FOR BREAKING NEWS VISIT WWW.QNS.COM JUNE 28, 2018 • BUZZ • THE QUEENS COURIER 77
Slowing down in Alaska
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While our cruise ship
the Ruby Princess
meandered through
Alaska, I was struck with the
I took pleasure in the
white-winged birds as they flew
by my state room balcony, set
off against the stark mountains,
many covered with a moss-like
green clinging to their cliffs.
Behind those mountains were
glorious, sharp-edged, icecapped
mountains. It’s hard to
believe that the mountain ranges
and chasms have been here since
the Ice Age.
Our stop after Juneau was
the historic town of Skagway,
home to Sarah Palin, the former
Alaska governor and one-time
Republican vice presidential
nominee, when she was a young
girl. With a population today of
about 700 people, Skagway was
founded and grew during the
The White Pass and Yukon Route Railroad, built during the Gold Rush, winds its way through the hills
and mountains
Gold Rush of 1897. Enterprising
and desperate men and women
rushed to the area, hoping to
strike it rich.
Realizing the need in 1898
to navigate the steep, treacherous
hills and mountains the
Gold Rushers had to climb just
to begin their journey to reach
the gold, two enterprising men
— one a London investor, and
the other a Canadian railroad
contractor —
built the railroad.
It was
c omp l e t -
ed in only 26
months.
As our train
slowly climbed
3,000 feet
through 20
miles of steep
grades and
cliff-hanging
turns, I marveled
Our conductor in Skagway, Alaska
was a former Queens resident, is also
the nephew of former Staten Island
Borough President Guy Molinari
at the ingenuity and engineering
skills of the creators
of the White Pass and Yukon
Route Railroad. Michael
Heney, the railroad contractor,
was known to have told his
English investors, who saw the
profitability and invested $20
million, “Give me enough dynamite
and noose, and I’ll build
you a railroad to hell.” Did he
ever!
We had decided to pay extra
for the luxury car that offered
plush leather 360-degree rotating
— and, importantly, an informed
guide. The most remarkable part
of our two-hour adventure was
meeting the train’s engineer,
Steve, whose uncle is the respected
Guy Molinari, who represented
its borough president. Steve had
lived in Queens and asked me if
the Blue Bay Diner was still there
(indeed it is!).
Steve also told us how he “ran
away from home” in the 1970s
and found his way to Fairbanks.
He admitted, “I didn’t like being
landbound and I found my way
to Juneau, where I am a journalist
and in the legislature. And, for
the five tourist months, I work
as an engineer on the train and
make a living.” A most remarkable
meeting!
The views from the luxury car,
with the 79 degree sun warming
on a movie set of a frontier town
— yet it was all real.
Before long, we were back on
the ship, heading toward Glacier
Bay National Park, covering 3.3
million acres of rugged mountains,
The historic streetscape of Skagway, as it was when it was founded in 1897.
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the inner passageways of southern
tranquility of nature’s beauty.
As we cruised to our destinations,
armchairs, drinks and lunch
Staten Island for decades as
our faces, made for a unique
experience.
When we left the
train, we walked
through the historic
town of
Skagway, which
never suffered
as many frontier
towns did
with fires. I felt
the history of the
town as we walked
through the store doorways
as had the
Gold Rushers. The
wooden sidewalks
and well-maintained,
freshly
painted storefronts
made me feel that I was
dynamic glaciers, temperate
rain forest and deep sheltered
fjords.
Read about it next week!
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