Imagine riding the engineering marvel of the historic White Pass & Yukon Route wooden railroad through the wilderness and over the White Pass Summit. Cliff-hanging turns will have you holding on to your breath as the train pulls you up 3,000 feet in only 26 miles. You can explore the wild west of Alaska and, if you opt for the Bennett Scenic Journey, Canada’s Yukon. Be sure to reserve this shore excursion with your Alaskan cruise.
Congratulations to Rocky Grimes for the featured photo. He won the WP&YR photo contest for that picture. Well done, Rocky!
Take the WP&YR train ride as part of Holland America’s Yukon + Double Denali Journey Cruise and Land Tour
The “WP&YR”, as it’s called, is included on several Alaska cruisetours, including Holland America’s Yukon+Double Denali Journey. You can choose to add it as a shore excursion during your land tour to Whitehorse and Denali before or after your cruise. Depending on the itinerary you choose, the cruise is between 3-5 days and the land tour is 7-8 days, for a total Alaskan vacation that lasts 10-13 days.
Photo by Jed Thompson
This is the best train ride EVER
The railway starts or ends at the cruise port in Skagway and heads west to cross over the Canadian border. On the WP&YR, you’ll enjoy the spectacular view from your vintage parlor car as you climb 50 miles up, over, down and through the White Pass Summit from a slow 5 mph up to speeds of 25 mph on the same route built during the Klondike Gold Rush.
Photo by Jed Thompson
The train follows the path of the infamous Yukon River. You’ll see the notorious Five Finger Rapids, which put fear in the eyes of the Klondike Stampeders who tried to maneuver it. The railroad was actually built as a result of the treacherous rapids during the Klondike Gold Rush in 1898. The $10 million project was considered an impossible task but it was literally blasted through coastal mountains in only 26 months. Thousands of men and nearly 500 tons of explosives overcame difficult weather and terrain conditions to produce “the railway built of gold.” The train ride was the safest way to cross the White Pass Summit to get to Whitehorse–the center of the gold rush.
The White Pass & Yukon Route was designated an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1994. It shares this honor with such engineering marvels as the Eiffel Tower, Statue of Liberty and the Panama Canal. The WP & YR has enjoyed a rich and vivid history throughout its 100 years of operation. The Klondike has gone from the gold mining operations of the first stampeders to large corporations now controlling the mining in the region. During World War II, the WP & YR was the main supplier for the US Army’s Alaska Highway construction project.
The railway was closed in 1982 during the mining collapse. It was restored and reopened in 1988 with cruise tourists in mind. Today it is Alaska’s most popular shore excursion carrying nearly 400,000 passengers during the tourism season of May to September.
Do you want to take the train ride of your life?
Now is the time to book your 2014 Alaskan cruise plus land tour. Don’t delay—the most popular shore excursions and cruisetours sell out first. Alaskan cruising season runs from May to September, and we can help you find the time that’s right for you. Perhaps you’d prefer something more “exotic”, like a European river cruise. Whatever your dream destination, we can help you plan your vacation from start to finish.Contact CruiseExperts.com by calling 1-888-804-CRUIse(2784) or by visiting our website www.CruiseExperts.com.
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