page_title: Chilkoot Trail tramways
section_title: Dyea-Klondike Transportation Company (DKT)
hierarchical_section_title: Chilkoot Trail tramways / Dyea-Klondike Transportation Company (DKT)
caption_attribution_description: English: Title: Aerial tramway powerhouse of the Dyea-Klondike Transportation Company, Chilkoot Pass, Alaska, ca. 1898. Photographer: Hegg, Eric A., 1867-1948 Dateca. 1898 NotesCaption on image: ""Dyea Klondike Transportation Co. power house"" URL: http://content.lib.washington.edu/u?/hegg,659 RepositoryUniversity of Washington Libraries. Special Collections Division
context_page_description: The Chilkoot Trail tramways were aerial tramways that played a significant role in the Klondike Gold Rush and the Chilkoot Trail as a transportation system to move prospectors and equipment towards the Dawson City/Klondike gold fields.
  Four tramways and one hoist operated on the trail, although all eventually closed before 1900 when the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad became the transportation method of choice for remaining prospectors.
context_section_description: The Dyea-Klondike Transportation Company (DKT) came into the Chilkoot Trail scene in the fall of 1897 with ambitious plans. It originally set out to build a "narrow gauge tramroad like those used in mines" from their wharf in Dyea up to The Scales. From there an aerial tramway would haul gear up and over the pass creating a comprehensive freight transportation system from the waters of Lynn Canal all the way into Canada. However, like many ideas tossed around during gold rush days, this one fell through after the company, which was located in Portland, Oregon, ran into financial difficulties. The operation was subsequently scaled back and replaced the planned tramroad with horses, although plans for an aerial tram at the pass remained.
  The  DKT Co was based in Tacoma, and used professional engineering services.  A Bleichert style tramway was built using Trenton Iron Works
  parts.  During construction in the Spring of 1898 construction crews were killed by both a meningitis outbreak and a bad avalanche.  Finally, the crews managed to erect towers and string the heavy steel cables.
  On March 17, 1898, the DKT opened its 2,400-foot (730 m) aerial tramway proudly announcing it to be "the only tramway in the world powered by electricity." This turned out to be true, with the electricity originating from the company's Canyon City power plant which was originally created to power the tramroad. Ruins of a steam boiler exist at the location. Seven miles of power lines from Canyon City up to The Scales carried the electricity to the tramroad. The tramway ruined Archie Burns'/C.W. Young's monopoly on tramways on the pass and, for just under a month, it was the only aerial tramway over the pass.
  The tramway's history as an independent company turned out to be relatively short. In June 1898, four months after the tramway opened, the Dyea-Klondike Transportation Company merged with both the Alaska Railroad and Transportation Company and Chilkoot Railroad and Transport Company (the other two substantial tram companies in operation) for a more cooperative and coordinated operation. In June 1899, one year after the merger, the conglomerate tram company was purchased by the White Pass and Yukon Route railroad to prevent competition and began to be scrapped in the fall of 1899.
caption: Aerial tramway powerhouse, Dyea-Klondike Transportation Company, ca. 1898
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