CIVIL ENGINEERING LANDMARK GOLD! GOLD! GOLD!A HOGHEAD
AND HIS HOG ENGINE NO. 69 ROTARY
SNOWPLOW NO.1 RAILROAD BUILDERS ON TO ALASKA WITH BUCHANAN MICHAEL J. HENEY LIVING HISTORY VISION TRIUMPHS OVER CHALLENGE THE WHITE PASS "SPIRIT"

Rotary Snowplow No. 1

The vision of a railroad from Skagway into the Klondike Gold Fields was shared by four men considered to be the builders of the White Pass & Yukon Route. They were able to persuade others to finance, to labor, and to share in the dream of opening up the north. The builders faced huge obstacles which included weather, terrain, distance and competition from other sources. But Samuel Graves, John Hislop, E.C. Hawkins and Michael J. Heney (left to right) were able to provide the leadership to push the project through to completion.

Samuel Graves was president of the railroad from 1898 until 1911. He worked with the Close Brothers Bank of London to finance construction. John Hislop and E.C. Hawkins were surveyors and design engineers for the construction. Michael J. Heney was the labor contractor and manager of the workers who placed the dynamite, laid the rails, built bridges and tunnels and made the dream into reality.