white pass and yukon railroad

[4fman123]

amidst scouring the internet for a rather ambitious plan involving moving to Alaska, mining and a railway i stumbled upon the white pass and Yukon railroad and was wondering if anyone is making or planning on making this? maybe not necessarily the whole 110 miles but even just the operational 67.5 miles (or less, or in stages even as thats quite a lot of trackage to build ) or if this could be the start of a project similar to the dhr route?. I may be the only the only one but i feel that Alaska, despite having few railroads is rather neglected in the trainz world.

 

[whitepass]

I have some of the old GE diesels, passenger cars, and a hopper car made for TRS4/6 on the DLS and there in a ground map of the WP&Y there also, not by me and has no track or anything on it.

 

[bendorsey]

I made the wooden swing bridge near Carcross, Yukon Terretory, kuid2:210518L1265:1.

Ben

 

[cheechako]

There are some assets, including from the two awesome contributors that already responded - thanks, guys!

I am sure many have started on this, and have given up. It is just one of those tempting routes. I still haven't visited; although I live in Alaska, it isn't an easy drive out there. I would like to visit Whitehorse too. The rail no longer goes there, but the drive to Carcrross/Skagway for us passes right through Whitehorse.

Like any mountain route, working the terrain can be hard. Recent improvements in the data available gives us better terrain (in huge chunks), but the terrain and limited rail data seems to make track laying a very manual process. UTM tiles can be a pain in steep valleys. Many of the mountain peaks lie outside of the maximum draw distance even though they are just down the line a bit.

None of these problems are unique to the WP&YR. The appeal (for me) isn't unique either. I'm very much interested in the history, especially when there is a rich history to the rail, the area, and so on. I can (and will) get to take a ride on the restored and historic WP&YR. But the heyday, back when the WP&YR was pioneering some new idea called "container shipping"? That can only be seen in faded photographs and a few archived movie reels. Model and virtual railroading not only gives us a chance to recreate something from now (the beautiful tourist WP&YR), but also the chance to recreate things that are gone for ever, such as the WP&YR in the days of Steam or when Faro was a large-scale mine instead of a ghost town.

If you do make any progress on your WP&YR, please start a blog or something. I would love to see more of it in Trainz. I'm too busy with other parts of Alaska.

p.s. ben: If you ever want ideas, I am collecting every reference photo of the CR&NW I can. Around two-thirds of the 195 miles was bridges and trestles, including the Miles Glacier (Million Dollar) Bridge.

 

[cheechako]

I may be the only the only one but i feel that Alaska, despite having few railroads is rather neglected in the trainz world.

That's why I'm here now!

Actually, there is always interest, especially in the (only) two railroads that exist here. But Alaska is big. Really big. Talk about big routes, and you at least have lots of operation and whatnot along the way. Just modeling the short Whitier to Anchorage route for the modern ARR would be an incredible feat and include of lot of highly detailed miles and miles and miles of nothing. Anything less would not do it justice. People have done (and continue to do) this with other routes, but the focus needs to be so far from point to point, although those points are crucial.

When modeling old offices and country depots from eye, one tip is that if your locomotive doesn't dwarf the building, you probably have the scale wrong. I think if the terrain does not dwarf your train, you might have the scale wrong when it comes to Alaska. That is a big challenge, to be quite literal.

Even the "short" modern operational Canadian-owned trip from a cruise liner at the docks in Skagway to a lunch stop at Lake Bennett before heading back to the dock could be the accomplishment of a lifetime or an incredible team. By the way, the earlier and busier years of the WP&YR are documented to some extent in books and photos. Reading some of it is better than Hell on Wheels and Ice Road Truckers combined! The number two railroad in Alaska is much less documented, but is just as interesting I think.

 

[4fman123]

cheechako i totally agree with you about how virtual railroading allows us to recreate something that wasn't just a tourist attraction once, but a way of everyday life. I hope to one day move to Alaska but I'm definitely going to visit the railroad many times before im currently working on a 3ft gauge desert type route at the moment, but it is, as of this message no where near done unfortunately so i will perhaps start a WP&YRR route or indeed an alaskan mining themed route after.

 

[cheechako]

I have a number of found photos that inspire me. One in particular is an overview of McCarthy around 1920 or so. One of my goals with this hobby is to one day recreate that shot but be able to say, "Oh look, here comes the train now."

 

[4fman123]

i guess if a sizable amount of money was obtained that shot would be able to be recreated in real life :udrool: or if another mine was to open in that area perhaps the golden days would return ... we can only dream and hope