WP & YR and Carcross

Construction of the WP & YR railway began at Skagway on May 28, 1898, and took 26 months to complete from tidewater in Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon. The rail line reached Bennett City, at the south end of Lake Bennett, on July 6, 1899. At Carcross, land was surveyed for railway yards, a depot, and a sternwheeler landing. Lake steamers carried passengers and freight from Bennett to Carcross, where traffic continued to the Dawson and Atlin goldfields. A tent construction camp grew up at Carcross, and the Red Line Company was established there in anticipation of rail construction between Carcross and Whitehorse. Shippers relied on the railway even before it was completed. At Carcross, a 150 m x 12 m corrugated iron warehouse was built, and WP & YR built barges to carry heavy commercial and construction freight across the lake. Locomotives made their first official stop in Whitehorse on June 8, 1900. The formal celebration was held at Carcross when the last spike connecting the rail lines from Bennett City and Whitehorse was driven on July 29, 1900. After the gold rush, Carcross thrived as an important supply center for the mining communities of Tagish and Atlin lakes, and WP & YR promoted tourism on the southern lakes.

Yukon · Canada