Long Term Parking -- White Pass and Yukon Railroad Steam Locomotive in Skagway, Alaska
by Darin Volpe
Title
Long Term Parking -- White Pass and Yukon Railroad Steam Locomotive in Skagway, Alaska
Artist
Darin Volpe
Medium
Photograph - Photography
Description
In early 1943, this locomotive left the Baldwin Locomotive Works factory in Eddystone, Pennsylvania for the long trek to Skagway, Alaska.
World War II was in full swing, and a Japanese invasion of Alaska was a real possibility. An overland road was needed to connect the contiguous United States to the Alaska Territory. The United States leased the White Pass and Yukon Railroad to most efficiently transport material and equipment between the port of Skagway and the highway construction site in Canada's Yukon Territory.
The U.S. Army needed trains to run on the narrow gauge track of the WP&Y and accumulated an assortment from various narrow gauge railroads in the United States. They also purchased 11 new locomotives, including this Baldwin 2-8-2 Mikado. After the war, the Army sold the locomotive to the White Pass & Yukon Railroad.
It served for another 17 years on the White Pass & Yukon Railroad until it was retired in and donated to the city of Skagway, where it has been on display since 1962.
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February 16th, 2022
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