White Pass Work Extra. A pair of GE 90 Class Locomotives and their work extra await the call to duty, just north of the White Pass Shops on a cool afternoon in April.
Every spring, this railroad wakes up after a long winter sleep and prepares for the upcoming tourist season. Most years, work trains like this one make the journey up the hill toward White Pass, until they encounter the deep snow-pack, which has accumulated since the line shut down the previous September. There, the work trains discharge their cargo, consisting of Caterpillar Bulldozers and other heavy equipment, such as the Hitachi Backhoe you can see on the flat car in the distance. The trains also bring up supplies of diesel fuel in tank cars such as the one seen here. The heavy construction equipment will clear away the snow, which is often 15-20 feet deep in places, opening the line in a matter of days. The work they do was formerly handled by rotary plows, but these days, the bulldozers can do it with far fewer personnel and at much lower cost.
