SKAGWAY AND THE WHITE PASS RAILWAY

Waking up to glorious sunshine again!  How lucky we are!  The tops of the mountains are not always able to be seen.  Often they are obscured by clouds, but today…there they were looking quite spectacular.  We are going to have a fabulous trip on the White Pass Railway. 

We walked into the little town I enjoy so much to visit the little quilt shop.  There was a chance we would not have been able to get into Skagway as earlier in the summer, they had a couple of landslides that took out part of the cruise ship pier as well as damaged part of the rail line.  However, here we are.

Our afternoon excursion will be a train trip on the White Pass Railway.  Colton and I have watched a couple of youtube videos about this train trip and with his fascination for trains, I know it will be an enjoyable day.  It is a narrow gauge railway being only 36 inches from one rail to the other whereas most rail lines are 56 inches.  Quite a difference - The only thing I really noticed is there is a noticeable swaying from side to side as it travels on the tracks.

The train trip was lovely.  It was a slow and steady climb up to 2800 feet.  We went through 2 tunnels and crossed 2 or high trestle bridges.  We saw the little hut outpost of the North West Mounted Police.  If my picture wasn't so crummy, the two white posts had flags on them - one USA and one Canadian.  We actually passed through the Canada/USA border before doing a loop that would take us back down the same track and to our ship.  The wind was picking up and the temperature was dropping. It was a good time to get back aboard to eat and warm up.

Colton loved the Train ride – although if you ask him, the train at the Vancouver Zoo is better.  It is fun to share Alaska with him.  He has enjoyed picking up souvenirs on his trips into the towns.  He has a bear claw, a whale tooth, a White Pass Railway Hat and a flattened penny.  I think every kid at some point gets a flattened penny!  Between that, kids club and in the pool every day, he is having a great adventure.

So Day 4 is gone and our time on the Zuiderdam is more than half over.