Brian Pate's "Klondike Mines Railway"
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| "Gold was discovered in the Klondike goldfields of the Yukon Territory of Canada in 1896, and when the news reached the outside world in 1898 a gold rush with 30,000 people ensued. The Klondike Mines Railway was chartered in 1899 to provide transportation to and from the goldfields, and while a start on construction was delayed by politics until 1905, by 1906 31 miles of track was in operation." Brian's version of the KMR hung on to 1939 serving the dredging operations, and then profited from the war-time demand for gold. Additional history, a track plan and more photographs of his spectacular railroad can be found on his web site: |
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 | Dawson City is a main source of revenue for the KMR. The large building on the right services the White Pass & Yukon's fleet of sternwheelers. The KMR has a spur that passes through the building to a dockside stiff-leg derrick. | |
Train 401, The Dawson Switcher, has worked its way across the Yukon River to work the industrial spurs in Dawson City. |
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Brian's structures are truly inspiring. The Five Fingers Coal and Oil Company (Dawson City) is another fine example of his work. Coal is shipped up and down the KMR from here and refined petroleum products are distributed locally. | Having completed its work at Five Fingers Coal and Oil Company, #5 is now switching Yukon Cold Storage. While temperatures plunge during the winter, it can reach the 90's in Dawson City during the summer. KMR #5 is an outside frame 2-8-0. |
 | The Klondike Mines Railway connects with the outside world via the Vancouver, Westminster and Yukon Railway at Sicamous. The standard gauge Canadian Pacific interchanges with the WW&YR here. | |
| The Sicamous switcher, a standard gauge 0-6-0, is busy making up the daily VW&YR passenger train #2 bound for Dawson City. The dual gauge track, in Sicamous, in necessary to accommodate the Canadian Pacific. | Link to Brian Pate's web site
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