SKAGWAY, Alaska — The White Pass & Yukon Route Railway marked a milestone in its well over a century of operation earlier this month when it operated a train with an all-female crew for the first time.
The event occurred on Oct. 15 with a crew of Lindsay Breen, the railroad’s first woman engineer; conductor Eliza Myers; and brakeman Eileen O’Keefe, the railroad said on Facebook and other social media. The White Pass & Yukon currently has five female crew members on its 29-person roster, including two engineers.
“It was really neat that it was finally happening,” Breen told Alaska Public Media. “It took long enough.”
Breen has worked for the railroad for 12 years, starting as a train agent. She worked as a dock representative and coach cleaner before moving into crew service, first as a brakeman, then conductor. Myers has similarly climbed through the ranks, working as in the ticket office, as a dock representative, and as a brakeman. She also wants to become an engineer.
The narrow gauge railroad dates to 1900. It currently operates 67.5 miles between Skagway and Carcross, Yukon Territory.
I didn’t know there were any women in Alaska!
I watched Eliza Myers take the EOT device off after a tourist run came back down. I asked her how many time she does that in a day and she said “not as much as you think”. Also notable on my particular trip up to the “Pass” was when someone dropped their cell phone when hanging out to get a picture of 2 bear cubs while going up the cliffside.
So on the way back Eliza and her co-worker hung off the cars as the consist slowed down to try and locate her phone on the ground. They did not locate it unfortunately, but word was they were going to send a hi-railer up to fetch it before her ship left dock. Never heard if it was found.
Despite the crowds they were all very friendly but pretty stern when it came to operations, which is what it should be. Stellar crew!
women working on the railroad in addition to men has come a long way
I’m looking forward to the day that the WP&Y RR becomes standard, (or dual), gauge and interchanges with the planned Alaska-Alberta (A2A) RR. That’ll keep those gals busy, 🙂
These gals will probably be collecting from the RRF before the A2A comes calling (if ever).