Trains on Tall Trails

There’s a road, really nothing more than a path, that the gold miner’s used to travel over the mountains at White Pass Summit. Then the railroads came along and blasted their way through granite to lay tracks over the mountains.

The track is on a narrow space carved into the side of the mountains. It passes over very, VERY tall trestles.

One of the ladies from Dad’s group went on the afternoon train trip. We saw her in one of the restaurants this evening. Dad asked her what she thought of the trip, and her one word reply was, “Scary.”

Funny thing, I wasn’t scared, and I was out hanging onto the railing on the tiny platform at the end of our car. I figured out in a hurry I wouldn’t get any really good pictures inside the car. First off, there was a lot of condensation on the inside of the window due to the very cold air outside, and some semblance of heat from the wood stove inside.

Then there were all the reflections off the glass. No, it just didn’t work well. So me and another crazy guy from Alabama hung on to the rails, trading sides periodically, and calling the other over when there was a good photo op. We went in periodically to thaw out a little, get fresh batteries – cold weather saps the power fast, and assure our companions we hadn’t fallen over the side down into a chasm -- and there were plenty of opportunities to do just that!

We went along the side of mountains, over trestles, through tunnels – we even made a shot in the dark. (Sorry, just couldn’t resist that one.)

The mountains, snow, waterfalls - all the scenery was just spectacular, despite an occasional sprinkles, and the knife sharp wind. I got quite a few pictures, but expensive connections prevent posting of many just now. Later, when I get home, there will be more posted. There were good pictures almost everywhere I looked.

It was worth every bone-chilling moment.