Klondike Mines Railway

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The Klondike Mines Railway is a former railway company in the Yukon Territory ( Canada ). It was founded on July 10, 1899 to build a network of railroad lines between Dawson and Dominion Creek , along the Klondike River . The track width of the train should be three feet (914 millimeters). The Dawson passenger station was built on the riverside at Queen Street, but the line continued from there to Albert Street. However, construction stopped after a few kilometers and was not continued until 1906. In mid-July of the year, the first 21 kilometers to Grand Forks could be opened and on October 16, 1906 the 51.19 kilometer stretch to Sulfur Springs was completed. The originally planned branches, as well as the route along the Yukon River south of Dawson, were not built.

In addition to the gold ore transports to the Yukon River, wood was transported to the mines and a daily passenger train ran the route. The first two locomotives were bought by the White Pass and Yukon Railway . After there was hardly any traffic during the winter of 1906/07, the railway company decided to only operate from May to October each year. After the end of the gold rush in the region, the railway ceased operations in October 1913. The vehicles remained in Dawson, where three steam locomotives are still on display today. The tracks were sold to the Yukon Consolidated Gold Corporation in 1925 , which dismantled them shortly thereafter. Part of the route, from Six Below to Bonanza, was acquired in 1928 by the government, who built a country road on it.

literature

  • Howard Clifford: Alaska / Yukon Railroads. Oso Publishing, Arlington WA, 1999. ISBN 0-9647521-4-X , pages 63-8.