 mile line. 

This picture on the postcard from 1937 shows the train passing Trail Rocky Point North White Pass in Aalska.