Although Skagway, Alaska, typically enjoys a mild winter climate, the WP&YR railroad needed to carry passengers to a 3,000 foot summit into the Yukon, Canada’s smallest territory, where the average snowfall is over 140 inches and the wind chill is well below zero for five months a year. This specially built engine, called Rotary Snowplow #1, was used from 1898 until 1965 to efficiently clear the railroad tracks of snow.
