Catch the Train

I woke up in Skagway on Friday morning…early Friday, because the sun was already bright at 4:17 am! I thought cruises were supposed to be restful!

No matter, I was eager to walk the short distance from the ship into town, after my blueberry pancake breakfast. Much of the old Skagway, from the Gold Rush days is still here, with some restoration.

My first visit was to the National Park Service Museum. The Park Rangers gave me a special badge, and made me a “junior ranger.” They know how much I love the wilderness, and like my old buddy, Smokey the Bear, I want to protect the forests, waters, and the mountains from waste and damage.

The museum had great exhibits about the Klondike Gold Rush. Hundreds of men came to get rich, but their lives were extremely difficult. They each had to have enough provisions for a whole year; each person had to somehow haul 2,000 pounds of supplies to his destination in Dawson. That meant going up a mountain, down the mountain to a lake, making a raft and floating down the river to reach the Klondike gold fields. Many men and their pack horses or mules never made it.

Time to catch the train! We boarded the train, pulled by Steam Engine 73, for our 54 mile roundtrip up the railway. Because the Gold Rush route was so difficult, the government decided to build a railway up the mountain to the pass. 35,000 men worked to build that train track! It was so dangerously high and challenging, that many men quit, and more had to be hired. Finally after 2 years, from 1898-1900, it was complete. This narrow gauge railroad is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.

But what a ride it is! The track is on the edge of the mountain, and it goes up and up to 3,000 feet. We went over a trestle bridge and through 2 tunnels, and marveled at the grandeur of each vista! Mountains, glaciers, gorges, waterfalls! Chug, chug, chug…just like The Little Engine That Could saying, “I think I can, I think I can…” until we reached the Pass.

The snow at the top of the Pass was 6 to 8 feet thick and just now beginning to melt.

Since our trip was the first trip of this season, for the steam engine, a traditional toast was made to honor the men who built this railway:

     



    
     “We have camped by mountains and river.

     We have talked and told yarns together.

     We have broken bread at this table,

     And roughed it in all sorts of weather.

     So let us drink to our brother,

     Good luck and a life in clover.

     Good health and wealth, and a loving wife,

     And good rest when life is over.”

                                    Michael J. Heney 1899

After returning from our train adventure, we strolled over to the Skagway Library for a brief visit. They have a wonderful collection of children’s books about Alaska. I really liked the story How Alaska Got Its Flag. A 13 year old native boy entered the state flag design contest and his design won!

This was a day to remember!

Your Ranger Bear friend,

L.L. Bear

PS. All this talk about trains reminds me to remind you to:
 
Catch the Reading Express
 
...this summer at the Aubrey Area Library! Get onboard for fun programs and great books with our Summer Reading Program!

Tuesdays @ 11 am....June 8 thru July 20

June 8 - Catch the Reading Express with Maggie and Puppets
June 15 - Dan Gibson, Stories and Banjo Music
June 22 - Texas Tom, Teller of Tall Tales
June 29 - The Mad Scientist Returns
July 6 - Creature Teacher and Animals
July 13 - Brett Roberts, the Magic Reading Railroad
July 20 - Tom McDermott, Music and Stories
July 27 - Ice Cream Party for Readers...Ticket Event