It looked like something out of Disneyland to be honest. Large wooden train compartments with olde style text painted on the side. The many compartments were connected together by a steel pin which was once painted black but has started to corrode slightly and is now more of a burnt orange. The conductor, who looks like some extra from a spaghetti western, yells “All aboard!” I walk back briskly to the very last compartment and go inside. This was no Disneyland re-enactment train, this was the real deal. This is what Disney modeled their trains after and now I was about to embark on a scenic train ride through White Pass and climb to its summit.
I take a seat next to a familiar face. Its another musician from the ship. I sat down next to him and we chat till the train gets going. As the train pulls away from the town of Skagway, the views from out the window change drastically in a matter of minutes. Over the intercom, the conductor narrates all the points of interest along the way. We pass a 49er's cemetery and some old run down trains that they put off to the side for the passengers to look at. I decide that I want to get a better look at everything so I head to the back of the train and go outside on the open chain linked ledge. After nudging my way through some people that were already there I managed to get a good spot to observe. Looking over the side and looking at the railroad tracks leaving the compartments below us, I wondered how many people probably drop their cameras over the side by accident. I bet there has to be at least like 20 cameras a month that get dropped and never seem by their owners again. I looked along the tracks to see if I could spot any but I had no luck. The railroad company come by and clean it up daily I bet.
As we gained elevation, the views got better. The mountain sides were covered in large Fir and Spruce trees that seemed like they were rolled out like fresh new carpet over the hills. Where there weren’t trees, there were jagged rock formations that were equally impressive. This day in particular was cold and over cast. While I didn’t enjoy necessarily the brisk, piercing winds shooting through my jacket, I did enjoy seeing the never-ending evolutions of the cloud formations that gave the ride a mystic quality that made the ride more exciting.
After going through a few tunnels and over a few wooden bridges, we made it to the summit of White Pass. At the summit was the U.S./Canadian border so we had to stop and dislocate our caboose and have another one attach on the opposite end where it would pull us down the mountain again. The peak was really cold. In the last 10 minutes before reaching the peak it had to have dropped 10 degrees in temperature. The many trees that I had seen before have now completely disappeared and all you see is cold grey rocks, some water dribbling and a few spots of moss. It seemed like a bleak, desolate place that only a few living things dared to live.
We started making our way down the mountain and saw everything again but now on the other side. Sitting back in the compartment, I was thinking that it would be nice to get some tables in here, a few cocktails perhaps being served. Maybe even some nice cheeses to be served as you drove by. That’s the only thing that might make this a little better. I mean, if your going to be on a train for 3 hours, at least get some refreshments going. Some old rugged scenery from a 19th century train with a glass of Glen Fiddich in hand would be tops. Being as cold as it is, you would’nt even need to put an ice cube in it! I guess I have no room to complain though since the ride was very enjoyable (not that I was complaining or anything). -DB
No comments:
Post a Comment