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Riding into History on Royal Canadian Pacific and
Alaska's White Pass & Yukon
by Jerry W. Bird
 


Many who've lived in Canada for several decades should know about the love-hate relationship that existed for years between previous generations and the CPR - Canadian Pacific Railway. To me, being a train fanatic, it was always a positive experience. After all, that same vast system brought my great-grandfather Henry Morgan, my grandfather Walter Bird, and a vast army of similar free spirits to Western Canada to work hard, dream big and sink their roots.

CPRengine stylizedMy first railway trip, however, was in a more remote part of the world - Skagway, Alaska, where the White Pass & Yukon Railway of gold rush fame, was liked to a vast network of CPR coastal steamships and British Yukon Navigation Company's fleet of Yukon river paddle wheelers. My first job with a Canadian railroad was in Edmonton shortly before I joined the Edmonton Journal, and while it was back breaking work, my days at the Canadian National Railway freight yards sharpened my enthusiasm and converted me into a true railway nostalgia nut. So with that in mind, fast forward a decade or two, and here I am working for a national Travel Trade magazine based in Vancouver.

Historic photos in fotomation courtesy of Royal Canadian Pacific, Calgary