White Pass & Yukon Route upgrades its locomotives

Skagway's world-famous tourist railway is getting six new locomotives this spring.

The White Pass & Yukon Route scenic railway runs every summer on the 110-kilometrehistoric route between Skagway and Carcross, Yukon.

The new locomotives will replace the railway's aging fleet of locomotivesfrom the 1960s. They're built by National Railway Equipment Company inMount Vernon, Ill.

Mark Taylor, superintendent of operations for White Pass & Yukon Route, says the 3,000-horsepower, 120,000-kg locomotivesare about 30 per cent larger than the old ones.

"With these newer locomotives, we should be able to assign fewer locomotives per train because of their added performance. So instead of the two or three locomotives per train, we should be able to have one or two with the average-sized train," Taylor said.

The new narrow-gauge locomotives were difficult to procure. Taylorsays they're not the standard kind of locomotives normally found in the U.S.

"We were lucky enough to coordinate with some narrow-gauge locomotives being built for Australia, so we tacked on to their order," saidTaylor.

"Our last major locomotive order was back in 1969, and we're still relying on those locomotives and they're definitely beyond their life-cycle," said Taylor.

Tight curves and steep grades

TheWhite Pass & Yukon Route railway wasbought two years ago by the Carnival Corporation, one of the world's largest cruise ship companies, for $290 million. The railwayis now majority-owned by Carrix/Survey Point Holdings/Rail Management Systems, and Carnival is a minority owner.

The trainsstartat sea level in Skagway and climbto almost 914 metres in 20 minutes. With tight curves and steep grades, the route is challenging for the aging locomotives

"It's a four per cent grade, which is remarkably steep by North American standards," Taylor said.

"The corridor itself, for the last several years, we have upgradedthe roadbeds, the ties, the rails, the bridges so our infrastructure is more than adequate for these heavier locomotives."

The new engines are not cheap, coming in at around at $2.5 million each.

The new locomotives should start arriving in Skagwaynext month.

It's uncertain how many riders the White Pass & Yukon Route may see this summerthough. Skagway is bracing for a bad tourist season because of COVID-19 and cancelled cruises.