White Pass and Yukon Route

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "White Pass and Yukon Route" – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (June 2013) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

White Pass & Yukon Route
Commercial operations
Original gauge	3 ft (914 mm)
Preserved operations
Reporting mark	WP&YR, WPY
Length	107 miles (172 km) (Skagway to Whitehorse); 67.5 miles (108.6 km) (Skagway to Carcross)
Preserved gauge	3 ft (914 mm)
Commercial history
Opened	August 1, 1900
Closed	October 8, 1982
Preservation history
May 24, 1988	Reopened
Headquarters	Skagway, Alaska
Website
wpyr.com

v t e White Pass and Yukon Route
Legend
Spook Creek Jarvis Street Cultural Centre Whitehorse Waterfront Trolley Roundhouse 110.5 mi 177.8 km Whitehorse [1] Info. Centre Rotary Park 104.5 mi 168.2 km Wigan [2] 104.0 mi 167.4 km MacRae [3] 99.9 mi 160.8 km Dugdale [4] 95.1 mi 153 km Cowley [5] 88.9 mi 143.1 km Robinson [6] 84.0 mi 135.2 km De Wette [7] 83.7 mi 134.7 km Wette Lea [7] 81.6 mi 131.3 km Minto [8] 79.4 mi 127.8 km Lorne [9] 74.9 mi 120.5 km Lansdowne [10] 70.0 mi 112.7 km end of active track as of 2022 north Carcross switch Carcross house track siding north Carcross wye south Carcross switch south Carcross wye 67.5 mi 108.6 km Carcross [11] 67.4 mi 108.5 km Nares River [12] 62.9 mi 101.2 km McDonald Creek 59.8 mi 96.2 km north Watson switch 59.6 mi 95.9 km Watson [13] 59.4 mi 95.6 km south Watson switch 55.5 mi 89.3 km Pit 55.5 mi 89.3 km 55 Pit switch 52.6 mi 84.7 km Yukon British Columbia border 51.6 mi 83 km Pennington [14] 49.6 mi 79.8 km north Scheffler switch 49.4 mi 79.5 km Scheffler 49.1 mi 79 km south Scheffler switch 46.4 mi 74.7 km Pavey [15] 43.5 mi 70 km Guardrail 41.1 mi 66.1 km north Bennett switch 40.8 mi 65.7 km north Lake siding switch 40.7 mi 65.5 km Bennett crossover Bennett Yard 40.6 mi 65.3 km Bennett [16] 40.5 mi 65.2 km north Bennett loop switch 40.5 mi 65.2 km south Lake siding switch 40.2 mi 64.7 km south Bennett switch 36.2 mi 58.3 km Vista 33.1 mi 53.3 km north Log Cabin switch 33.0 mi 53.1 km Log Cabin 32.7 mi 52.6 km south Log Cabin switch 32.6 mi 52.5 km Hwy 2 Klondike Highway 29.8 mi 48 km Ptarmigan Point 28.1 mi 45.2 km Fraser north switch Fraser crossover 27.7 mi 44.6 km Fraser [17] 27.6 mi 44.4 km south Fraser switch 27.5 mi 44.3 km Fraser loop Fraser River 25.4 mi 40.9 km Meadows 23.8 mi 38.3 km Gateway 21.4 mi 34.4 km Divide Divide loop 20.4 mi 32.8 km White Pass [18] Canada (BC) U.S. (AK) border 20.3 mi 32.7 km south White Pass switch 19.1 mi 30.7 km American shed [19] 18.8 mi 30.3 km north Portal 18.7 mi 30.1 km south Portal 18.6 mi 29.9 km south end of line change 18.4 mi 29.6 km steel cantilever bridge 18.3 mi 29.5 km Gulch 18.0 mi 29 km Dead Horse Gulch 17.6 mi 28.3 km Hawkins 16.8 mi 27 km Inspiration Point 16.0 mi 25.7 km north portal 15.9 mi 25.6 km south portal 15.9 mi 25.6 km wood trestle 15.6 mi 25.1 km Slippery Rock 14.2 mi 22.9 km Skagway River (Middle Fork) 14.1 mi 22.7 km north Glacier switch 14.1 mi 22.7 km Glacier [20] 12.7 mi 20.4 km south Glacier switch 12.6 mi 20.3 km 12.3 mi 19.8 km Heney [21] 11.6 mi 18.7 km Bridal Veil Falls 11.4 mi 18.3 km Foy 10.2 mi 16.4 km Black Cross [22] 9.5 mi 15.3 km Pitchfork Falls 8.8 mi 14.2 km Buchanan Rock 8.7 mi 14 km north Clifton switch 8.6 mi 13.8 km Clifton [23] 8.4 mi 13.5 km south Clifton switch 7.3 mi 11.7 km Brackett's Road 6.9 mi 11.1 km Rocky Point 5.9 mi 9.5 km Skagway River (East Fork) 5.8 mi 9.3 km Denver [24] 4.8 mi 7.7 km north Boulder switch 4.5 mi 7.2 km Boulder [25] 3.2 mi 5.1 km south Boulder switch 2.4 mi 3.9 km Gold Rush Cemetery north Extension Skagway loop 2.3 mi 3.7 km Shops Skagway yard switch Coach Yard Skagway yard switch City Hall 0.6 mi 1 km Skagway Junction 0.00 Skagway Broadway long siding Skagway Wharves Skagway Harbor

The White Pass and Yukon Route (WP&Y, WP&YR) (reporting mark WPY) is a Canadian and U.S. Class III 3 ft (914 mm) narrow-gauge railroad linking the port of Skagway, Alaska, with Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon. An isolated system, it has no direct connection to any other railroad. Equipment, freight and passengers are ferried by ship through the Port of Skagway, and via road through a few of the stops along its route.

The railroad began construction in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush as a means of reaching the gold fields. With its completion in 1900, it became the primary route to the interior of the Yukon, supplanting the Chilkoot Trail and other routes. The route continued operation until 1982, and in 1988 was partially revived as a heritage railway. In July 2018, the railway was purchased by Carnival Corporation & plc.

For many years the railroad was a subsidiary of Tri White Corporation, also the parent of Clublink, and operated by the Pacific and Arctic Railway and Navigation Company (in Alaska), the British Columbia Yukon Railway Company (in British Columbia) and the British Yukon Railway Company, originally known as the British Yukon Mining, Trading and Transportation Company (in Yukon), which used the trade name White Pass and Yukon Route. The railroad was sold by Clublink to a joint venture controlled by Survey Point Holdings, with a minority holding by the Carnival Corporation & plc parent company of the Carnival Cruise Line.^[26][27]

The railway was designated as an international historic civil engineering landmark by the Canadian Society for Civil Engineering^[28] and the American Society of Civil Engineers^[29] in 1994.