This is great. I've only taken the normal tourist route from Skagway up to the pass (bus back down) but would love to try the Caircross extension. Guess there will never be enough demand to justify reopening to Whitehorse...
Unlikely to open to Whitehorse. The only hope is a freight source. There was a big plan to dual gauge the entire railroad and extend the standard gauge portion hundreds of miles to a mine in the middle of nowhere. Tough to justify the cost. Maybe if they find a Lithium or Rare Earth mine in Yukon?
@@trainclaude Makes sense: I've flown over that abandoned part of the line and it showed me that the scenery for tourist passengers between Carcross and Whitehorse is nowhere near as dramatic as the climb up to the summit from Skagway. I am grateful that they invested in re-opening to Carcross; that run by the lake looks very pretty. One thing I've learned exploring abandoned railroads in the Pacific Northwest is that even a few years without maintenance means vegetation makes the line impassable and small washouts quickly become wide ravines (meaning a million-dollar rebuilding job). Nothing good lasts forever... ;)
@@trainclaude there are some rare earth mines in the Yukon but Ca decided to spare it up for later when chinese rare earth deposits are exhausted. So maybe up to Tungsten in 50 years.
@@steffenrosmus9177 Good to know what is going. I was an electrical engineer before I retired and know how important rare earths are. There are few sources and I believe the largest single source is China whom I do not trust as a reliable supplier. I guess we will wait and see what happens. Thanks for the info.
Interesting to see what the White Pass & Yukon railroad was like back in the day. This documentary clip is very nice.
This is great. I've only taken the normal tourist route from Skagway up to the pass (bus back down) but would love to try the Caircross extension. Guess there will never be enough demand to justify reopening to Whitehorse...
Unlikely to open to Whitehorse. The only hope is a freight source. There was a big plan to dual gauge the entire railroad and extend the standard gauge portion hundreds of miles to a mine in the middle of nowhere. Tough to justify the cost. Maybe if they find a Lithium or Rare Earth mine in Yukon?
@@trainclaude Makes sense: I've flown over that abandoned part of the line and it showed me that the scenery for tourist passengers between Carcross and Whitehorse is nowhere near as dramatic as the climb up to the summit from Skagway. I am grateful that they invested in re-opening to Carcross; that run by the lake looks very pretty. One thing I've learned exploring abandoned railroads in the Pacific Northwest is that even a few years without maintenance means vegetation makes the line impassable and small washouts quickly become wide ravines (meaning a million-dollar rebuilding job). Nothing good lasts forever... ;)
@@trainclaude there are some rare earth mines in the Yukon but Ca decided to spare it up for later when chinese rare earth deposits are exhausted. So maybe up to Tungsten in 50 years.
@@steffenrosmus9177 Good to know what is going. I was an electrical engineer before I retired and know how important rare earths are. There are few sources and I believe the largest single source is China whom I do not trust as a reliable supplier. I guess we will wait and see what happens. Thanks for the info.