Built in 1898 during the Klondike Gold Rush, this narrow gauge railroad is an International Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, a designation shared with the Panama Canal, the Eiffel Tower and the Statue of Liberty. The WP&YR railway was considered an impossible task but it was literally blasted through coastal mountains in only 26 months at a cost of $10 million. Tens of thousands of men and 450 tons of explosives overcame harsh and challenging climate and geography to create "the railway built of gold."

The WP&YR climbs almost 3000 feet in just 20 miles and features steep grades of up to 3.9%, cliff-hanging turns of 16 degrees, two tunnels and numerous bridges and trestles. The steel cantilever bridge was the tallest of its kind in the world when it was constructed in 1901. The 110 mile WP&YR Railroad was completed with the driving of the golden spike on July 29, 1900 in Carcross, Yukon connecting the deep water port of Skagway, Alaska to Whitehorse, Yukon and beyond to northwest Canada and interior Alaska.

The WP&YR suspended operations in 1982 when the Yukon's mining industry collapsed due to low mineral prices. The railway was reopened in 1988 as a seasonal tourism operation and served 37,000 passengers. Today, the WP&YR is Alaska's most popular shore excursion carrying over 300,000 passengers during the May to September tourism season operating on the first 40 miles (Skagway, Alaska to Bennett, B.C.) of the original 110 mile line.