Carcross Depot - White Pass & Yukon Route RR, Carcross YT
Posted by: 
Tygress
N 60° 10.080 W 134° 41.955
8V E 516689 N 6670158
Designated a Canadian Heritage Railway Station in 1991, the picturesque Carcross Depot still serves the WP&YR excursion trains, as well as operating as a Visitor Center with travel info, local history exhibits, and a gift shop.
Waymark Code: WM92FT
Location: Yukon Territory, Canada
Date Posted: 06/18/2010
Views: 10
Currently a fetching brick red
This historic building raises its head
Greets AlCan riders, train passengers, too
Travelers with an adventurous view.
Touch the history, hear 'GOLD!'s refrain
At this eddy that lingers on the Carcross Plain.
This old depot (a Canadian Heritage Railway Station) has a fresh coat of paint, among other things, and still welcomes train travelers to the Yukon. True, the White Pass & Yukon Route folks are tourists these days (or Park Rangers who have been wrangling tourists on the Chilkoot Trail), so one needs to imagine the boom times.
One major claim to fame: During construction of the White Pass Railway, tracks were laid north from Bennett and south from Whitehorse. They met at Carcross (nee Caribou Crossing), which hosted the 'last spike' ceremony on July 29, 1900, linking Skagway with Whitehorse over a distance of 110 miles. The original 'Caribou Crossing' moniker was shortened to Carcross in 1903 -- to prevent mail mixups with a multitude of other Caribou Crossings dotting the arctic.
Currently it serves as the Yukon terminus of the historic White Pass line -- 67.5 historic and scenic miles from Skagway, AK. Excursions both start and end here -- as the full trip is a leisurely, rocking seven plus hours, most folks from the cruise ships take a bus either to or from Carcross.
As well as an operational depot for the WP&YR, the 2 storey frame building houses a Visitor Reception Centre, small historical displays, and a gift shop.
Best historical reading can be found on the WP&YR official website:
(
visit link)
Viewing Yukon Railway Heritage (
visit link)
The White Pass & Yukon Route railway ran through Carcross from 1900
until 1982. The town site of Carcross was laid out and surveyed for the company in 1899 and the rails still run down the centre of the main street. A major fire destroyed the downtown core in 1906 and the present Carcross train depot was built in 1910. The depot is a designated Canadian Heritage Railway Station and operates as a Visitor Reception Centre with local history exhibits. A warehouse behind the depot stored freight that was carried by the sternwheelers and gas boats running on Tagish and Bennett lakes. The warehouse now houses the Koolseen Heritage Centre. The Carcross swing bridge was rebuilt in 1998 and the supports and pilings for the old swing
span were removed.