? About Dyea Dave - Railroad car

[DivingPrincessE]

For those who have done the tour with Dyea Dave, how crowded did you find the whitepass railroad cars?

 

I am deciding between Dyea Dave and Chilkoot. I am leaning more towards Dyea Dave, however Chilkoot appears to have their very own whitepass railroad car. I would imagine that the Chilkoot railroad car would be pretty empty, allowing for maximum movement and viewing.

 

If you are in a regular railroad car with everyone else, as part of the Dyea Dave trip...doesn't it get crowded??

 

I've read the cruise ships have their own railroad car (possibly even their own railroad route??) and that they are very very crowded. What about the non cruise-ship cars, do they get crowded?

 

I almost always go for the smallest/least crowded tour options available, as I've found too many people or larger groups can really ruin an excursion for me (personally).

 

Thanks in advance for any feedback!

[Sanger Cruiser]

We just got home from Alaska. We did the tour both up and back with Dyea Dave. The cruise passengers I believe have their cars and the independent tours use the other cars. I personally wouldn't spend the money to do the train unless you just want the experience of riding a train. We saw an older gentlemen get off that didn't look so well. The train doesn't stop for pictures but the van does. My friend took the train up and back a few weeks earlier and said that she wished she had done the van tour and not the train.

[DivingPrincessE]

We just got home from Alaska. We did the tour both up and back with Dyea Dave. The cruise passengers I believe have their cars and the independent tours use the other cars. I personally wouldn't spend the money to do the train unless you just want the experience of riding a train. We saw an older gentlemen get off that didn't look so well. The train doesn't stop for pictures but the van does. My friend took the train up and back a few weeks earlier and said that she wished she had done the van tour and not the train.

 

We really like trains, plus I've heard the scenery is different on the train vs the road. So we're doing both, so we get the best of both worlds :)

[VaTraveler]

I am in agreement with Diane. We took the tour with Dave and stayed in the van the whole trip. Unless you're a train buff, (we're not), I really don't see the point. For the most part the train and the highway are parallel, so the scenery is very similar. It was more important to us that we be able to get out and take pictures and take little walks here and there. Of course, people who really like trains should take it.

[Yukon]

Only people who've been on the train can make an educated comment about whether it's worth it or not. It's been the best-selling excursion in Alaska for most of the past century for good reasons. The highway doesn't come close to giving you the look at incredible engineering and details of Gold Rush history that the railway does. The fact that it's a narrow-gauge train that has taken me along that route more times than I can count over the past 20+ years is simply a bonus to me.

[VikkiGarcia]

When we used Dave July 2009 we were the only ones in our train car (9 people). We had our own private conductor and could sit anywhere and everywhere we wanted. Dave did say that if another private tour company showed up we would have to share the car with them.

[Kiera99]

I did both and I'm glad I did it! How can you visit Skagway and not ride the Whitepass RR? I agree with Yukon. It is nice to be on the same RR that other frontier people rode. I enjoyed going up the mountain and seeing everything. We were able to stand outside the train car to take pictures. BTW it was not too crowded and uncomfortable. There was drinking water and a toilet, in the train car. Coming back by bus was great because we were able to get out, walk around and take more pictures.

[Yukon]

There are 2 locations along the rail route that I find particularly evocative. The first is Slippery Rock - see what happened there 112 years ago at http://content.lib.washington.edu/cdm4/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/meed&CISOPTR=219&CISOBOX=1&REC=6 The other is just before reaching the Summit when the rail line is only 100 feet from "The Trail of '98" and you can see the packs, horse skulls and other artifacts that still exist along what was also called "The Dead Horse Trail". Kids today call people who can play baseball well "heroes" - they all need to know what people used to do without anybody cheering!! The highway is just a road, though a particularly scenic one.

[Sanger Cruiser]

I didn't mean anything bad about the train. I just know what people have told me that did the excursion and the man that I witnessed who was laying over the tracks wishing a train would run him over and put him out of his misery. The family that was riding up with us on the tour took the train back to town but they also missed some of the things that we did on the way back. Our tour guide tried to make sure that the young girl in their group would not have to ride right behind the engine so that she wouldn't get sick. But if you are into trains I think you would have a great time. We were even able to take pictures with the old and the new train meeting up on the tracks. So I do think you have picked the right way to do your excursion since you love trains. You will have a great time and have the best of both worlds.

[unberwoob]

A friend just returned from an Alaska cruise and he is a HUGE train buff, so of course he took the train. He said that close to the top it was so foggy you could not see a thing. He was not impressed with the train ride.

[doe326]

We took Dave's tour up and then the train back from Fraser. I wasn't too exctied but hubby wanted to try the train. I'm so glad we did. There is some difference in the scenery that you see from the road and from the train. Really enjoyed the tour with Dave and then the train ride down. No fog, just a beautiful day. Did get a lot of photos from the platform. Had only 6 people in our car and our own conductor. Although I spent 95% of the trip standing on the platform taking photos. Probably wouldn't do the train again but would definitely do a tour with Dave again.

[mjdoshi]

Just returned from Alaska cruise in July. I had pre-booked with Chilkoot with train going up and van ride coming down. Perfect way to enjoy the scenery from the train and indulge in the gold rush history. Spent most of the time on the platform taking pictures and video. We had a group of 16 and there was one more family who had reserved thru same company were in the same coach and enjoyed their company as well.

 

While coming down the driver narrated everything and also stopped wherever we wanted to get down and take pictures. Our kids wanted to do gold panning and he was courteous enough to take us there, arranged local transport for us to reach downtown after that.

 

Above all, this option was not available by our cruise line. CC board really helped me in this.

 

Way to go.....

[cleophus12]

Took Chilkoot's tour last week. With four ships in port the railcar was full. Took their van back down and that was a good choice for us. The train going up was amazing, but driving back down was fun too. And you could look across the way and see where you had been. We had beautiful weather and a great day. The train is simply a must-do IMHO.

[DivingPrincessE]

Ok so of the three people who took a tour with Dave one way and the train the other way, the train was not too crowded.

 

Good to know. I feel ok about booking with Dave now, thanks! :)