the solid granite mountainside aided by an innovative 3-foot gauge that allowed for a tighter radius on curves, following the natural landscape.

Twenty-six months later, construction reached the 2,885-foot summit of White Pass, 20 miles away from Skagway. On July 6, 1899, the last spike was driven in Bennett, British Columbia. But the timing was bad. By then much of the gold rush fever had died down.

The WP&YR continued, however, as an economic lifeline to the Yukon, eventually shutting down in 1982 due to low mineral prices. Fortunately, another kind of gold rush was just around the bend.

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Tourism exploded in Alaska in the mid-1980s with the arrival of the cruise ship. The most popular voyage was through the Inside Passage along the shores of British Columbia and Southeastern Alaska. Tourists were stunned to find this pristine world of mammoth Ice Age glaciers, breathtaking mountain ranges, Native American culture, razor-cut fjords, historic Russian settlements, and spectacular wildlife. The Inside Passage quickly became the most popular domestic cruise destination in the U.S., with travelers take the trip not once, but over and over. Soon they wanted more.

With numerous cruise ships stopping at Skagway, a re-creation train journey along the White Pass & Yukon Route sounded like a perfect fit. The rails were laid right down to the docks, ideally positioned to offer tourists a railroad ride through the mountain pass. Billed as the "Scenic Railway of the World," the White Pass & Yukon Route reopened between Skagway and White Pass in 1988. As a